Fast Company's Nov 10 piece says "we're at-will, just let them go" misses that every termination is judged in three places: a court of law, social media, and public opinion.
I'd add a fourth audience: the people who still work for you.
They're watching how the exit goes. They notice who got a real conversation and who got a calendar invite. They notice whether anyone said thank you.
HR's instinct is to protect the company, and that's part of the job. But if the legal review is the only thing shaping the layoff, the ones who stay learn what they're worth when things get hard.
So do both. Get the legal review. Then decide what the person leaving hears, who tells them, and what you say to the team the same day.
Protecting the company and treating people like they mattered aren't competing goals. Skip the second one and the first gets more expensive.
Responding to Employers, watch out for this trap when you lay people off, Fast Company