I voluntarily left my employer of almost 2 years. When I came in, I signed an employment offer that said I would be given a signing bonus, the terms of which would be described in a separate agreement. It did however mention that I left within two years I might be required to repay all or a pro-rated portion of my signing bonus. There were no specifics of in the offer letter of how repayment would work, and my recruiter basically said "oh, it's industry standard, don't worry about it, we'll give you the actual agreement when you show up".
The separate agreement was never presented to me, nor did I ever sign it.
The company is now trying to collect based on the agreement that they claim I should have signed. Needless to say, the repayment terms in this agreement that I "should have signed" are onerous, and I would have complained had I known about them. The agreement says I should have had time to consult a lawyer about it, that I'm not being coerced into signing it, etc. Which of course is not the case, since I never saw it. They have not tried to claim that I ever signed the agreement, just that I am bound by it anyways, since it is their standard policy.
Not that it matters, but the company also cut my salary while I worked for them in an amount that exceeds the amount they are trying to collect. The employment offer says that nothing that is not in writing is valid. The recruiter also lied about several things that were not in the contract (how bonuses worked, etc). As a result, the company underpaid me significantly over the two years compared to other offers I had on the table at the time.
Any thoughts about what I legally owe them and what legal remedies they actually can legitimately pursue against me? I'm inclined to take a stand for people in my situation who may not be in shape to do so, but if I'm going to lose I would just pay off and chalk it up to experience (and blacklist that employer the best I can).
The separate agreement was never presented to me, nor did I ever sign it.
The company is now trying to collect based on the agreement that they claim I should have signed. Needless to say, the repayment terms in this agreement that I "should have signed" are onerous, and I would have complained had I known about them. The agreement says I should have had time to consult a lawyer about it, that I'm not being coerced into signing it, etc. Which of course is not the case, since I never saw it. They have not tried to claim that I ever signed the agreement, just that I am bound by it anyways, since it is their standard policy.
Not that it matters, but the company also cut my salary while I worked for them in an amount that exceeds the amount they are trying to collect. The employment offer says that nothing that is not in writing is valid. The recruiter also lied about several things that were not in the contract (how bonuses worked, etc). As a result, the company underpaid me significantly over the two years compared to other offers I had on the table at the time.
Any thoughts about what I legally owe them and what legal remedies they actually can legitimately pursue against me? I'm inclined to take a stand for people in my situation who may not be in shape to do so, but if I'm going to lose I would just pay off and chalk it up to experience (and blacklist that employer the best I can).