Unpaid Sales Commission

A New Jersey District Court has allowed an independent sales representative to proceed with his lawsuit against his principal company for failing to pay his earned sales commissions. This case reaffirms New Jersey’s strong public policy in assuring sales representatives are timely paid their earned sales commissions.

Prior to New Jersey passing the Sales Representatives’ Rights Act, independent sales representatives often faced an uphill battle when it came to legal disputes concerning unpaid commissions. As an independent contractor who is paid on a 1099 basis, New Jersey Wage Payment law does not protect independent sales representatives from being paid their sales commissions because they are not considered employees under the law. In recognizing the need to protect independent sales representatives from receiving their hard-earned commissions, New Jersey enacted the New Jersey Sales Representatives’ Rights Act that allows for sales representatives to sue for their unpaid earned commissions and imposes significant penalties against principals for failing to pay the commissions in a timely manner.

In the recent case TLE Marketing Co. v. WBM, LLC, No. CV-17-11752 Slip Op. (D.N.J. Sep. 14, 2018) the plaintiff raised a novel argument that, if successful, could expand the reach of the Act. TLE Marketing Corporation is an independent sales agency based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has been providing marketing and sales representation for companies since 1976. WBM, LLC is a developer, importer, and distributor of a variety of distinctive products, with a primary focus on Himalayan salt products. WBM is based out of Flemington, New Jersey and has been in business for over 20 years. Starting in 2007, TLE and WBM began working together, signing a sales representative contract that provided that TLE would market and sell WBM products. The two companies enjoyed a lengthy business relationship of almost 10 years until, in June 2017, WBM terminated the sales representative contract. In response, TLE filed a complaint in Minnesota alleging wrongful termination, breach of contract, and failure to pay commissions in violation of Minnesota state statute.

It is surprising for many independent sales representatives to learn that there are specific laws in place to protect the recovery of their unpaid sales commissions from their principal. In fact, many independent sales representatives equate an unpaid sales commission to that of an unsecured debt, often simply writing off the unpaid sales commission as an uncollectable debt, not worth their time, money or other resources in trying to recover from the principal. In their view, they believe they will spend more money on an attorney trying to recover the unpaid sale commission than the amount the debt is worth in the first place. As a result, the independent sales representative will simply abandon their hard earned unpaid sales commission.

Unbeknownst to a lot of independent sales representatives, many states have laws impose significant penalties against principals who fail to pay sales commissions. In fact, some states have laws that have stronger protection to independent sales representatives’ from receiving unpaid sales commissions than are in place for employees from receiving his or her unpaid wages. In New Jersey, for example, our legislature has enacted The Independent Sales Representative Rights Act, which provides for payment of all unpaid commissions, treble damages in an amount three times of the unpaid sales commission, as well as attorney fees and costs of suit against principals who fail to timely pay their independent sales representatives their earned sales commission. This means that if you are an independent sales representative who is owed a sales commission in the amount of $2,000, you could recover up to $8,000 for the unpaid sales commission and all attorney fees and costs incurred in attempting to recover the debt. Many other states outside New Jersey have a similar law in place. The remedies provided under laws like New Jersey Sales Representative Rights Act encourage law firms like ours to take unpaid sales commission cases on a contingency basis. This means in most of our cases, our attorneys do not get paid for any of the legal work they perform unless the independent sales representative gets paid the sales commission.

It is important for all independent sales representatives to know their rights in connection with recovering unpaid sales commissions. If you are an independent sales representative, who has not been paid an earned sales commission, I strongly encourage you to reach to our firm or an attorney familiar with your particular states unpaid sales commission law, to discuss your options in recovering your hard earned sales commission.

Articles Posted in Unpaid Sales Commission

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