As to the issue of unemployment benefits, it is again a state specific answer. But generally, since the employee had already given notice, the chances are no, she will not get unemployment. It’s not that she’s not entitled to apply for it, it’s just unlikely that she’ll get unemployment because she was in the process of leaving. She gave two weeks and the employer gave her a check, so there was no loss.

So to sum it up: At any point an employer can come in and say, “You’re gone!” and as long as it’s not because of your race, your sex, your age, your religion, your disability—anything discriminatory—there’s not a lot of recourse. And, unfortunately, that’s it.

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., JD, SPHR, is Chairman of the Society for Human Resource Management and Senior Vice President of Human Resources for IAC/InterActiveCorp, the parent company to companies like Ticketmaster.com, LendingTree.com, AskJeeves and Home Shopping Network. Photo © Carsten Reisinger/Fotolia