In October of 2005 I accepted a job with a local company for an office position. There was never any mention of a probationary period. From the get go I explained that I had children & they were my first priority and was told that it was a family oriented company and they expected me to put my family first. I would be taking over for the boss's wife who had been diagnosed with cancer. I was told that it was a permenant position, started out with good salary, immediate benefits, etc. I spent about one week with the wife who vaguely familiarized me with the company, payroll, etc. After that, I was basically left to myself to figure things out, which I did. From the get go she was short and distant.

Anyways, in mid Jan. 2006, my family finds out that mother-in-law who had been battling lung cancer had been told it was terminal & she had weeks, maybe a few months to live. It had been less than a year that my father-in-law had passed away. So after asking my boss if I could take a week of with my family to spend with my mother-in-law, they said yes with no problem, our family planned & executed a week in the mountains to prepare. One day after coming home she was hospitalized and died a week later. During this time my employers were understanding. I took off 2 and a half days with their approval for the burial and finalizing paperwork for her estate. Mind you, I came in and had every bit of my responsibilities completed before leaving to go the viewing.

Then I come in Monday morning to unexpectedly and rather coldly be informed that they had decided to let me go that they needed someone who could be in the office more. Now mind you, I was not hired to answer their phones or be their receptionist. Only to handle the books. I was told they would hire someone to assist me and handle the phones, which they never did. My employers never set a definative work schedule for me. Typically I worked 8-5. But M-W since I worked on payroll I would work late and through my lunch. I hardly took a lunch most days anyways. I was the only one in the office 90% of the time. I think they hired me under the false pretense of a permenant position and now that she has finished her cemo/radiation treatments and her cancer is looking good, she has decided not to back away. Is this legal and what can I do about it? Looking back the only thing she really familiarized me with in the company was the payroll and A/P, which was just enough to float her through her treatments. I made it a point to ask her, when she did come in and could spare me a minute: how I was doing and if there were any problems, which I was told fine and there were no problems. I was never given any warnings or reprimanded in any way. I can't take off to bury my mother-in-law but they guys in the company can fail a drug test, quit for week and come back. Something is wrong with this picture.

Nothing you describe violates any laws or gives you any legal recourse. While you may or may not have been treated poorly, there's nothing you can do except file for unemployment and look for another job.

Okay, as upsetting and unfair as it sounds I can accept that. But is there anything I can do about severence pay. This lady had me leave a ten year job that I was very secure in. She hired me and fired me under false pretense. And what about my insurance. She asked me if I wanted to pay extra to have my insurance extended which I told her yes. Then she tells me that it will end on April 1st, which is not even a week after being let go. I thought they were supposed to offer COBRA?

Okay, as upsetting and unfair as it sounds I can accept that. But is there anything I can do about severence pay. This lady had me leave a ten year job that I was very secure in. She hired me and fired me under false pretense. And what about my insurance. She asked me if I wanted to pay extra to have my insurance extended which I told her yes. Then she tells me that it will end on April 1st, which is not even a week after being let go. I thought they were supposed to offer COBRA?
Your employer isn't under any obligation by law to pay you severence pay. The insurance extension you describe is not COBRA, but an extension of your current insurance and once that runs out you will recieve notification of COBRA in the mail and be able to make an election to take COBRA or not.

Unless you have a valid employment contract that provides for severance, there are no laws that require any employer to provide severance.

If the employer has more than 20 employees, they are required to offer COBRA. They have up to 45 days to provide you with the necessary paperwork, and your coverage then becomes retroactive to the date your employment was terminated.