Bond with employer

[meera7677]

I had signed a bond that if I leave company A before 2 years of employment with them, I would have to pay $25,000. Is this legally valid ? I didn't notice the catch in the papers I had signed on the day of joining. I was in a hurry and signed all the pages thinking it was a regular formality. There was no witness and I have a photo copy of the bond with only my signature on them. I don't have the copy with both the employer and my signature. Is it possible that I could contest this in court ? I have an offer from another employer B and I want to trasfer my H1 to them. My employer A has to pay me 6K salary for this month. If I trasfer my H1 to another company, will I lose that salary ? Is it possible to contest that in court ?

[broadersoftware]

You will probably end up paying.

Check with an Attorney.

[Shloka]

Meera

Has your case resolved?Can you please share some info.I am in similar situaiton rt now.

[Nishant]

Breach of agreement or contract can be sued by one party on the other. Since your amount is larger , it will be civil court otherwise it is small claims court.

When the matter goes to the court, you will get a court notice to appear for pre-trial. The jurisdiction is decided by your earlier place of work and employer. Even if you have relocated, it is important to make sure that you attend the pre-trial. If you remain absent, the decision goes in favor of other party and a judgement is given in favor of the other party. With court judgement, the employer can garnish current salary till amount is paid at a rate predetermined which generally doesnot exceed 30 %.

If you remain present for pre-trial and subsequent trial, you and your attorney will get a chance to present your side for judge to give decision.Very often, judge asks both parties to try to compromise outside court because with court decision, there is no compromise. It is either win or lose.

The important point is to note that you donot ignore court notices even if it means taking leave and travel to other state.

In your case, since it is only your signature on the contract, you may need to consult attorney. You may also check from court records whether any such cases were filed by your previous employer for others.

[devs]

Urgent Reply Needed And Requested

Hi Meera,

were you able to resolve this issue? I have a similar situation and need to find a solution asap.

Dev.

[vijaysank]

I was talking to a Friend of mine who is running a consultancy in chicago. Please keep this as a reference advise and not a legal one.
As for as the legal terms concerned bellow are the points which make your position strong,
1. In US, a Employeer can not keep hold of a employee by executing a bond for as it's illegal. All these bonds / agreements are not valid under the Federal jurisdiction. How ever all they can say is, By legal if you resign now, they incurr some cost wrt to the end client commitment etc.. which will open their file of the reason for executing the bond / etc and normally consultancy wont risk this as it may end up closing their office in US.
2. When they execute a bond, They have to prove that they have work for you all the time, and most of the time when a employee in bench the consultancies won't pay for them and you can say that you are ditching because your skills are not properly utilized by your company.
3. A breach comes to play for assginments between companies.

Please note that this is just some points for your reference, and not a legal / 100% sure advise.

Thanks!

[Nishant]

Companies can sue individual for breach of contract and present to court about financial loss to them due to sudden departure of individual and claim for that loss.

[desilva]

Changing Address

I have one quick question.

I am in similar situation of the bond.

What if i change the address and vanish from there? How do i get the notice for pre-trial?