Microchip Technology Wins Round in Atmel Workers’ Severance Suit

Laid-off employees of a company acquired by Microchip Technology Inc. suffered a setback in their class suit over severance benefits when a federal judge said the named plaintiffs’ claims were blocked by agreements they signed.

Plaintiffs Peter Schuman and William Coplin knowingly and voluntarily released their claims against Microchip in order to receive about half the benefits they would have been entitled to under their severance plan with Atmel Corp., Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. said Wednesday. Schuman and Coplin were sophisticated, management-level workers who understood there was a dispute over the Atmel plan’s terms when they signed the ...