Employment contracts spell out who owes what between companies and workers regarding pay, termination rules, competition limits, and breach consequences. Commercial litigation attorney involvement becomes necessary when friendly talks break down between parties holding opposite financial stakes. Workers dealing with improper termination, missing wages, or employer contract breaking need representation to protect employment rights. Companies facing employee breach claims, pushing non-compete enforcement, or recovering losses from worker misconduct need experienced counsel navigating employment law crossing into contract territory.
Pay and benefits fights
Employment agreements lock in salary numbers, bonus structures, commission formulas, stock compensation, and benefit packages, creating payment obligations beyond simple at-will job arrangements. Unpaid commission battles need sales record diving, plan language interpretation, and calculation method disputes sorted out. Bonus fights cover whether performance bars got cleared, how much company discretion exists, and when payment must happen. Stock compensation arguments involve vesting timing, valuation approaches, and acceleration kicks following termination events. Deferred pay recovery demands plan document reading and regulatory rule checking. Expense payback claims require proving business expense legitimacy and policy following.
Improper firing claims
Contract workers fired before the term ends without cause language, allowing early cuts, face wrongful discharge claims seeking the remaining contract money. Cause definition battles need proving worker misconduct hitting contract termination bars. Notice requirement breaks create damages when companies fire without giving the contract notice windows. Severance deal enforcement makes sure promised separation money gets paid per the agreement language. Constructive discharge claims tackle employer behaviour, making continued work impossible, forcing resignation equal to firing. Damages cover lost pay, benefit continuation expenses, and professional reputation hits from improper termination circumstances. Contract fight categories lawyers tackle:
- Non-compete pushing requiring geographic reach, time length, and activity limit analysis under state law caps
- Confidentiality breach claims are hitting trade secret spilling and proprietary information misuse
- Non-solicitation breaks where ex-employees recruit coworkers or clients to new companies
- Intellectual property assignment battles over work product ownership and invention rights
- Garden leave forcing requiring the worker’s non-activity during paid notice stretches
Competition restriction lawsuits
Non-compete deals stopping employee competition within set geographic zones, time windows, and industry chunks need court pushing when former workers ignore contract limits. Reasonableness checking under state rules decides whether the restriction exceeds legitimate company interests. Injunction orders stop ongoing violations causing harm beyond monetary damage. Customer non-solicitation enforcement guards company client ties from systematic stealing. Employee non-solicitation prevents wholesale team exits to competing operations. Trade secret guarding through restriction enforcement adds to statutory trade secret claims, giving dual protection routes.
Money recovery tactics
Lost pay claims figure salary, bonuses, and benefits from wrongful firing or breach through the term’s finish. Front pay awards pay future lost earnings when job restoration is impractical. Mitigation duty requires fired workers to hunt replacement jobs, cutting company liability. Liquidated damage terms in employment contracts set preset breach amounts, dodging complex damage proof. Attorney fee clauses in employment contracts let the winning side recover legal bills from contract breakers. Punitive damages in extreme breach cases punish willful contract violations beyond regular recovery.
Employment contract disputes get handled through pay enforcement, termination claims, restriction lawsuits, and damage recovery, protecting both company and worker contract rights against opportunistic breaches.
