Drawing from established precepts of Massachusetts law that a judge may fill in an omitted contractual term consistent with the intent of the parties, a Massachusetts Appeals Court recently affirmed a trial court’s conclusion...more
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a district court’s dismissal of two claims brought by distributors against the medical-device manufacturer Zimmer Biomet. It also affirmed a jury verdict in favor of the...more
Recent case law has highlighted various challenges in structuring payment provisions for referral arrangements, such as introduction, intermediary, brokerage and ‘finder’s fee’ agreements. Together, these provide useful...more
Many companies do not formalize commission arrangements with sales representatives in a formal contract. They shake hands, they have a custom of paying a certain rate for several years, or they agree in a series of emails and...more
For many years, an oft-litigated question concerned whether a former employee was owed the commissions on sales made prior to the employee’s discharge from employment. Sometimes employment agreements were clear on the issue,...more
On February 12, 2020, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued an opinion with significant implications for Massachusetts employers with commissioned employees. In Parker v. EnerNOC, Inc. (SJC-12703), the SJC...more
On October 12, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals partially approved and partially rejected an unusual pay plan designed to satisfy federal minimum wage requirements. In Stein v. HHGregg, Inc., the employer placed retail...more
North v Metaswitch Networks Corporation, 2017 ONCA 790 [Metaswitch] is the latest in a series of employee-friendly appellate level decisions where a contractual termination provision is not enforced. The Ontario Court of...more