repayment of a signing bonus that I never saw the terms of

[nntp]

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).

 

[Green_Hornet]

If you think your right and did not sign let them take you to court to collect, and make your argument to the Judge. How much money do they say you owe?

 

[nntp]

Amount of money they want? More than $750, less than $7500. It looks like they could take it to small claims or request a jury trial. Their demands thus far have not mentioned what recourse they intend to pursue (if any).

I probably was required as a condition of employment to sign something agreeing to arbitration in disputes initiated by me.

The exact wording of the only thing I signed (or saw) is:

"You will receive a one-time signing bonus of $X less deductions as required by law. Should you resign from Y within two yours of your hire date, you will be required to reimburse to Y all or a prorated amount of the bonus according to the terms and conditions of the enclosed Sign-On Bonus Agreement. You must sign and date the enclosed Sign-On Bonus Agreement, and return the original of the agreement along with the original of this executed offer and the acceptance letter."

 

[Green_Hornet]

Let him sue you and make your case to the judge.

 

[dee_dub]

Should you resign from Y within two yours of your hire date, you will be required to reimburse to Y all or a prorated amount of the bonus

It did however mention that I left within two years I might be required to repay all or a pro-rated portion

I don't actually read that as "might". The agreement is pretty clear that you are required to repay all or some portion of the bonus if you leave within two years. The rub is, you were never presented with or agreed to any document setting out exactly what proportion of your signing bonus you were to return. Clearly you both contemplated they would get *something* back if you resigned early, but what that is is anybody's guess.

How much of the bonus, percentage-wise, are they trying to get back?

 

[nntp]

Slightly more than 25% of the gross. I came up <10% short on the time. They have not acknowledged that I am entitled to any kind of negotiation on this point. Nor have they offered that this would be the last I hear from them.