W.B. Mason Co. sells office supplies and related items, in part through account executives (AEs) or salespeople who sell or distribute the products. But the complaint alleges that the company has violated the New York Labor Laws (NYLL) and committed breach of contract and common-law fraud by retroactively reducing wages and commissions already earned by AEs.
The class for this action is never clearly stated but appears to be AEs who were commissioned and based in or working from New York for Mason, between June 3, 2016 and June 3, 2022, whose commissions were reduced after they were earned.
Both plaintiffs in this case, Katherine Jablonski and Giselle Vargas, worked for Mason in New York. The complaint claims that commissions they earn are their primary source of income.
Unlike most sales or commissioned employees in the US, the complaint claims, Mason employees are not given written commission plans or commission structures or modifications. In particular, the complaint claims that Mason retroactively implements changes after commissions have already been earned.
In fact, the complaint alleges, the only documents they receive on their commissions are “commission statements” which they receive as part of the payroll process, telling them what they earned in the preceding timeframe. It also claims these statements are not provided to all employees.
These statements, the complaint alleges, “divides products into ‘Buckets’ wherein each product sold by an AE is then subject to a different commission depending on the Bucket in which it appears.” The AEs see the statements and “heavily and strenuously attempt to sell products that of course offer the highest commissions[,]” the complaint claims, but then may find out on their subsequent commission statement that the products they have already sold have been moved into different buckets, “resulting in substantially lower commissions to them.”
According to the complaint, Mason changes, without any legally-required notice to the AEs, their “(a) commission pay rates; (b) auto allowances; and (c) commission deductions (and summarily, compensation owed to AEs.”
As an example, the complaint points to the spring of 2020, when the complaint claims AEs were encouraged “to sell personal protective equipment (‘PPE’), cleaning, janitorial equipment, and sanitizer-related suppliers (which were in high demand due to the pandemic).” However, when they received their commissions from these sales, the complaint claims, the commissions “had been so substantially reduced retroactively that some individual AEs” received reductions of what they’d expected “well in excess of $20,000.00 just in that short timeframe.”
The complaint alleges, “New York Wage Laws require written plans to be disseminated and executed by commissioned salespeople” and claims that Mason did not do this until June 2021.
The complaint details other types of “skimming and stealing commissions from AEs” as well.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Employment
Most Recent Case Event
WB Mason Commissions Reduced Retroactively Complaint
June 3, 2022
W.B. Mason Co. sells office supplies and related items, in part through account executives (AEs) or salespeople who sell or distribute the products. But the complaint alleges that the company has violated the New York Labor Laws (NYLL) and committed breach of contract and common-law fraud by retroactively reducing wages and commissions already earned by AEs.
WB Mason Commissions Reduced Retroactively ComplaintCase Event History
WB Mason Commissions Reduced Retroactively Complaint
June 3, 2022
W.B. Mason Co. sells office supplies and related items, in part through account executives (AEs) or salespeople who sell or distribute the products. But the complaint alleges that the company has violated the New York Labor Laws (NYLL) and committed breach of contract and common-law fraud by retroactively reducing wages and commissions already earned by AEs.
WB Mason Commissions Reduced Retroactively Complaint