Do I have a case for wrongful termination?: I was promoted from Director to Vice President in my company the beginning of this month. I have no documented conversations, corrective actions, or negative performance reviews in my file. On 9/15, I spoke with a representative of my company's MSO regarding concerns on the ethical behavior of my CEO (disclosing PHI of other employees without their consent, behaving inappropriately by cursing at and degrading other employees, and other heinously unethical behavior). This conversation is documented. On 9/22, it was disclosed to me that my CEO made a very inappropriate comment about me and my performance during a conversation with my peers. Today, I was terminated from my role based on "going in a different direction." I understand my state is an at-will state, but the timeline feels too much like retaliation for me to just sit with it.
Brian’s answer: As my colleague noted, there may be whistleblower issues here. You should contact an experienced employment/labor law attorney.
Looking for a employment lawyer in NYC/Bronx: Assist with demand letter to expunge retaliatory illegal suspension for requesting Safe Leave under NYS Safe and Sick Leave act. My boss demanded I follow unsafe /illegal directives and then suspended me for it.
Brian’s answer: You should contact an experienced labor/employment attorney to discuss this.........................
Can an employer deduct business expenses from earned commission, then retaliate when I ask about it?:
I'm a salaried-plus-commission, on a draw, employee whose contract is governed by New York law. My written contract defines how my commission is calculated. It does not include the deductions I'm asking about.
Those deductions were added later through an internal policy that was never signed as a contract amendment. My contract says any change must be signed by both sides.
The deductions are not my own expenses. They are business costs the company incurs to service a job, and the company takes part of those costs out of commission I've already earned. On lower-value work, the deduction can be more than my commission, so the company profits on the job while I personally lose money.
The company's own written policy describes these as amounts taken from "commissions earned." When I asked in writing what exactly gets deducted, a manager admitted in writing that there is no defined list.
Shortly after I raised these questions in writing, a manager threatened to take away part of my book of business. My questions were only about how pay is calculated.
Is this a wage-deduction violation? Is the threat retaliation?
Brian’s answer: Although no attorney could give you a definitive answer based on the limited information available in this type of forum, what you are describing sounds unlawful - both the deductions and the retaliation.