Legal Question in Employment Law in Kansas
Employee's Breach of fudiciary duty
My business is a start up with limited resources. i employeed a young man to make sales. He was given a $32,000 salary for less than one year and then would go to commission. It was an investment for the future. He has been there for 5 mo, sold $0, lost one of best accts as he did not mnge the project given for training. He refused to work past 5:00 to help ''clean up'' the fiasco he created. i called him into my office to explain what was expected of him and he said that we were a ''disfunctional'' co & he couldn't sell for us if he had to,& he never intended to sell for us. He smugly told myself and my husband, VP, that he came to work for us for ins until his wife graduates from nursing school in 6 months. We are in typical start up chaos but have 2 cust with over $1mil in rev.
Could this be a breach of contract? He was pd to solicit sales, only came into the office to cover the phones at lunch I found on computer he was applying for jobs while at his desk. He also forwarded all business emails to his home email address. He cost me the only capital I had left to invest in a sales. I can't stay in business with the bus I currently have. We inc Sept 7 (911) lost investor, sold our house, everything. This is it for us.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Employee's Breach of fudiciary duty
Well, I generally represent employees, but have worked with a number of employers as well. Although you need to discuss this with an attorney who can understand the specific facts, including the agreement you made with this person, I do not know why he wasn't terminated long ago. Because any termination can result in legal issues for an employer, you should act under advice of legal counsel and not base your decisions on any answers you get from a message board.
Re: Employee's Breach of fudiciary duty
I have a number of questions for you:
1. Do you have a written contract with this employee?
2. If so, is there a provision on termination?
3. Is there a buyout or similar provision?
4. Is this guy still employed in your company?
Sound like this guy could make some trouble for you. Of course trouble means money, in attorneys fees or possible settlement or lost profits. You need to approach this very carefully and seek legal counsel. I typically represent employees but do some business organizational and litigation work.
Thank you for your question.
Best regards,
Todd D. Epp, Esq.
Admitted in Kansas and South Dakota
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