Your options will largely depend on several documents: your employment agreement, equity documents, and applicable law. Key considerations include:

• Severance entitlement — Review your employment agreement for severance triggers and payment formulas.

• Equity acceleration — Determine whether termination without cause triggers vesting acceleration or forfeiture provisions.

• Bonus and deferred compensation — Assess whether you're owed unpaid bonuses, commissions, or accrued benefits.

• Negotiation leverage — Evaluate potential claims (discrimination, retaliation, breach of contract) that create settlement value.

Save everything. In litigation, the party with better documentation wins. These categories are consistently critical:

Employment & Compensation

• Offer letters and employment agreements — Base salary, bonus structure, equity grants, termination provisions

• Equity documentation — Stock option agreements, RSU grants, vesting schedules, exercise notices

• Performance reviews and feedback — Annual reviews, 360 feedback, praise emails, promotion justifications

• Compensation communications — Bonus calculations, commission statements, salary adjustment notices

• Policies and handbooks — Employee handbook, expense policies, remote work policies (especially versions in effect during your tenure)

Communications Establishing Facts

• Emails documenting key decisions — Who decided what, when, and why

• Meeting notes and summaries — Contemporaneous records of discussions, agreements, or directives

• Text messages and Slack/Teams chats — Informal communications often contain admissions or critical context

• Termination-related communications — Termination notice, exit interview notes, separation agreement drafts

Financial Records

• Paystubs and W-2s — Proof of actual compensation paid

• Expense reports and reimbursements — Especially if reimbursement disputes arise

• Invoices and payment records — For vendor disputes or contract breach claims

• Wire transfer confirmations and banking records — Proof of payment or non-payment

Contracts & Agreements

• Signed contracts — Every version, including amendments and side letters

• Proposals and bid documents — Establishing original deal terms and intent

• Vendor agreements and SOWs — Scope, deliverables, payment terms

• NDAs and confidentiality agreements — Especially if trade secret claims arise

• Settlement agreements and releases — From prior disputes or terminations

Corporate Governance & Equity

• Board resolutions and minutes — Approving equity grants, compensation changes, or major decisions

• Cap table and ownership records — Establishing your equity position at various points in time

• Shareholder agreements — Buy-sell provisions, drag-along rights, transfer restrictions

• Merger or acquisition documents — Term sheets, LOIs, purchase agreements affecting your equity

Evidence of Misconduct or Pretext

• Discriminatory or retaliatory communications — Emails, texts, or Slack messages suggesting unlawful motive

• Policy violations by others — Evidence that similarly situated employees were treated differently

• Contradictory statements — When employer's stated reason changes over time

• Admissions — Any communication acknowledging fault, liability, or improper conduct

Preservation Tips

• Save to personal devices or cloud storage — Don't rely solely on company systems you may lose access to

• Download, don't just forward — Forwarding to personal email may violate policy; download files directly when possible

• Preserve metadata — PDFs preserve formatting; native files preserve edit history and timestamps

• Take screenshots — For Slack, texts, or web-based platforms that may be deleted or access-restricted

• Print critical documents — Physical copies survive system failures and access termination

We help clients identify and preserve critical documents before access is cut off — often recovering deleted communications, reconstructing timelines from metadata, and using the other side's own records to prove our case.

Generally, no — once equity is vested, it's yours (contingent on any relevant agreement you may have signed). However, employers sometimes attempt clawbacks through:

• Bad-leaver provisions — Arguing misconduct or breach of duty justifies forfeiture.

• Repurchase rights — Exercising buyback options at below-market prices.

• Manufactured breaches — Creating pretextual violations to trigger forfeiture clauses.

We've successfully defended against equity clawbacks by challenging the legal basis for forfeiture, exposing pretext, and negotiating settlements that preserve or increase equity value — including a recent matter where we secured a 411% increase to our client's position in advance of a merger.

Document everything in writing. Oral conversations are deniable. Written communications create contemporaneous records that lock in facts, establish timelines, and preserve your version of events.

Key strategies:

1. Follow up verbal discussions with written confirmation

After important calls or meetings, send a summary email:

• "Per our discussion today, my understanding is that [X, Y, Z]. Please let me know if I've misunderstood anything."

• This creates a written record and forces the other party to either confirm or correct on the record.

2. Use "reply-all" strategically

When someone makes a false or misleading statement over email, respond with facts and copy all relevant parties:

• Creates witnesses to the truth

• Prevents selective narrative control

• Establishes real-time contradiction (not reconstructed months later)

3. Ask clarifying questions in writing

When you receive vague instructions, ambiguous directives, or suspect someone is creating pretext:

• "Can you clarify what you mean by [ambiguous term]?"

• "What is the specific basis for this decision?"

• "Can you point me to the policy or provision you're referencing?"

This forces the other side to commit to a position in writing or exposes the lack of legitimate justification.

4. Preserve facts before memories fade

Create contemporaneous written records immediately after key events:

• Internal memos to file documenting what happened, when, and who was present

• Dated notes summarizing conversations, decisions, or conduct

• Screenshots of Slack messages, texts, or social media before they're deleted

5. Avoid emotional or aggressive language

Even when provoked, maintain professional tone:

• Emotional emails undermine credibility and become Exhibit A in litigation

• Factual, measured language demonstrates reasonableness and strengthens your position

• Let the other side be the one making intemperate statements

6. Don't fill evidentiary gaps for your opponent

Resist the urge to over-explain or provide information not requested:

• Answer questions directly without volunteering additional facts

• If asked for documents, provide only what's requested (not everything you have)

• Avoid speculating or guessing in writing

7. Use timing strategically

• Send important communications during business hours (not late at night when you seem emotional)

• Give reasonable response deadlines to appear measured and professional

• Respond promptly to lock in facts while they're fresh, but not so quickly that you seem reactive

We help clients develop communication strategies that preserve facts, establish credibility, and create contemporaneous records — often turning the other side's own emails into decisive evidence by forcing them to commit to indefensible positions in writing.

The goal is to force the other side to commit to a position early. You can achieve this by asking open ended questions that seem obvious.

Employers benefit from a presumption of legitimacy when making hiring, firing, and compensation decisions — especially if those decisions follow documented policies or established procedures. Courts and arbitrators generally defer to business judgment unless there's evidence of improper motive.

Deviation from process is powerful evidence of pretext.

When an employer departs from its own policies, skips procedural steps, or treats you differently than similarly situated employees, it suggests the stated reason is false and the real motive is unlawful (discrimination, retaliation, equity theft, etc.).

Examples of process deviations that create liability:

Performance terminations without progressive discipline

• Company policy requires verbal warning → written warning → PIP → termination

• You're fired immediately after one alleged incident

• Shows the "performance" reason is pretextual

Inconsistent application of policies

• Policy requires written approval for remote work

• Others work remotely without approval; you're denied or terminated for it

• Proves selective enforcement based on improper motive

Sudden policy changes targeting you

• Expense policy enforced for years suddenly "violated" only by you

• New interpretation applied retroactively to justify termination

• Demonstrates manufactured justification

Skipping required procedural steps

• Employment agreement requires 30-day notice or cure period

• You're terminated immediately without notice

• Establishes breach of contract regardless of underlying reason

Failure to follow investigation protocols

• Harassment policy requires HR investigation before discipline

• You're terminated without investigation or opportunity to respond

• Shows decision was pre-determined

Different treatment for comparable conduct

• Co-worker commits same violation, receives warning

• You commit same violation, terminated immediately

• Classic evidence of discriminatory motive

How to document process deviations:

• Obtain copies of policies — Employee handbook, expense policies, remote work guidelines (especially versions in effect during your tenure)

• Identify comparators — Other employees who violated same rules but received lesser discipline

• Document procedural steps skipped — Notice requirements, investigation protocols, appeal rights ignored

• Preserve contradictory statements — When employer's stated reason changes or shifts over time

• Note timing — Process deviations often occur shortly after protected activity (complaint, pregnancy announcement, equity vesting)

Why this matters in litigation:

Process deviations are objective evidence that doesn't require proving subjective intent. You don't need to show the employer "hated" you or was consciously biased — you just show they didn't follow their own rules, which creates an inference of improper motive that shifts the burden back to them.

We scrutinize employer processes to identify deviations that prove pretext — comparing your treatment to others, documenting skipped procedures, and using the employer's own policies as the standard they failed to meet.