Thread regarding Fidelity Investments layoffs

They’re asking if anyone did, not for that book.

To answer your question as straight forward as possible. This is typical legal positioning to carefully secure “risk management”. It’s designed to make the agreement harder to challenge later.

These risks are pretty well known, so they are aiming to reduce as much legal exposure as they can. Simply put, the firm wants to protect itself by holding your compensation package until you agree to its terms.

The firm wants to be able to show/prove: that you were advised to seek counsel, you had time to renew it, and that you weren't pressured into signing immediately. Same thing with the offer to search for new roles within the firm. It’s lazy legal shielding.

Now, there are some people out there that believe this is an opportunity to prove that the agreement is serious and negotiable for more comp. But it’s not really a “we dare you to challenge us” sort of thing. Equally however, it is also not a “sign your life away to get your comp” type threat. The truth lies somewhere in the middle of them just ultimately getting ahead of any potential disgruntled employees running to the press or suing them for wrongful termination down the line.

If you’re worried about accidentally violating terms in a way that could cost you the severance, it’s probably worth talking to a lawyer. Especially if it feels like the rules are unusually broad or like the firm is “setting people up” in any way that could easily be tripped over—like something as simple as texting a friend about what happened.

That said, employment lawyers will often take these cases on contingency (common in wrongful termination claims), so just be aware they’re incentivized to push the case forward. They can absolutely help, but it’s good to go in with eyes open about how those arrangements work.

Employment lawyers will take these cases on like ambulance chasers.