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Hi,
I was recruited to a rural location in part with a very high sign on "bonus" (>100k). This was structured as a loan, which was to be forgiven gradually over a period of 5 years. The other way in which I was recruited is that I was promised a 4 day work week. I showed up and immediately they wanted me to work 5 days because they did not have someone to cover my day off (despite having plenty of time). So this was a bait and switch. I made a stink and eventually they agreed to give me 52 extra days of PTO as they could arrange for locums for a week or two at a time but for a single day. However, this was never done as an addendum to the contract, as the contract requires. After about a year of this nonsense, I realized that (1) It's extremely difficult to take off an extra 52 days a year, (2) I end up doing more work this way getting everything wrapped up to leave and straightened out when I return, and (3) it was impossible to make a production bonus because the locums got all the wRVU credit despite me doing all of the work (typically there would be no work done on my day off as I can get everything done in 4 days).
So, I quit and told them I was resigning for cause due to breach of contract. They replied that they accepted my resignation but declined to see how it was for cause as I verbally agreed to their alternative arrangement (which is not what I signed up for). I replied back with the contract language saying that all contract modifications must be in writing as a signed addendum ("no verbal agreements"), and they never replied, but interestingly they suddenly produced a locums who could be there on the 5th day and forced me to only work 4 days a week after submitting my resignation (worried they may have some legal liability now?)
Anyway, I am now no longer employed and they are trying to send me a "letter," which is undoubtedly a demand for payment for the remainder of the sign-on loan that was not forgiven (probably about $90k).
What will happen if I refuse to pay it back? I am assuming they will eventually serve me with court papers. Do I have an argument for damages in that they used a bad-faith contract and a large signing bonus that was DOA to recruit me to a rural area? I could make an argument that their alternative arrangement I was basically tricked into cost me production bonus, but the wRVU numbers that went to the locums instead aren't quite high enough to justify $90k. Is this something I should try and fight, and if so how? I am furious at the way they treated me and lied to me during my time there. Really nasty organization and I would love to fight them on principle alone.
In other words, they recruited me under false pretenses, failed to fully honor the contract immediately, which resulted in my resignation for cause. How do I quantify damages for their breach of contract? I can prove breach of contract, but so what does that mean if I can't collect any damages from them for the breach? My penalty for breaking the contract early with my 90 day notice, which I did give even though they were in breach, was having to pay back the unforgiven portion of the sign on loan, which I did not anticipate having to do as I did not anticipate their breach of contract. So I would consider that to be my "damages" I would be entitled to collect.
Thanks
I was recruited to a rural location in part with a very high sign on "bonus" (>100k). This was structured as a loan, which was to be forgiven gradually over a period of 5 years. The other way in which I was recruited is that I was promised a 4 day work week. I showed up and immediately they wanted me to work 5 days because they did not have someone to cover my day off (despite having plenty of time). So this was a bait and switch. I made a stink and eventually they agreed to give me 52 extra days of PTO as they could arrange for locums for a week or two at a time but for a single day. However, this was never done as an addendum to the contract, as the contract requires. After about a year of this nonsense, I realized that (1) It's extremely difficult to take off an extra 52 days a year, (2) I end up doing more work this way getting everything wrapped up to leave and straightened out when I return, and (3) it was impossible to make a production bonus because the locums got all the wRVU credit despite me doing all of the work (typically there would be no work done on my day off as I can get everything done in 4 days).
So, I quit and told them I was resigning for cause due to breach of contract. They replied that they accepted my resignation but declined to see how it was for cause as I verbally agreed to their alternative arrangement (which is not what I signed up for). I replied back with the contract language saying that all contract modifications must be in writing as a signed addendum ("no verbal agreements"), and they never replied, but interestingly they suddenly produced a locums who could be there on the 5th day and forced me to only work 4 days a week after submitting my resignation (worried they may have some legal liability now?)
Anyway, I am now no longer employed and they are trying to send me a "letter," which is undoubtedly a demand for payment for the remainder of the sign-on loan that was not forgiven (probably about $90k).
What will happen if I refuse to pay it back? I am assuming they will eventually serve me with court papers. Do I have an argument for damages in that they used a bad-faith contract and a large signing bonus that was DOA to recruit me to a rural area? I could make an argument that their alternative arrangement I was basically tricked into cost me production bonus, but the wRVU numbers that went to the locums instead aren't quite high enough to justify $90k. Is this something I should try and fight, and if so how? I am furious at the way they treated me and lied to me during my time there. Really nasty organization and I would love to fight them on principle alone.
In other words, they recruited me under false pretenses, failed to fully honor the contract immediately, which resulted in my resignation for cause. How do I quantify damages for their breach of contract? I can prove breach of contract, but so what does that mean if I can't collect any damages from them for the breach? My penalty for breaking the contract early with my 90 day notice, which I did give even though they were in breach, was having to pay back the unforgiven portion of the sign on loan, which I did not anticipate having to do as I did not anticipate their breach of contract. So I would consider that to be my "damages" I would be entitled to collect.
Thanks
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