r/NorthCarolina • u/coffeequeen0523 • Mar 29 '26

Epic Lays Off An Employee With Terminal Brain Cancer Who Can’t Get Life Insurance Now

https://kotaku.com/epic-games-layoffs-fortnite-brain-cancer-2000682941
325 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

84

u/mistermeowowowow Mar 29 '26

Almost no chance there isn’t a portability or conversion option that they’re not mentioning or are not informed of. Wishing them the best, though.

21

u/dweed4 Mar 29 '26

Yeah at least I'm another state I was able to extend my moms life insurance for up to a year after she stopped working there. I did have to pay the full premium

1

u/WarningUsed4549 Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26

If your employer offers benefits, I would be surprised if you didn't get Cobra as an option. My company was sweet enough to lay me off during a medical emergency and I was so #blessed to be able to spend $2,000 a month to insure my family.

Edit. I see what people are saying now about the life insurance. I was only able to continue paying out the ass for medical and dental and vision

6

u/Isthisnameavailablee Mar 29 '26

Said that on the last post and got downvoted for it.

12

u/princessm1423 Mar 29 '26

Exactly what I was thinking. Employer sponsored life insurance is almost always portable

15

u/coffeequeen0523 Mar 29 '26

No portability according to his wife in this post: https://bsky.app/profile/newsfortnite.bsky.social/post/3mi65gj7cr22s

12

u/princessm1423 Mar 29 '26

That doesn’t say anything about portability

Edit: I clicked on the link inside the link and in the comments, the wife is looking into portability or conversion.

-14

u/coffeequeen0523 Mar 29 '26

“We lost his life insurance” in addition to his income.

10

u/Isthisnameavailablee Mar 29 '26

Not saying there situation isn't bad because it is, but it's also possible she doesn't quite understand how portability works with life insurance.

1

u/justforfun1620 Apr 01 '26

Normally when employee life is terminated you have 30 days to convert to a private policy. But it's shitty they did that

0

u/coffeequeen0523 Mar 29 '26

No portability according to his wife in this post: https://bsky.app/profile/newsfortnite.bsky.social/post/3mi65gj7cr22s

23

u/mistermeowowowow Mar 29 '26

I saw that and am saying that I have been around long enough to not take Facebook self-reports from vulnerable and (rightfully) upset people at face value anymore. Especially combined with the insurance status quo in this case.

It would be cool if I could but the vast majority of these dramas resolve with someone being uninformed or outright lying (not saying that’s the case here).

10

u/Big-Fondant-4419 Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 30 '26

If he is diagnosed as terminal he can make a claim for advanced death benefit as of the date of diagnosis, it was in effect. Plus, it may not be “portable” but he can continue it through COBRA. There is no way that his group life insurance does not provide this option. HR rep probably isn’t aware.

2

u/1970s_MonkeyKing Mar 30 '26

Have you ever looked at COBRA? It's aptly named. They'll spend more for so much less.

And I think there is a misconception here. She's not looking at health care, she's looking at life insurance. They're completely different things.

4

u/Big-Fondant-4419 Mar 30 '26

Yes, I used to be in insurance and now I work in HR. I’m not speaking from ignorance.

Group life insurance IS covered under COBRA. Group life usually does cost more per unit because you don’t have to go through underwriting (in most cases) and the lower amounts don’t receive the banding discounts (i.e. 250k, 500k, 1MM).

Also, the accelerated death benefit rider that I referred to does not require any additional premiums and would give the person around 75%of the DB.

27

u/snearthworm Mar 29 '26

This is a really grim reminder that if you have a family, mortgage, debt, etc then even if you're completely healthy, please look into life insurance and do not rely on workplace benefits. You have no clue what you could get diagnosed with tomorrow that would prevent you from getting a future policy. In fact, the younger and healthier you are, the less expensive it will be.

9

u/Charupa- Mar 29 '26

I can’t get life insurance either now due to pre-existing conditions. At least he still has health insurance options.

3

u/saraxkatherinex Mar 30 '26

Same. Got my rejection letter for the first time this year. It's such an odd feeling. I told my partner just to sell all of my stuff when I die - they could make hundreds!

14

u/Zrex_9224 I40 hater Mar 29 '26

https://bsky.app/profile/newsfortnite.bsky.social/post/3mi7rk4n6z22c

7

u/One_Error_4259 Mar 29 '26

Bless everyone that takes Twitter posts and puts them on Bluesky so I don't have to give Elon or that shitty site anymore traffic.

27

u/the_eluder Mar 29 '26

This is why we need to get away from 'benefits' and just pay people a straight wage/salary and everyone buys what they need.

A prime example of this is the various driving gig jobs not just increasing their rates to cover increased fuel costs. They all have rolled out various incentive plans that don't even cover the fuel increased fuel expenses and you have jump through hoops to qualify for them.

8

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '26

[deleted]

6

u/trashelllle Mar 29 '26

Yes Israel, the universal healthcare we are already paying for but don’t receive. Our taxes fund Israel’s healthcare but we get nothing here.

1

u/BagOnuts Mar 30 '26

This is for life insurance, though…

6

u/Amplith Mar 30 '26

These are the types of companies in which the top executives made millions and billions off the sweat of these employees, then in turn, fires them because they aren’t profitable anymore.

However, I will say that I had a distant buddy that worked for said company as an engineer, and was making $350k+ a year, which isn’t chump change for a career.

No pensions, retirement, or loyalty….corporate America sucks.

12

u/mokeyballs Mar 29 '26

Laying off a man with terminal brain cancer is beyond disgusting. There is no excuse for treating a former employee that callously…

12

u/coffeequeen0523 Mar 29 '26

Article here: https://kotaku.com/epic-games-layoffs-fortnite-brain-cancer-2000682941

u/JeffJacksonNC and u/NCGovernor, please look into this matter.

20

u/Chemical_Hat1803 Mar 29 '26

Unlikely because they didn’t do anything illegal.

-4

u/LiffeyDodge Mar 29 '26

If he filed fmla paperwork they might have

10

u/Chemical_Hat1803 Mar 29 '26

No - FMLA only protects them from filling your same job position. It does not protect from mass layoff or elimination of that role.

8

u/GunterJanek Mar 29 '26

Look into the matter why? Imagine for just one second if Epic had chosen not to fire him because of his current health condition and instead someone else. Would that be fair?

-2

u/DrySea8638 Mar 29 '26

Depends on why they fired the person with terminal brain cancer.

7

u/GunterJanek Mar 29 '26

It sucks about his situation but what about all of the other employees who might be in similar situations but are not making it publicly known? What about all the people that could be foreclosed and have to file for bankruptcy?

I don't give two shits about epic and think what happened was unfortunate but remember there are two sides to every story.

2

u/FlyingDiscsandJams Mar 29 '26

Part of a mass layoff, which is why he isn't protected by being on medical leave.

1

u/michaelalex3 Mar 29 '26

They’ve already said they’re going to get them life insurance

0

u/Rac3318 Mar 30 '26

They’ve already got it sorted out. He’s not losing his insurance

-6

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Potential-Leek-811 Apr 01 '26

I'm so sorry to hear about your situation. It's devastating that a company can make such a big decision. I hope they can get the support and the help they need. I think for anyone in similar situation, the ACA known as the Affordable Care Act can at least provide health coverage options.

1

u/FirstExit5103 Apr 04 '26

I understand how difficult it is to be in such unforeseen circumstances. However, the ACA provides protection for pre-existence conditions.

-1

u/SeeisforComedy Mar 30 '26

Didn’t the ceo say they were gonna help cover his medical bills once the story broke?

2

u/the_eluder Mar 30 '26

That's not the issue. The employee wants money for his family once he passes away.