Reasonable Notice

Example 1

Martha has worked at a corporation for 17 years. The new head of the corporation, who is seeking new blood, fires Martha and gives her one hour to wrap up her business at the corporation. If Martha sues the corporation, a court would likely find that she wasn’t given reasonable notice. As a long-time employee, she was entitled to several weeks’ notice, not one hour. Moreover, one hour wasn’t enough time for her to tie up loose ends on her work projects.

Example 2

A landlord and a tenant agree to a month-to-month lease. On April 30, the landlord tells the tenant that he’s ending their lease agreement. If the tenant doesn’t move out by May 1, he’ll be evicted. If the tenant sues the landlord, a court would likely find that the tenant wasn’t given reasonable notice of the lease termination, as 24 hours wasn’t enough time to fully move out and find a new residence.

Case Examples

• Bankruptcy: In bankruptcy, a creditor is deemed to have been given notice of the date by which to file a claim as long as the means were reasonable. In In re marchFirst, Inc., 345 B.R. 866, 869 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2006), a creditor argued that they were not given proper notice of a debtor’s bankruptcy. However, the Court disagreed, stating, “when notice is mailed to the address from which a corporate creditor conducted business with a debtor, notice of a bar date is reasonable and sufficient to satisfy due process concerns.” Id.
• State laws are preempted by federal law: Some states, such as Virginia, have state laws that even require at-will employees to receive reasonable notice of termination. However, courts have found that in several important areas of employment law (such as the collective-bargaining agreement in this case), federal law preempts state law. See Pers. v. Bell Atl.-Virginia, Inc., 993 F. Supp. 958, 962 (E.D. Va. 1998).
• Depositions: Reasonable notice must also be given to opposing parties in lawsuits. Parties must be given reasonable notice for discovery, depositions, and trial dates. See Bovine Music, Inc. v. Nick's Clubs, Inc. - Dallas-Lipstick, No. 3:24-CV-523-K, 2024 WL 4446995, at *3 (N.D. Tex. Oct. 8, 2024)