How Can You Get Compensation for a Breach of Contract?
When an employer breaches your employment contract, it can be both frustrating and cost you financially. To help compensate for your employer’s actions, you could potentially be awarded damages. Damages are simply the legal term that refers to monetary compensation, and a great way to pursue them is with the help of an attorney for unlawful firings in LA.
Understanding Employment Contracts
Your Los Angeles employment lawyer will define an employment contract as a legal agreement between you and your employer. This contract addresses your terms of employment, including specifics like your annual wages. Most employment contracts are in written form. However, some may be oral agreements.
This oral or written contract will be highly unique to your employment situation. While many different areas can be covered, such as wages and benefits, all of the agreements in your contract must abide by federal, state, and local employment laws. For example, your employer cannot agree to earn below minimum wage or toss out your right to unemployment.
A Breach Of Contract
Lawyers will define a breach of contract as one party not meeting their contractual obligations. Suppose your employment contract states that you will not get let go for at least three full years without good cause. Two years into your employment, you get fired and replaced by the boss’s brother-in-law. Since there is no reasonable cause for your termination, your employer breached your employment contract.
At-Will Employment
We can’t discuss employment contracts without touching on the topic of at-will employment. This employment contract agreement stipulation means that both you and your employer agree that you may be fired or quit at any time. In regards to termination, your employer will have to have a legal cause as the law requires. These agreements tend to specify other things like your compensation, work location, and schedule.
An at-will employment agreement is viewed as different from other contracts in a judge’s eyes. For example, it’s not likely that a judge will rule that your employer breached your contract if they reduce your wages. This is because your at-will employment allows your employer to fire you at any time. They can fire you and rehire you at a lower rate.
If you don’t agree to an at-will employment contract, any change in your employment would be considered a breach of contract. For example, let’s say your employer decided to pay you $50,000 per year in your employment contract. If they only pay you $40,000, they’re breaching your employment contract according to any unjust termination at work lawyer Los Angeles.
Collecting Damages For Breach Of Contract
You’ll be entitled to what your employment specifies. In the example above, your employer would still be on the hook for paying you that additional $10,000 stated in your employment contract. However, some scenarios aren’t this easy to determine.
Your lawyers will reveal that contractual breaches over things like termination can be trickier to handle. In most cases, a judge will not order your former employer to rehire you for the remainder of your contractual period. Instead, they will request your employer pay you for any missed income for the contractual period you agreed to.
A Look At Expectation Damages
Expectation damages are defined as an amount equal to what the employee expected for their contract. A primary example of this is the lack of your employer paying you what they promised annually. If your contract states you’ll make $40,000 per year, and your employer only pays you $30,000, they legally own you $10,000.
However, expectation damages aren’t always this easy. It’s your legal duty to mitigate financial damages caused by a breach of contract. An easier way to understand this necessity is by looking at a prime example. Let’s say that John had a five-year contract with his employer. Three years into his employment, a change in upper management resulted in his firing without cause.
While John is initially entitled to the next two years of his salary, he has a legal duty to mitigate the damages caused by his employer’s breach of his employment contract. John must attempt to get another job. The amount that his employer will owe him for the contract violation will be his remaining wages for the five-year employment period minus whatever John’s income is for those two years at his new job.
Liquidated Damages
A meeting with your lawyer will identify whether or not your employment contract includes liquidated damages. This provision can be added to any employment contract and specifies a certain amount of money that either party must pay if they breach it. This type of contract provision is not commonly used unless it’s difficult to value what the employee lost.
Punitive And Compensatory Damages
Lawyers will advise you that contract cases don’t allow you to recover damages for pain and suffering. You’re also not entitled to any punitive damages for the breach of contract. Punitive damages are meant to punish an employer for egregious behavior. We’re touching on this area because punitive and compensatory damages are available for other types of employment cases, such as discrimination.
Attorney Fees
Legal representation may be costly. Most will charge around 10 percent of the total case winnings. However, you may be able to recover these fees if you have a specific provision in your contract. This provision must state that the party responsible for the breach of contract is responsible for paying the other party’s legal fees. If this provision is not currently in your agreement, your lawyer can’t hold your employer accountable for your legal fees.
Getting let go from a position is a stressful and upsetting situation experienced by many. Mann & Elias help clients get the money they deserve from their former employers. If you’ve been let go from a company in a way that’s outside your contract, contact our law firm today.