Weiner v. Diebold Group, Inc.
173 A.D.2d 166, 568 N.Y.S.2d 959
Appellate Division, First Department · May 2, 1991
What the court decided
Parties "are not free to enter into contracts which violate public policy," so "if the incentive compensation payments were payments of earned wages, the plaintiff could not contract to forfeit them." New York's "long standing policy against the forfeiture of earned wages . . . applies to earned, uncollected commissions as well."
Who won
Neither side won outright. The employee's judgment was reversed and the case sent back for a new trial, because whether the pay was a discretionary bonus or earned wages, and how inconsistently the forfeiture policy had been applied, were questions for a jury.
Why it matters for salespeople
The case behind the rule that a plan cannot forfeit earned commissions no matter what it says.
Key passage: 173 A.D.2d 166 at 167-168.
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