Legal Question in Employment Law in Michigan

Re: Breaking employment contract

THIS COMMUNICATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE OR CREATE AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP.

Knowing the economic pains of higher education, I feel for your plight. In situations such as the one you described, the starting place is obviously the signed written employment agreement - the entire agreement. With the vast majority of employment contracts in Michigan being at-will, it would be an exception to encounter a personal service contract for a generally unskilled position. While most employers want an at-will employment scenario for their own purposes, a "seasonal" employer with a default and turn-over problem might try to implement employment contracts.

A primary problem that such an employer faces is that the employment relationship is essentially transformed from at-will to "for cause." Another major problem that the employer faces is that it is virtually impossible to force specific performance (i.e., a court would not issue an injunctive order forcing a defaulting employee to work for the employer). The non-defaulting employer would be forced to seek monetary damages. That generally becomes a burden in time and expense to the employer (court costs, legal fees, etc.). And of course, assuming that the employer is victorious, there is the problem of collecting a small judgment from a college student (that is why so many parents must cosign apartment leases).

Most employment-related cases turn on their specific facts, but I hope that some of these general thoughts help.

John P. Guenther

Law Office of John P. Guenther

9135 General Court

Re: Breaking employment contract

If the contract commits you to work for the specified period and does not leave you the option or a means to terminate the agreement, then it likely will be enforceable by the employer. If you do not work as promised under the contract, and if the employer cannot find an alternate employee to fill the position, it is possible (although probably not likely) that the employer would file a lawsuit to compel you to honor the contract.

It is unlikely that an employer would do so, because the cost of pursuing a lawsuit against you might be more than what the employer could receive in return. Most employers likely would find it less costly, and more beneficial, to hire a new employee who wants to work there. Additionally, the employer would have to decide whether it wants to compel someone to work for it, if the person no longer wants to work there. The employer might be more motivated to go to court, if you have special skills that the employer could only replace at a greater expense. I am not suggesting or recommending, however, that you fail to honor your employment agreement with the hotel.

If the employer must hire another person at a higher wage than it was going to pay you, then the employer could ask the court to award it the difference between what it would have paid you and what it had to pay your replacement. The court would have to take into account whether the employer attempted to reduce its damages by seeking out someone who could perform the job for the same wage as you agreed to accept. Again, the cost of pursuing this in court likely would be prohibitive for most business, given what little the business could expect to receive in a court judgment.

You should contact an attorney in your area, so that you can discuss the particular facts concerning the employment agreement. This letter is not intended as legal advice, and it should not be considered to be legal advice. No attorney/client relationship is created as a result of this response.

Stephen Scapelliti

Couzens, Lansky, Fealk, Ellis, Roeder & Lazar, P.C.

39395 W. Twelve Mile Road, Suite 200