Legal Question in Employment Law in California

You raise many issues, which will require a much more in depth review of the facts than can be done in this forum. Generally speaking, whatever rights you may have are delineated in your employment agreement with this company. That would include your right to compensation, commissions, bonues, when they must be paid and how it is calculated.

Verbal contracts are just as legally binding as written contracts but, obviously, that are more difficult to prove if the employer does not agree with your understanding of the terms of the agreement. You may have to prove the terms of your contract by circumstantial evidence. You will need to organize all writings, email, etc., list any witnesses you have and prepare your evidence for an attorney to review.

However, you should know that, unless you have an agreement that you can only be fired for cause or that you are employed for a fixed period of time, you will be presumed to be terminable at the will of the employer. This means, even if they lied to you about the reason you were fired, it does not matter. At-will employees may be terminated for "greed", as you suspect. They can even be fired for no reason, just not unlawful reasons. The only caveat is that they must pay you everything owed to you, per the contract.

Unemployment benefits can only be denied if you quit, without good cause or if you committed misconduct, as defined by the EDD. If the company tries to fight you, appeal it and ask for a hearing. You are entitled to be represented by an attorney at the hearing.

Clearly, you would have to spend the time with an attorney, who will have many questions to ask and documents to review before a more informed legal opinion can be offered. There are many fine employment law attorneys in the Los Angeles area. Good luck.

In general, unless you are civil service, in a union or have a written employment contract, you are an 'at will' employee that can be disciplined or fired any time for any reason, other than illegal discrimination under the Civil Rights, or Whistle-blower, or similar statutes. Your goal should be to keep your employer happy with you.

Since you signed a new agreement, then it defines your rights to the extent they are covered in it. If it also waived and released any prior claims [as it should have if the company's attorney was doing his job] then past history is nothing more than that.

If you believe you have valid claims for pay or benefits unpaid, you can file with the Labor Commissioner. If fired, you can apply for unemployment, and appeal if it is denied.

If you are serious about consulting with counsel to review the documents and issues, feel free to contact me to arrange.