Hi, I recently returned back to work after maternity leave. I've been back in the office for 1 1/2 months. My company did a round of lay offs and I was included. Is this legal?

I also received a small severence package. On the paperwork its says that my position was eliminated however techniclly it wasn't. My job duties will be handled by another co-worker.

I just need to know if this is legal?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Having been on maternity leave does not insulate you from adverse job actions that would have taken place anyway. Given that you were not the only person who was let go in "a round of layoffs," you would have a hard time demonstrating that your termination was as a result of your having gone out on maternity leave. And, yes, it's legal to assign job duties to someone else when laying someone off.