Ryan v. Kellogg Partners Institutional Services
19 N.Y.3d 1, 968 N.E.2d 947, 945 N.Y.S.2d 593, 2012 N.Y. Slip Op. 02248
New York Court of Appeals · March 27, 2012
What the court decided
A bonus the employer promised as part of the employee's pay, "expressly link[ed]" to his own work and "guaranteed and non-discretionary as a term and condition of his employment," is a wage under Labor Law § 190(1) once earned, and the failure to pay it violated § 193 and carried attorney's fees under § 198(1-a). The oral promise was enforceable: at-will acknowledgments in the job application and handbook did not make it discretionary, and the Statute of Frauds did not apply because the agreement could be performed within a year.
Who won
The employee won. The Court affirmed a jury verdict of $175,000 plus interest and attorney's fees (a total judgment of $379,956.65).
Why it matters for salespeople
The leading case for an employee promised a guaranteed bonus, even orally. Compare Truelove: a discretionary share of a company-wide pool is not a wage; a guaranteed bonus for your own work is. Courts later disagreed about whether withholding a wage entirely (rather than deducting part of it) violated § 193. The Legislature's findings for the 2021 amendment cite this case as "correctly holding" that failing to pay a wage violates § 193. For pay withheld since August 19, 2021, § 193(5) settles the question in the employee's favor (see Neu and Patel); for earlier pay the Appellate Division departments differ (see Fisher, Okeke and Hernandez).
Key passage: 19 N.Y.3d 1 at 16.
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