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1. At my last company, I elected to contribute $2,000 for 2014.
2. My wife incurred some heavy expenses and we spent the entire amount in ~4 months.
3. I was laid off in May, found a new job and started in June.
4. The benefits specialist told me I could contribute a full $2,500 to my new FSA, if I elected to. Her exact words were "It’s a per employer per plan year maximum."

For what it's worth, both companies' FSA plans are through the same benefits provider - I doubt that has any impact on the situation. I work in software, so benefits are generally competitive, which may have to do with being allowed to join mid year. (Aside: are corporations really too modest to say their benefits are "really good"?) Finally, the payroll deductions my new employer is taking from my pay seem to add up to a little under half of my elected FSA contribution for 2014 before the plan year rolls over January 1st. I mention this because I'm essentially dipping yet another time into free FSA money. I thought there was a quote in another answer explaining how this is an IRS rule that favors employees over employers, but it does not seem to be on this page any more, and I can't find another question on the topic.

Update: The IRS replied to my email question with probably the least helpful response possible.

Update 3: I found out at the start of this year that the FSA election I made for my new employer actually has a term of June 1st, 2014 through May 31st, 2015. I elected to contribute $2,000 to this FSA and consumed it all before Dec 31st. I've not received my W2's yet, but I expect my total FSA contributes for the 2014 tax year (Jan 1 to Dec 31) to be around $3,000 (with $4,000 redeemed and received), so I may get an answer from the IRS when I send in my 1040. If they don't say anything, I will direct an inquiry to the plan administrator. At this point, I have a suspicion that the exact rules for FSA's are negotiated and administrated by the plan, and only have to conform to certain IRS guidelines.

1. At my last company, I started in October 2013 and elected to contribute $1000 for the remainder of the year, knowing we had some upcoming medical expenses. We consumed most of this money before 2014 rolled around ($800-$900 if I recall correctly).
2. I elected to contribute $2,000 for 2014.
3. My wife incurred some heavy expenses and we spent the entire amount in ~4 months.
4. I was laid off in May, found a new job and started in June.
5. The benefits specialist told me I could contribute a full $2,500 to my new FSA, if I elected to. Her exact words were "It’s a per employer per plan year maximum."

For what it's worth, both companies' FSA plans are through the same benefits provider - but I doubt that has any impact on the situation. I work in software, so benefits are generally competitive, which may have to do with being allowed to join mid year. (Aside: are corporations really too modest to say their benefits are "really good"?) Finally, the payroll deductions my new employer is taking from my pay seem to add up to a little under half of my elected FSA contribution for 2014 before the plan year rolls over January 1st. (See Update 3 below for more on this.) I mention this because I'm essentially dipping yet another time into free FSA money. I thought there was a quote in another answer explaining how this is an IRS rule that favors employees over employers, but it does not seem to be on this page any more, and I can't find another question on the topic.

Update 1: The IRS replied to my email question with probably the least helpful response possible.

Update 3: I found out at the start of this year that the FSA election I made for my new employer actually has a term of June 1st, 2014 through May 31st, 2015. I elected to contribute $2,000 to this FSA and consumed it all before Dec 31st, 2014. I've not received my W2's yet, but I expect my total FSA contributes for the 2014 tax year (Jan 1 to Dec 31) to be around $3,000 (with $4,000 redeemed and received), so I may get an answer from the IRS when I send in my 1040. If they don't say anything, I will direct an inquiry to the plan administrator. At this point, I have a suspicion that the exact rules for FSA's are negotiated and administrated by the plan, and only have to conform to certain IRS guidelines.

Update 4: I received my W2's and filed my taxes. My forms do not show FSA contributions separately, but they do show pre-tax deductions, and they seem to ad up to what I estimated: $1000 contributed from each employer I had in 2014. I am still contributing to my current employer's June 2014 - June 2015 FSA election.

The IRS has kindly processed my 1040 Tax Forms and W2's and issued the full amount of refund that I calculated. So that's at worst an implicit acceptance by the IRS of my FSA situation, not worthy of an audit by itself. Whether or not they come along and correct it later remains to be seen.

Update 3: I found out at the start of this year that the FSA election I made for my new employer actually has a term of June 1st, 2014 through May 31st, 2015. I elected to contribute $2,000 to this FSA and consumed it all before Dec 31st. I've not received my W2's yet, but I expect my total FSA contributes for the 2014 tax year (Jan 1 to Dec 31) to be around $3,000 (with $4,000 redeemed and received), so I may get an answer from the IRS when I send in my 1040. If they don't say anything, I will direct an inquiry to the plan administrator. At this point, I have a suspicion that the exact rules for FSA's are negotiated and administrated by the plan, and only have to conform to certain IRS guidelines.

Update 2: I consulted a family friend who is a tax professional (corporate accountant, I believe). Unfortunately, she was unfamiliar with the exact rules of FSAs. She was under the impression that an annual contribution limit is always firm. For example, you can't reset your 401k contributions by going to a different investment firm (or to a different employer who uses a different investment firm).

However, she does not have a direct source for her answer either. I remain on the search.