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In August 2021, the O’Brien Law Firm took on a case where the firm’s client had already filed a Texas Workforce Commission wage claim that the TWC had 98% denied. Before the client’s TWC wage claim appeal hearing, the client reached out to the O’Brien Law Firm to take on the case at that point. Instead of going forward with the TWC wage claim appeal hearing, the O’Brien Law Firm had the client agree to withdraw the wage claim, as the TWC wage claim process and rules can often lead to the wrong result in unpaid commissions cases. Once the O’Brien Law Firm got involved and informed the company and its attorney that the firm’s client would instead be promptly filing a lawsuit in court to recover the unpaid commissions due, the company agreed to pay 100% of the unpaid commissions due. As a result, the client recovered over $16,000 in unpaid commissions in their pocket.

This was a situation that the O’Brien Law Firm sees commonly – once an employee leaves a company, the employer may try to find a way to avoid paying the employee’s remaining commissions due, since the employee is no longer of any future value to the company. That’s why it can be very important to have your unpaid commissions case evaluated by the O’Brien Law Firm either before you file a TWC wage claim, or even while the wage claim process is ongoing. Because the Texas Workforce Commission essentially ignores helpful court cases that judges otherwise rely on to decide unpaid commissions cases in court, the TWC wage claim process can often be a less-successful way to try to recover unpaid commissions and bonuses, which Kerry O’Brien speaks about here. And know that if you allow the TWC wage claim process appeal deadlines to finalize, where you aren’t happy with the final TWC result but no longer have a right to appeal further at the TWC, you have likely lost the opportunity to then try to go to court on the same claim.