By Michael Futterman and Jaime Touchstone
An employee filed a wage claim against her former employer for unpaid commissions and was awarded nearly $30,000 by the labor commissioner. The employer appealed the decision to the superior court … but then withdrew the appeal. The employee then sought reimbursement of the amounts she had expended in defending against the appeal, which ended up being way more costly than the initial lawsuit!
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Linda Arneson worked for Pacific Mortgage as a salaried, commissioned employee. In February 2013, she left Pacific and filed a wage claim with the California labor commissioner alleging her former employer had failed to pay her commissions for certain work performed by a team member. At the time, Arneson was not represented by an attorney. In October 2013, the labor commissioner found in her favor and awarded her $29,500.
Pacific appealed the decision, and Arneson retained legal counsel to represent her in the appeal proceedings. The appeal was set for hearing in late March 2014. Pacific warned Arneson that if it prevailed on appeal, it would seek reimbursement from her for its attorneys’ fees and costs. Arneson’s attorney promptly responded by notifying Pacific that Arneson was reserving her right to bring other claims against it beyond unpaid commissions, including claims for additional wages, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation.
It may have been this response that caused Pacific to withdraw its appeal. However, that proved costly, as Arneson wanted reimbursement for the legal fees incurred for an appeal that never happened. Read on at the link below for full details of the case.
Read more here.