This post is thanks to a tip from Jack Sargent.
In Kellogg Co. v. Sablok, (Dec. 22, 2006), Sixth Circuit App. No. 05-2626, 05-2627, the court held that by signing a separation agreement, an employee waived his rights to assert a claim for discriminatory failure to re-hire. The court limited its decision to the facts of the case, noting that under other facts, a different result could be reached. The result will depend on how closely related the re-hire is to the original termination in terms of time and subject matter.
In this case, the employee signed the separation agreement once upon notice of termination, and again, for new consideration, upon the last date of work. The failure to re-hire occurred during the retention period between the notification of lay-off and the last date of work. Thus, the employee's claim did not occur after the effective date of the separation agreement. Additionally, the separation agreement said that the employer was not obligated to rehire the employee. To see the opinion Download kellogg_co. v. Sabhlok.pdf