Employment Contract advice needed

[civilcasehelp]

California


Hello,

I am in need of some assistance with an employment contract.


My employer was a school where I also attended for a BA program. When I started working there four years ago, they offered me discounted (not free) school. In July 2013 I had my last payment for the school and the entire program was paid in full.

When I started working there I signed a contract that says that:
"You agree that you will pay $15,000 if you leave prior to the completion of 24 months of full time employment after you finish your bachelor program".

I left my job in August of 2013. I am still enrolled in the bachelor program. I will finish it in May 2014. Knowing that they might want the $15,000, I applied for a student loan for that amount, before I left the company, which was disbursed to the school.
The statement we have received in July 2013 shows that the school had to reimburse us the above student loan because the school was paid off.
The second statement (January this year) shows that the school took the student loan and applied it towards the school costs.

Now, they are coming after me to pay the $15.000. Are they correct to do so, even if I left before the completion of the bachelor program, almost a year before graduation and also after I paid for the said amount with the student loan, the one they applied to the school tuition instead of reimbursing me?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

 

[quincy]

The "preview" feature on this site tends to erase posts. Try again with either the "edit post" or the "reply." Please remember to include the name of your state. Thanks.

 

[ecmst12]

How much did they pay towards your education? That's the amount you should expect to pay back.

 

[civilcasehelp]

That would be $7000 according to the statement I have. But those were discounted in 2011. It is over two years. And the contract says that I have to be there for two years after the graduation of the program, but I have not graduated yet.
We never know what the next statement will show - they like to make changes to the statements. They told me a few weeks back that they recalculated my tuition and they have to give me back $3000.

 

[ecmst12]

What you really need to do is show your contract to a local attorney and pay him/her to review it. It's far too complex an issue for a message board.

 

[quincy]

California


Hello,

I am in need of some assistance with an employment contract.

... In July 2013 I had my last payment for the school and the entire program was paid in full.

When I started working there I signed a contract that says that:
"You agree that you will pay $15,000 if you leave prior to the completion of 24 months of full time employment after you finish your bachelor program".

I left my job in August of 2013. I am still enrolled in the bachelor program. I will finish it in May 2014. Knowing that they might want the $15,000, I applied for a student loan for that amount, before I left the company, which was disbursed to the school.
The statement we have received in July 2013 shows that the school had to reimburse us the above student loan because the school was paid off.
The second statement (January this year) shows that the school took the student loan and applied it towards the school costs.

Now, they are coming after me to pay the $15.000. Are they correct to do so, even if I left before the completion of the bachelor program, almost a year before graduation and also after I paid for the said amount with the student loan, the one they applied to the school tuition instead of reimbursing me?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

I have read this several times and perhaps my brain is tired but I am confused.

You applied for a $15,000 student loan before you quit your job, so the school naturally applied it to your school costs. You were still employed by the school at that time and your tuition was already paid for your final year and the $15,000 did not yet need to be reimbursed because the school did not know you were going to leave, so the school was going to return the $15,000 to you as overpayment of tuition.

BUT, because you are no longer employed by the school, you no longer are entitled to the discount, which increases your costs for this final year. Therefore, you owe the $15,000 because of your failure to fulfill the terms of the contract by staying employed two years after you graduate (although the $15,000 might be reduced to $11,260 to cover 3 years of discounts instead of 4 - and this is assuming the $15,000 mentioned in the contract was to cover the discounts and not training or something). For this year, you owe the difference between the discounted tuition that was already paid and the full tuition for this last year - which should be $3750 more that you owe. I think.

What you really need to do is sit down with a financial aid counselor at your school and carefully go over your account. I don't think you need an attorney at this point. I think the problem arose when the $15,000 student loan was received by the school prior to you quitting your job with the school.

And if I have this figured wrong, I apologize. Maybe someone with a rested mind can do better.

 

[civilcasehelp]

Yes, they have applied the loan to the school tuition.
The total program though is 43000 from which I paid with out of pocket and loans about 39000.
I guess I could have waited a few months before applying for a student loan (after leaving the company).

The bachelor program is two years only. I had finished the AA in the same place one year before I started the BA. The first two years are fully paid by my loans.

Also, their attorney sent us a letter asking me to pay, and if not they will sue me in civil court.

 

[quincy]

Yes, they have applied the loan to the school tuition.
The total program though is 43000 from which I paid with out of pocket and loans about 39000.
I guess I could have waited a few months before applying for a student loan (after leaving the company).

The bachelor program is two years only. I had finished the AA in the same place one year before I started the BA. The first two years are fully paid by my loans.

Also, their attorney sent us a letter asking me to pay, and if not they will sue me in civil court.

Oh, that certainly complicates things. Then you should go back to ecmst12's post and follow that advice. Sitting down with a financial aid counselor at your school for a review of your account could be done first, though, so you can go over the account with your attorney.

Good luck.

 

[civilcasehelp]

Thank you all!

I had an attorney review the papers and said that they can go back and forth with a few letters with their attorney to see if this can be settled. But they did not say if "Yes" you have to pay or "No" you should not pay. They just want to send letters back and forth and figure it out if it can be "settled" like this...

And they also said it can be 10-20 hours for all this letters and the rates are pretty high. Only the first response letter can add up to $1250.

I will get an updated Tuition Report (with all fees and payments and discounts available).

We will try a different attorney also. Maybe we can find someone that can tell us if its a Yes or a No. I am OK paying something but for a letter only to have to pay $1250... Its pricey.

But again thank you all for your input.

 

[quincy]

Thank you all!

I had an attorney review the papers and said that they can go back and forth with a few letters with their attorney to see if this can be settled. But they did not say if "Yes" you have to pay or "No" you should not pay. They just want to send letters back and forth and figure it out if it can be "settled" like this...

And they also said it can be 10-20 hours for all this letters and the rates are pretty high. Only the first response letter can add up to $1250.

I will get an updated Tuition Report (with all fees and payments and discounts available).

We will try a different attorney also. Maybe we can find someone that can tell us if its a Yes or a No. I am OK paying something but for a letter only to have to pay $1250... Its pricey.

But again thank you all for your input.

The $1250 does sound pricey for the anticipated work. Ten to twenty hours, huh? Interesting.

Well, it is reasonable to think that the financial aid office will be able to figure out the actual amounts owed or owing after a better look at the facts. You signed a contract that commits you to paying $15,000 and you benefited from discounted tuition, so whether the school insists on full payment, or will cut you a break on the full amount, is a question that will hopefully be resolved without a court having to get involved.

Good luck, civilcasehelp.