Depends, is this illegal? Did the employee know they where going to get rehired during the trial. Was it a lie to state they where not employed?
I feel this is morally wrong but not quite punishable. If annything the system is broken for allowing such loophole. Either they owe a part of their income or they don’t. That part can be “zero” bur current employment shouldn’t be part of that calculation.
I was not a fly in this court but seems like there is no reason to assume they lied about anything.
They where factually unemployed at the time of hearing.
They have the right to remain silent and not incriminate themselves about any potential rehiring.
It could also be setup by the boss without employee awareness, a excuse to rehire them after their business suffers (i fired you for your own good but i couldn’t tell you to not influence the legal system)
In general if you’re going out of your way to make it technically legal you should run it by your lawyer and they’re probably going to tell you it’s not a good idea. In general if you feel like you’ve found a legal loophole in everyday life your lawyer will advise against it
That is the most generous reading possible of the facts considering the boss and employee talked about the divorce. Are you his defense lawyer or something? Or do you just defend shitbags on the Internet for free?
