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What to Bring to an Employment Lawyer Consultation: A Michigan Employee Checklist
Something happened at work. Maybe you were fired without a real explanation. Maybe you reported a problem and then suddenly found yourself on the outside looking in. Maybe your employer handed you a severance agreement and told you to sign it by Friday. Whatever the situation, you're now thinking seriously about calling an employment attorney, and that instinct is worth trusting.
The consultation is where it all begins. It's the conversation that helps Scott Batey understand what happened, assess whether your employer may have crossed a legal line, and tell you honestly what your options look like. That assessment depends heavily on what you bring to the table. Not because Scott needs a perfectly organized file, but because employment law turns on specific facts: dates, documents, what was said, what was written down, and what the employer put in writing. The more you can share, the clearer the picture.
The Documents to Bring
Bring whatever you have. Don't worry about whether something seems relevant. Let Scott make that call. The sections below cover the most important categories.
Employment Records
These documents establish the baseline of your employment relationship.
- Offer letter or employment contract
- Job description (written or posted)
- Performance reviews, whether positive or negative
- Promotion or demotion notices
- Pay stubs and W-2s
- Any written acknowledgment of an employee handbook or company policy
These records help Scott understand the terms of your employment and whether your employer's treatment of you was consistent with those terms.
Termination or Separation Documents
If you were fired, laid off, or pushed out, bring everything you were given.
- Termination letter or written notice
- Separation agreement or severance offer
- COBRA or benefits continuation notices
- Any documentation of the stated reason for termination
One critical point: if you were handed a severance agreement and asked to sign it, bring it unsigned. Signing before consulting an attorney means you may waive rights you didn't know you had.
Workplace Communications
This is often where the most important evidence lives.
- Emails between you and supervisors, HR, or coworkers that relate to your situation
- Text messages relevant to what happened
- Slack, Teams, or other workplace messaging, if you have access to it
- Any written complaints you sent or received
Screenshots are acceptable, but printed copies are better. If you have access to your work email, export or print the relevant threads before that access disappears.
Internal Complaints and HR Records
If you reported something at work, any record of that complaint is significant.
- Written complaints you filed with HR or management
- HR responses, written or forwarded to you in writing
- Disciplinary write-ups or performance improvement plans (PIPs)
- Records of accommodation requests you made
- Any documents related to an internal investigation
Medical or Leave Documentation
For situations involving medical leave, disability accommodations, or FMLA:
- FMLA paperwork (requests, approvals, or denials)
- Doctor's notes or medical certifications your employer was given
- Written requests for disability accommodations and any responses
- Any communications connecting your leave or medical condition to discipline or termination
Your Own Notes and Timeline
If you haven't written anything down yet, do it before the consultation. A handwritten or typed timeline of events, even rough, is genuinely useful. Include:
- Key dates (when things happened, when you were notified, when you reported something)
- Names of supervisors, HR representatives, coworkers who witnessed or were involved
- What was said in conversations that weren't in writing, as close to verbatim as you can recall
- Any witnesses who may be able to corroborate what you experienced
You don't need a polished narrative. Just get the facts on paper.
What to Bring If You Don't Have Much
Not everyone walks away from a job with a folder full of documentation. Some employers communicate almost entirely by phone or in person. Some employees are escorted out the same day and never have a chance to gather anything.
If that's your situation, don't let it stop you from calling. Scott has worked with clients who had very little on paper and still had strong claims. The consultation itself helps identify what records may be obtainable through a formal legal process.
A few things not to do:
- Don't contact your former employer to request records on your own, especially if you believe you were treated unlawfully. There are proper legal channels for that.
- Don't access company systems, files, email accounts, or networks you no longer have authorization to use. Even with good intentions, doing so can create legal problems for you.
- Don't assume that because you don't have documents, you don't have a case. That's what the consultation is for.
Information to Have Ready (Even Without Paper)
Some of the most useful information isn't a document at all. Before the consultation, try to recall and jot down:
- Your employment start date and, if applicable, end date
- Your job title and who you reported to
- The names of HR contacts involved in your situation
- Whether you signed an arbitration agreement when you were hired (check your onboarding paperwork if you can)
- Any severance offer deadline you're working against
- Whether you have already filed, or been asked to file, an EEOC charge or state agency complaint
This information helps Scott assess what statutes may apply and how much time you have to act.
A Word on Severance Agreements
If your employer handed you a severance agreement, this deserves its own conversation.
Severance agreements are contracts. When you sign one, you are typically waiving your right to sue your employer for claims related to your employment. Employers know this. The agreement is written to protect them, not you. The fact that money is on the table doesn't mean the offer is fair, and it doesn't mean you're required to take it.
Michigan employees generally have time to consider these agreements before signing. Under federal law, employees 40 and older have specific review periods that cannot be waived. But those windows close.
If you've been handed a severance agreement, bring it to the consultation before you sign anything. Scott can review what rights you'd be giving up, whether the amount offered is appropriate, and whether there's room to negotiate.
What Scott Will Be Looking For
Understanding what Scott evaluates during a consultation can help you frame what you share.
Scott isn't just listening to whether your employer treated you badly. He's listening for whether your employer treated you unlawfully. That's a specific legal distinction. Under Michigan law, including the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) and the Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act (PWDCRA), and under federal law including Title VII, the ADEA, and the ADA, employees are protected from discrimination based on protected characteristics: race, sex, age, religion, national origin, disability, and others.
He's also listening for retaliation. Under the Michigan Whistleblowers' Protection Act (WPA) and federal law, employees who report unlawful activity, file complaints, or exercise legal rights (like taking FMLA leave) may be protected from adverse employment action as a result.
The questions Scott is mentally working through include:
- Does the employer's stated reason for the action hold up, or does the timing suggest something else?
- Was the employee treated differently from similarly situated coworkers not in a protected class?
- Is there a documented pattern of conduct that undermines the employer's explanation?
- Are there deadlines, such as EEOC filing windows, that are already running?
The more you can bring that speaks to those questions, the better the consultation will go.
Make the Most of Your First Meeting
Calling an attorney for the first time isn't easy. Most people don't do it until they've already been sitting with what happened for a while, turning it over, wondering whether it was really as wrong as it felt. The answer to that question is exactly what a consultation is designed to provide.
One thing worth taking seriously: employment law has hard deadlines. Filing windows with the EEOC and the Michigan Department of Civil Rights are measured in months, not years. Severance agreements have signing deadlines that can vanish rights permanently. Waiting too long, even while you're still trying to decide what to do, can narrow your options in ways that are difficult or impossible to reverse.
Your Consultation Starts With a Phone Call
Scott Batey has focused exclusively on Michigan employment law since 1996. If you believe your employer may have crossed a legal line, the next step is a free consultation to find out where you actually stand.
Bring what you have. Scott will help figure out the rest.