Q: I was terminated after a sales quarter's end and was denied commission. Do I have a case?
I was terminated for misconduct. This occurred following the quarter's end and before the first salary after the quarter's end.
These are the relevant paragraphs in the employment agreement:
a. The calculation and interpretation of any commissions payable to you and any other
terms of the commission's plan, in any given quarter, shall be determined by the
Company, at its sole and final discretion, and shall not be subject to review or appeal.
b. The company reserves the right to change the commission plan and sales targets from
time to time at its sole discretion.
c. The quarterly commission (if any) will be paid in the first salary following quarter end.
d. The commission is conditioned upon Employee's actual employment with the
Company at the time of payment of the commission as detailed above (actual
employment shall mean actual work and not being on any unpaid leave or serving
notice, if given).
A: Very good question, your employer has laid down the gauntlet. NY law has decisions on employee commissions that shows that they are due once they are earned, but other decisions uphold the written policy / contract of employment. Depending on the amount it may be worthwhile for you to have a lawyer send a demand letter on your behalf. I'd be happy to for a reasonable fee, I handle cases like this pretty regularly.
A: You have a case. If you do nothing you get nothing. You should be able to get a settlement. It depends how much is at issue, and the whole agreement, which I cannot opine on from your excerpt.
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