Consumer Law, Warranties verbal agreement?

[dan313]

Recently while working for a painting company, my crew(2 others plus myself) was offered a bonus on a supermarket we were painting, if the job came in at 40% or better. The job DID come in at 40% or better (employer admits it came in at better but would not tell us the exact number) and he refused to give us the bonus. After 3 months of complaints and questions from us (my crew and i) we were all terminated on the grounds that he was "tired of listening to us piss and moan about the bonus". Do we have any kind of case here or do we just walk away empty handed?

 

[mike]

Oral agreements are perfectly fine, just more difficult to prove in the event of a dispute. All of you should expect to testify although it might be your word against his. Normally you might have a problem with the "statute of frauds" -- which is a law that prevents agreements of a certain type from being enforceable (actually "voidable" by one party) without a writing to document the agreement. However there is partial performance of the job (complete actually.) You should do your best to find as much evidence as you can with regard to the agreement. You will probably want to send a demand letter, certified return receipt, to your ex-employer before taking him to court. How much money are you talking about?

Recently while working for a painting company, my crew(2 others plus myself) was offered a bonus on a supermarket we were painting, if the job came in at 40% or better. The job DID come in at 40% or better (employer admits it came in at better but would not tell us the exact number) and he refused to give us the bonus. After 3 months of complaints and questions from us (my crew and i) we were all terminated on the grounds that he was "tired of listening to us piss and moan about the bonus". Do we have any kind of case here or do we just walk away empty handed?