Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Two year training contract with a retail store

Can they legally collect the money from you? Yes. Can they force you to work for them? No. Will they sue you? Maybe.

The question of what they will do may depends upon two things: The actual amount of money involved, and the degree of importance the store attaches to its policy of requiring their training graduates to live up to their contractual commitments.

I know that some insurance companies spend lots of money on expensive lawyers going after salespeople they train who later switch companies, but that's not retailing (Well, not exactly).

The starting point might be to read the contract carefully, to see if there is an attorney fee clause which would make you liable for their lawyer bills as well as the value of the training, and also for the value they attach to the training and whether the amount you owe them decreases gradually over the two years, i.e. is pro-rated, or if you owe the whole amount up to the last day of the two-year period.

Another thing to consider is the reason you want to quit. If you are quitting to open a competing business, the retailer is much more likely to enforce the contract, but if your spouse is moving, or you have health problems, they are more likely to forgive you.