Deceptive Hiring

[oakiemay]

I was at a former employer for 5+ years. Happy, but the usual job frustrations. I was recruited & pursued by another company with in the Insurance Industry- as a Business Development Specialist- selling/marketing property restoration services. I was lead to believe/told, the city I was responsible for maintaining & growing this servcie, had been providing this restoration service for many years. It was averaging $50,000/month. I was shown some internal documents that indicated this. I was not allowed to keep them, I did ask, but was denied. I left my former employer making $80,000+ a year, benefits, company car, etc & accepted this new position. They matched my salary, provided a guaranteed bonus of $5,000 (in writing) payable after 6 months, was told in writing/contract, I would get a 4% commission on all business, not just new, as long as the I met the $50,000/month or $600,000/yr thresh hold/hurdle. I started the postion, began seeing prospects, mostly contacts from my former employer, who is not a competitor- former employer was selling independent adjusting services to the insurance industry. My 2nd day, I received a loss from one of my contacts, contacted my Project Manager in my city & he said "I don't know how to handle that." There is a different line of service this new employer provides- Heating & A/C- which I came to find out was this Project Mgrs background. I then asked more questions- it turns out this city/office had only done 3 restoration jobs in 4 years- the $50,000/month, $600,000/yr was totally false. My city/office was not equipped or staffed to handle restoration jobs at all. I asked many more questions & insisted adjustments be made so the service I was selling, which I was told the company could do & had been doing for years, on a consistent basis- could be provided & done. Some adjustments were made but after 2.5 months at this company they decided to let me go. They simply indicated the business was not developing. I was given no severence, beneifts ended at midnight that day, company car taken & the $5,000 guaranteed bonus will not be paid- was payable at 6 months. This is a Worldwide Co- US home office in Massachussetts. 22 offices nationwide. I also learned during my 2 months with this co., they have done very similiar things to people through out the US. Many people hired & fired with in months. Of course, the co. always put the blame/cause on the emoployee. Since my termination (1 month ago), I have learned of one other person, in my same position that has been fired in another city after being with the company just 4 months. I would think I can get 5 to 10 people to state they were treated, misled, lied to, hired & fired- very similar to my situation, described above. Do I have a case?

 

[army judge]

I don't think you have a case.
But, you're free to speak with a local attorney.
The initial consultation is normally provided free of charge.

 

[disagreeable]

Sounds like an insurance salesman took you for a ride.