O'Brien Law Firm achieves settlement of $1.4 million claim for unpaid sales commissions

The O'Brien Law Firm recently represented two Abilene sales representatives with a large telecommunications provider in a Texas sales commission dispute in federal court. That case was Civil Action No. 1:19-cv-00147-H, in the federal court for the Northern District of Texas, Abilene Division. In the case, the two sales representatives were part of a sales team that helped win one of the company's biggest contracts to date. Pursuant to their sales commission plans in place at the time that the sale closed, the two clients together would be owed around $1.4 million in commissions once the project construction was completed. However, the company, believing it had the discretion to do so under a later-issued commission plan, and feeling that those commissions were simply too high, chose to pay these sales reps less than 25% of the commission amounts due. In response to this painful injustice, the two sales reps hired the O'Brien Law Firm of Austin to take action.

On April 16, 2021, the federal judge issued a legal ruling agreeing with the O'Brien Law Firm's arguments that the sales reps' original commission plan applied, essentially finding in favor of O'Brien's clients on perhaps 80% of their case, leaving the remaining 20% for the jury's determination at a July 2021 trial. Before that trial, the sales reps and the company settled their claims on confidential terms.

Commission agreements can be complicated, and the employer's legal obligations can depend substantially on the details of the situation and the specific words used in the commission plan. If you have any questions about whether your employer had a right to refuse to pay you a full sales commission, contact the O'Brien Law Firm today.