Hacker News Reader

Would people affected in the flow-on effects (such as landlords etc) be in any position to claim compensation due to the governments actions via a court? Or is there some form of legislation that protects the government from litigation in this sort of instance?

View on HN

Generally if I lose my job in the private sector and am unable to pay my rent or mortgage, my landlord or lender isn't able to go after my employer even if the employer dismissed me unfairly.

But they're not laid off. 400,000 people are expected to work without getting paid on time. https://www.upi.com/amp/Top_News/US/2019/01/01/Federal-worke...

I don't believe that this is a fair or reasonable comparison to make in this scenario.

Can a landlord sue Yahoo if a laid off worker can't pay their rent? This is really no different.

I always forget that we elected all the leaders of Yahoo.

The stock holders elect the board, at least they did before they got bought.

These workers aren't laid-off... they're just not being paid. I don't know if a landlord can sue Yahoo if they just stop paying an employee causing them to not make rent. It doesn't sound absurd to me.

They can file for unemployment benefits. The concept of a furlough isn’t even unique to government the only unique part is the cause.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com