Fired
The first week after you're let go
What to keep, what to sign, what to say to the unemployment office, and the one email worth writing before your access ends.
7 min read
Employment lawyers for workers in Albany, Syracuse and Rochester
For the person on the other side of the HR meeting
We represent employees, not companies. If you were fired, passed over, harassed or shorted on pay, tell us what happened. We'll tell you plainly what it's worth pursuing.
Heard
We read the whole file before we tell you what we think.Counted
Every unpaid hour and lost paycheck, added up in writing.Plain
The weak parts of your case, as clearly as the strong ones.
A note from Hester Vanderzee
Why this firm only takes the worker's side
I started my career at the other table. I sat beside the managers, read the files they kept and helped write the letters that ended people's jobs. I learned how a company builds its story, and how often the person on the receiving end has no story written down at all.
So I left, and opened this firm in Albany with one rule: we represent employees. Anselm Quarles joined in Syracuse, then Solange Dacosta in Rochester. Between us we answer calls from warehouse floors, hospital wards, school offices and the back rooms of family businesses.
Most people who call us aren't sure they have a case. Some don't. What everyone gets is the same thing: a lawyer who reads what you bring, does the arithmetic out loud, and tells you what it adds up to. Below are three examples of how that works.
Guides
Read this before you sign anything
Two guides we send to almost everyone who calls. Each takes a few minutes and is free to share.
RecordsHow to keep your own record of hours and incidents
A notebook, a phone and ten minutes a day. What to write down, how to date it, and why the record you make now matters later.
6 min read
Worked examples
Three situations, with the arithmetic shown
Invented examples, built from the kind of calls we take every week. Your facts will be different, but we'll work them through the same way.
- 01Unpaid wages
The overtime nobody counted
A warehouse lead works 48 hours most weeks and is paid for 40, at $22 an hour. Overtime is time and a half, so each missing hour is worth $33.
How wage claims work8 unpaid hours a week, for 70 weeks: 560 hours
560 hours at $33: $18,480 in wages owed
Federal wage law can add an equal amount in damages
- 02Retaliation
Let go twelve days after a complaint
A nurse reports short staffing in writing on a Monday. Twelve days later she is let go for her attitude. The timing is the first piece of evidence.
How retaliation claims workDay 1: the written complaint, saved
Day 12: the firing, and the reason given
Three good reviews in the year before it
- 03Discrimination
Passed over for the second time
A machinist of 58 trains two younger hires, and both are promoted past him within a year. Lost pay is the gap between his job and theirs.
How discrimination claims workThe gap: $4.10 an hour
Over 2,000 hours a year: $8,200
Counted from the first promotion, for every year after
A short talk
Ten minutes on the week after you're let go
Hester walks through the first seven days: the severance papers, the unemployment claim, and what to keep before your work email closes.
Hester Vanderzee on the first week after a firing
Questions
What people ask us on the first call
If yours isn't here, ask it when you write. There's no wrong question.
Do I have to pay to talk to you?
No. The first conversation costs nothing. If we take your case, we explain the fee in writing before you sign anything, including any costs you might owe.
I signed a severance agreement. Is it too late?
Not always. Some agreements can be undone in the days after you sign, and some don't cover every claim. Send it to us and we'll read it.
My employer says I was an at-will employee. Doesn't that end it?
At-will means you can be let go for almost any reason, but not for an illegal one: your age, race, sex, disability, a complaint you made, or time you took that the law protects.
How long do I have?
Deadlines vary by claim and can be as short as a few months. That is the main reason to write to us soon, even if you aren't sure yet.
Will my employer find out I called you?
No. What you tell us stays with us. We contact your employer only once you've decided to go ahead.
Which office should I contact?
Whichever is closest. All three share one intake, and we can meet by video if driving is hard.
Offices
Albany, Syracuse and Rochester
Three offices, one intake. Write or call any of them.
Albany
Address: 41 State Street, Suite 6 Albany, NY 12207Phone: (518) 555-0142Hours: Monday to Friday: 8:30am to 5:30pm Evenings by appointmentHester Vanderzee works from this office. Street-level door, elevator to the sixth floor.
Directions to the Albany office to the Albany officeSyracuse
Address: 224 Harrison Street, Suite 300 Syracuse, NY 13202Phone: (315) 555-0167Hours: Monday to Friday: 8:30am to 5:30pm Saturday mornings by appointmentAnselm Quarles works from this office. Metered parking on Harrison Street.
Directions to the Syracuse office to the Syracuse officeRochester
Address: 45 Exchange Boulevard, Suite 210 Rochester, NY 14614Phone: (585) 555-0119Hours: Monday to Friday: 9am to 5:30pm Evenings by appointmentSolange Dacosta works from this office. The entrance is on the river side of the building.
Directions to the Rochester office to the Rochester office
Tell us what happened, in your own words
A few sentences is enough to start. A lawyer reads every message and writes back to you.