Tuition reimbursement repayment

[Knajlea]

Jurisdiction

California

Back in January my husband request 2 weeks of vacation for our honeymoon and it was approved. Between then and our honeymoon in April we made the decision to move right after the honeymoon to Oregon. So, my husband gave a 3 week notice 4 days before the honeymoon to quit the week after returning from the honeymoon. 2 days after giving resignation notice they fired him. So, he never worked there again. Now that they are trying get back some of the tuition money they are saying he quit voluntarily 2 days after giving notice. They are outright lying about how he left the company. They are saying he did not have enough accrued vacation time and was told that he could not go on the pre-approved vacation. But they never told him that they just fired him. The contract he signed says he does not have to pay it back if he's fired without cause. But he does have to pay it back if he voluntarily quits. My questions is regarding the tuition reimbursement repayment. If they are lying about the situation and demanding the money be paid back but he was actually fired what can we do?

 

[mightymoose]

What can you do? Ignore them. You don't have to pay them just because they demand it. If they want you to pay they can first prove to a court that you owe it. Until then cease all contact.

Monthly pay stubs or other documents should show vacation accrual.

Was the 3 week notice to quit made in writing? Did he receive any documentation when he was terminated?

Had they not fired him was he willing to repay the tuition for voluntarily quitting?

 

[txls]

Well he did put in notice and planned to quit, but technically they fired him,so to me this a gray area which might take a judge to decide. If they had not fired him, but rather allowed him to finish out the notice he gave, wouldn't he be on the hook for tuition? So that obligation really hasn't changed. So he can ignore their demand for payment and see if they take him to court or not. If they do, then get a lawyer and fight it.

 

[Knajlea]

What can you do? Ignore them. You don't have to pay them just because they demand it. If they want you to pay they can first prove to a court that you owe it. Until then cease all contact.

Monthly pay stubs or other documents should show vacation accrual.

Was the 3 week notice to quit made in writing? Did he receive any documentation when he was terminated?

Had they not fired him was he willing to repay the tuition for voluntarily quitting?

They are threatening to forward it to their internal collections people. We obviously don't want his credit ruined. He received no documentation. My husband was confused at first so he called his boss back and explicitly asked was I just terminated? She said yes. The contact is with their in house counsel. He says all their documentation shows that he voluntarily quit which is not true. He says that vacation time was approved based on the understanding that he would work the full year to earn the vacation time. He says he was given three options on that phone call but he was not. I don't know how we could prove that he was terminated since it was over the phone. It looks like a he said she said situation.

 

[Knajlea]

Well he did put in notice and planned to quit, but technically they fired him,so to me this a gray area which might take a judge to decide. If they had not fired him, but rather allowed him to finish out the notice he gave, wouldn't he be on the hook for tuition? So that obligation really hasn't changed. So he can ignore their demand for payment and see if they take him to court or not. If they do, then get a lawyer and fight it.

Yes we knew he would have to pay it back. But he was fired without cause because he quit. They were a terrible company to begin with and him leaving would probably cause many problems within his department. After he left they actually fired all 3 people in the department and relocated one of his supervisors. So I think he was fired because they were mad about it. Them lying just proves what kind of company they are.

 

[txls]

"Yes we knew he would have to pay it back." That's all that really matters.

 

[hrforme]

First action was that he quit. that would've happened anyway right?

Honestly I see how they could be correct on all counts especially if they allowed him to take vacation before accrued

 

[mightymoose]

He didn't quit though. He gave notice of intent. He could have changed his mind any time within those 3 weeks.

If his notice to quit was not done in writing then it wasn't really given. There is probably a legitimate argument to make over whether it was voluntary or not.

They are threatening to forward it to their internal collections people.

Big deal. Ignore them too. If anything should appear on a credit report he can dispute it and and likely get it removed until they get a judgment from court.

This seems like a situation where they will try to bully you into paying. Disappear from their world and they won't bother you. Don't respond to anything but a legal summons to court.

Has he filed for unemployment since being fired? Doing so might help since they will try and determine the manner in which he was let go.

 

[zddoodah]

what can we do?

I'm sure you can do any number of things. However, you have no legal standing to do anything.

The extent to which your husband may be liable under the tuition agreement obviously depends on the wording of that agreement and the applicable state law. Obviously, he did quit voluntarily. That he intended to quit on a date that was immediately after a vacation and the employer decided to move his last day up a couple of days doesn't likely change that.

They are threatening to forward it to their internal collections people. We obviously don't want his credit ruined.

This has nothing to do with credit reporting.

 

[Knajlea]

He didn't quit though. He gave notice of intent. He could have changed his mind any time within those 3 weeks.

If his notice to quit was not done in writing then it wasn't really given. There is probably a legitimate argument to make over whether it was voluntary or not.



Big deal. Ignore them too. If anything should appear on a credit report he can dispute it and and likely get it removed until they get a judgment from court.

This seems like a situation where they will try to bully you into paying. Disappear from their world and they won't bother you. Don't respond to anything but a legal summons to court.

Has he filed for unemployment since being fired? Doing so might help since they will try and determine the manner in which he was let go.

He had a job already lined up once we moved so he didn't file for unemployment since he wouldn't qualify for it because we were on vacation. But he was let go from that job and is now on unemployment from CA. They are bullying. We've been trying to come to an agreeement without us having agreed to us actually owing it. We can only afford $50 a month and they want us to pay $250 a month so they can recoup the total in 2 years. The notice was through email so I'm not sure if that legally counts as in writing. I just hate that they are lying about him being fired and they know we wouldn't owe anything

 

[txls]

Okay so they spent $6000.00 on tuition, then he quits but wait, he wants to take some unearned vacation time 1st. I can see why they might be a little bit angry.

 

[Knajlea]

Okay so they spent $6000.00 on tuition, then he quits but wait, he wants to take some unearned vacation time 1st. I can see why they might be a little bit angry.

If he hadn't earn it they shouldn't have approved it. They were asking for 5100 but brought it down to $4800 because they paid his final paycheck days late even though they dispute the number of days as well. It's all just big mess. And we'll likely end up paying. Thinking about sending payments in pennies haha!

 

[mightymoose]

By negotiating with them you have substantially weakened your position of not owing anything.

You need to stop digging the hole and climb out of it.