Do a quarter-asz job and get fired.
Do a quarter-asz job and get fired.
Curious, why can't you defer your start date at the new place by 60 days?
Do you and Allyson Felix have the same agent?
Definitely lawyer up right away. Much of employment law is based on state law and can vary significantly from one state to the next. And the answers to your questions will depend a lot on the terms of your employment agreement. If the $150k is in the agreement as a liquidated damage provision, that may trigger significant scrutiny in many jurisdictions. If it is a claw back of a retention bonus, that is a different analysis. If it is just your employer making a guess on what damages they would prove at trial, that is yet another analysis.
The medical ethics issue is also something you should be looking for help with in your jurisdiction. If you are lucky and find an attorney who regularly represents doctors, they should be able to help you find a consultation to get a good read on how your jurisdiction's licensing board handles contract termination. Generally speaking. medical licensing boards are pretty pathetic and let some very, very bad doctors keep practicing medicine after substantially harming patients. But you need to get good local information on whether contract termination is something that your state's licensing board cares about. I suspect that if the issue is just about the health care organization losing some profits by being short staffed for a short period, your licensing board would not be amused that your employer was using them for leverage. But if there is a real allegation that you departure could negatively affect patient care, you need to walk through that with people who know what is going on in your state.
In the end, it will just be a matter of negotiations as litigation is expensive and time consuming. You will be in a substantially better position if you have well qualified legal counsel with specific expertise in medical employment. That won't be cheap, but it may save you six figures or more.
Agree with the other commentators that something does not add up - expect that you received a significant benefit under the contract and you are now not willing to live up to the terms of the contract. You have some options - renege on your acceptance of your new job, lawyer up and negotiate your way out of your current contract (but expect you will be paying some cash - is the new job worth it?), or sit back and wait for the 2020 election . If a Dem wins, healthcare will be reformed and you'll be forced into slave labor to provide health care as a right to all citizens of the world and, in return, you can hope to be compensated at Medicare rates! #Winning!
hippisces wrote:
TLDR:
Got offered dream job, took it, have to quit current job (I gave them 1 month notice but the contract needed 3 months notice). I offer to work the last month for free just to get out of the contract and got denied.
This contract breach will cost me 150k .
Now what?
Please help me olmighty letsrun.
Consult with an attorney. If he says that the clause in your contract is enforceable than there is not much you can do about it. Maybe work the three months and see if the new employer is willing to wait.
If you are serving a fellowship then you should probably meet your commitment. Otherwise the fact that you left early could be detrimental to your career. Depending on your specialty you may encounter your boss/coworkers in the future.
https://www.conductor.com/blog/2017/12/two-weeks-notice-is-bs/
Perry Mason wrote:
Agree with the other commentators that something does not add up - expect that you received a significant benefit under the contract and you are now not willing to live up to the terms of the contract. You have some options - renege on your acceptance of your new job, lawyer up and negotiate your way out of your current contract (but expect you will be paying some cash - is the new job worth it?), or sit back and wait for the 2020 election . If a Dem wins, healthcare will be reformed and you'll be forced into slave labor to provide health care as a right to all citizens of the world and, in return, you can hope to be compensated at Medicare rates! #Winning!
Yeah, we’re all going broke billing Medicare. I don’t know how geriatricians afford to eat.
Flounder wrote:
If you are serving a fellowship then you should probably meet your commitment. Otherwise the fact that you left early could be detrimental to your career. Depending on your specialty you may encounter your boss/coworkers in the future.
https://www.conductor.com/blog/2017/12/two-weeks-notice-is-bs/
The only thing accurate in that article is the title, "Two Weeks Notice is BS". In most cases that is two weeks too long. Employers do not provide two weeks notice when getting rid of employees, but act off put when someone gives less than two weeks notice. Or like the writer of the article, expects it to be even more than two weeks.
I am discussing what would be the most logical move with my "dream employer" currently. Still assessing if they want me that badly though.
Confuzzled wrote:
hippisces wrote:
It is a five years contract- and yes I understand I should have negotiated the clauses before I sign,
According to my employer, I have to serve them for the entire contract duration and then I can consider quitting given 3 months notice.
They made it sound like they are not afraid to bring this to court and I will lose my license because they will file a complain to the ethics committee. They also mentioned that I could go bankrupt.
I am a physician, but I am still paying my student loans so was just trying to see if anyone could help/ share their experiences before I fork out more money for legal consultation.
You are leaving out way too many details. Have you even served the 5 years of your contract? Reading between the lines, it seems you haven't reached the 5 year mark of your contract, at which point you could then put in your 3 months notice.
You are then saying you would work for free for a month, trying to make yourself look like the unselfish good guy.
Why is this $150,000 stipulation in the contract? Cannot imagine an employer would just put that in there willy and nilly and that you would sign such a contract unless they put in some kind of extensive investment in you and that you greatly benefited from. Again more details that you have left out.
Au contraire, I feel like I am giving out way too many details. I have serious legal consequences to face and I cannot imagine what the outcome would be if my current employers also read Letsrun...
The answer is no, I have two years left. To the other readers that mentioned my dream job could wait another 3 months, that is not the case because they will have to wait for a couple of years before I can join them.
I have no idea. I was young and naive back then when I signed the contract and I am a terrible, terrible negotiator.
They did not invest anything major in me. Other than paying for my CPD ( less than 1k in total) and sometime sending me to some symposiums and seminars.
Precious Roy wrote:
Definitely lawyer up right away. Much of employment law is based on state law and can vary significantly from one state to the next. And the answers to your questions will depend a lot on the terms of your employment agreement. If the $150k is in the agreement as a liquidated damage provision, that may trigger significant scrutiny in many jurisdictions. If it is a claw back of a retention bonus, that is a different analysis. If it is just your employer making a guess on what damages they would prove at trial, that is yet another analysis.
The medical ethics issue is also something you should be looking for help with in your jurisdiction. If you are lucky and find an attorney who regularly represents doctors, they should be able to help you find a consultation to get a good read on how your jurisdiction's licensing board handles contract termination. Generally speaking. medical licensing boards are pretty pathetic and let some very, very bad doctors keep practicing medicine after substantially harming patients. But you need to get good local information on whether contract termination is something that your state's licensing board cares about. I suspect that if the issue is just about the health care organization losing some profits by being short staffed for a short period, your licensing board would not be amused that your employer was using them for leverage. But if there is a real allegation that you departure could negatively affect patient care, you need to walk through that with people who know what is going on in your state.
In the end, it will just be a matter of negotiations as litigation is expensive and time consuming. You will be in a substantially better position if you have well qualified legal counsel with specific expertise in medical employment. That won't be cheap, but it may save you six figures or more.
I am liaising with my potential new employer to see if they would like to help me out. I am consulting a lawyer at the end of next week to see how bad this whole incident could end. Thank you for your valuable input, it really talked some sense to me to seek legal assistance.
While I am in the midst of hardship (haha I deserve it because I signed the contract myself), I am thankful for everyone's reply. Sometime I feel like to act in the best financial interest of myself, not being alive is a pretty attractive option to me.
Seriously though, it cost $0 to be dead lol
hippisces wrote:
Confuzzled wrote:
You are leaving out way too many details. Have you even served the 5 years of your contract? Reading between the lines, it seems you haven't reached the 5 year mark of your contract, at which point you could then put in your 3 months notice.
You are then saying you would work for free for a month, trying to make yourself look like the unselfish good guy.
Why is this $150,000 stipulation in the contract? Cannot imagine an employer would just put that in there willy and nilly and that you would sign such a contract unless they put in some kind of extensive investment in you and that you greatly benefited from. Again more details that you have left out.
Au contraire, I feel like I am giving out way too many details. I have serious legal consequences to face and I cannot imagine what the outcome would be if my current employers also read Letsrun...
The answer is no, I have two years left. To the other readers that mentioned my dream job could wait another 3 months, that is not the case because they will have to wait for a couple of years before I can join them.
I have no idea. I was young and naive back then when I signed the contract and I am a terrible, terrible negotiator.
They did not invest anything major in me. Other than paying for my CPD ( less than 1k in total) and sometime sending me to some symposiums and seminars.
If you are serious, and feel that you are giving out too much information, and all of what has been posted is legit, what the hell are you doing on LRC.
It is entirely possible that if you employer finds out, you will be considered in breach of something.
You stand to lose more than $150K.
Have you talked about this with the human resources people at your new job? If these sorts of contacts are common, surely they encounter this all of the time when they are hiring.
doesn't add up wrote:
Such a contract sounds like it will not be enforceable.
You need to lawyer up right now. It sucks, and it's expensive, but you have to do it. There are too many variables to get good advice on an internet forum. You need someone who can read your contract and who knows the law in your state.
Also, don't get too worked up about the threats that your employer is making. They're doing that because you don't have a lawyer. Businesses who have general counsels or lawyers on retainer make a habit of threatening unrepresented individuals with baseless litigation.
As a general matter of contract law, liquidated damages clauses are only enforceable if they are a reasonable approximation of actual damages. It seems VERY unlikely that losing a doctor 2 months early is going to cost your employer 150k. Moreover, in the employment context, there are a lot of "public policy" constraints on the kinds of contracts that courts will enforce. This varies a great deal from state to state.
hippisces wrote:
Confuzzled wrote:
You are leaving out way too many details. Have you even served the 5 years of your contract? Reading between the lines, it seems you haven't reached the 5 year mark of your contract, at which point you could then put in your 3 months notice.
You are then saying you would work for free for a month, trying to make yourself look like the unselfish good guy.
Why is this $150,000 stipulation in the contract? Cannot imagine an employer would just put that in there willy and nilly and that you would sign such a contract unless they put in some kind of extensive investment in you and that you greatly benefited from. Again more details that you have left out.
Au contraire, I feel like I am giving out way too many details. I have serious legal consequences to face and I cannot imagine what the outcome would be if my current employers also read Letsrun...
The answer is no, I have two years left. To the other readers that mentioned my dream job could wait another 3 months, that is not the case because they will have to wait for a couple of years before I can join them.
I have no idea. I was young and naive back then when I signed the contract and I am a terrible, terrible negotiator.
They did not invest anything major in me. Other than paying for my CPD ( less than 1k in total) and sometime sending me to some symposiums and seminars.
You are learning a very expensive lesson, hope you get your money's worth.
Also, stop talking about this situation to anyone other than a lawyer or your spouse. Stop posting about it on Letsrun. EVERYTHING you say or write to anyone else is discoverable in litigation.
800 dude wrote:
doesn't add up wrote:
Such a contract sounds like it will not be enforceable.
You need to lawyer up right now. It sucks, and it's expensive, but you have to do it. There are too many variables to get good advice on an internet forum. You need someone who can read your contract and who knows the law in your state.
Also, don't get too worked up about the threats that your employer is making. They're doing that because you don't have a lawyer. Businesses who have general counsels or lawyers on retainer make a habit of threatening unrepresented individuals with baseless litigation.
As a general matter of contract law, liquidated damages clauses are only enforceable if they are a reasonable approximation of actual damages. It seems VERY unlikely that losing a doctor 2 months early is going to cost your employer 150k. Moreover, in the employment context, there are a lot of "public policy" constraints on the kinds of contracts that courts will enforce. This varies a great deal from state to state.
Again the the OP should consult with an attorney to see if the clause is enforceable. We had tennants fight against terms of a lease agreement. The judge spent about a minute reading the clause and ruled against the tenant.
Unless you disclose the name of your current employer there will be no ramifications from you're having posted on LR.
Not every contract clause is enforceable, non-negotiable, or necessarily triggers litigation if breached.
Consult a lawyer specializing in Employment Law.
But if you want to risk your career and ~$150K by getting 50 different opinions from non-experts on the internet, seems your judgment isn't much better than when you signed.
I don’t know about you, but my dream job pays at least $300k. (After all, I make $250k now, have a model wife, and am working on running a 4 minute mile.)
So take the hit. You’ll make it back in a few months.