Question: Is it worth taking legal action against a former employer for deliberately providing misinformation regarding profit sharing benefits?
Note: I'm in Maryland but the employer is based in Virginia.
I worked for a company for over 1 year. In my offer letter I was promised a profit sharing contribution of between 10% and 15% of my base salary for each year I'm with the company. There were no other stipulations given to me either verbally or in writing.
After recently leaving this company, I was surprised to find out that they have a 2 year waiting period to start vesting the contributions and it doesn't 100% vest until after 6 years. My employer claims he made this perfectly clear to me when I was hired but I certainly don't remember anything and I don't have anything in writing that explains the vesting schedule. When I pushed my employer he sent me the original document he has when he created the profit sharing plan. That's the first I've seen of this document and it doesn't have my initials on it or anything. He claims I'm the first employee to be upset about this and thinks he has done nothing wrong.
From what I've read, it is a requirement to show me the full terms of the profit sharing benefit at time of hire so I can walk away if I don't like the terms. If no terms are provided, I can assume I will be immediately vested at 100%. I read that he is also required to mail me a printed copy of the terms at least once a year, every year, without me even asking for it. My employer thinks I'm ridiculous and has resorted to name calling and threats. He even asked me not to contact other employees or he would bury me (a legal threat, not a physical one). I wanted to work this out peacefully with him but this no longer seems possible. It really bothers me that he treats his employees this way.
Do you think it is worth me taking legal action against this employer or should I just let it go? Do you know if there is help from the Department of Labor or some local government entity that could possibly help us do a professional mediation and take us to court if necessary? Any and all advice is appreciated.
Note: I'm in Maryland but the employer is based in Virginia.
I worked for a company for over 1 year. In my offer letter I was promised a profit sharing contribution of between 10% and 15% of my base salary for each year I'm with the company. There were no other stipulations given to me either verbally or in writing.
After recently leaving this company, I was surprised to find out that they have a 2 year waiting period to start vesting the contributions and it doesn't 100% vest until after 6 years. My employer claims he made this perfectly clear to me when I was hired but I certainly don't remember anything and I don't have anything in writing that explains the vesting schedule. When I pushed my employer he sent me the original document he has when he created the profit sharing plan. That's the first I've seen of this document and it doesn't have my initials on it or anything. He claims I'm the first employee to be upset about this and thinks he has done nothing wrong.
From what I've read, it is a requirement to show me the full terms of the profit sharing benefit at time of hire so I can walk away if I don't like the terms. If no terms are provided, I can assume I will be immediately vested at 100%. I read that he is also required to mail me a printed copy of the terms at least once a year, every year, without me even asking for it. My employer thinks I'm ridiculous and has resorted to name calling and threats. He even asked me not to contact other employees or he would bury me (a legal threat, not a physical one). I wanted to work this out peacefully with him but this no longer seems possible. It really bothers me that he treats his employees this way.
Do you think it is worth me taking legal action against this employer or should I just let it go? Do you know if there is help from the Department of Labor or some local government entity that could possibly help us do a professional mediation and take us to court if necessary? Any and all advice is appreciated.
