A digital media consultant was recruited to serve as director of digital sales at an automotive dealership. Before accepting the position, she discussed her concerns at length with the dealership's owner, including her need for scheduling flexibility during an ongoing divorce and the transition from a salaried to a commission-based role. The owner assured her she would have flexibility and offered her a compensation package represented as a guaranteed annual salary. After she accepted the position, the owner systematically violated the agreed-upon terms — demanding she forfeit her parenting time, ordering her to work schedules she had not agreed to, and withholding the commissions she had earned. She sued the owner and the dealership for violations of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
The client was employed as a digital media consultant for a website when the owner of an automotive dealership offered her the director of digital sales position. At the time, she was going through a divorce. She had concerns about leaving her previous employer because moving to a commission-based position would be a significant transition. Before making a decision, she spoke with the owner on several occasions to discuss her concerns, the flexibility she required, her divorce, childcare issues, her expectations, and her compensation.
The owner offered her a compensation package of $3,000 per week, represented as a guaranteed $156,000 annual salary, based on a 4% gross commission on all new and used car sales. He persuaded her to accept the offer, and she began working at the dealership. The two agreed that she would work shorter days on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to accommodate her parenting time. She made clear that she had to maintain responsible and consistent parenting time, as disruption to that schedule could be used against her during her divorce and potentially affect her custody arrangements.
Despite this agreement, the owner demanded that she skip her parenting time to be at the dealership, and threatened that if she could not be there when needed, he would find someone who could. She worked hard at the dealership, particularly because her compensation was commission-based and she needed to demonstrate financial stability to the court during her divorce. Due to her financial situation and fear of losing her job, she gave up her weekday parenting time.
Approximately one month later, the owner ordered her to work every Saturday, contrary to their agreement that she would work only every other Saturday. When she complained about his demands, he told her he could easily find someone who could work weekends and that she could go back to her old job. To keep the only parenting time she had left, she arranged for family to watch her children on Saturdays while she worked.
After a few weeks and again after a few months, she asked the owner why her commission checks were not arriving and why there were discrepancies in the amounts. He always had an excuse for not paying her. She later learned that none of the managers had received their commission checks. She was not paid the $3,000 per week he had promised in the first few months.
She endured a persistently hostile work environment and the owner's ongoing unprofessional conduct toward her and her coworkers. The owner was fully aware of her personal situation and financial struggles. Rather than pay her what she had earned, he subjected her to harassment in order to pressure her into quitting. She feared losing custody of her children, being unable to pay child support and alimony, and losing her home.