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Guaranteed bonus discontinued by employer

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S

screwedbyemployer

Guest
GEORGIA

in 1998, as part of my merit raise, my boss wrote a letter that said i would be guaranteed at least 10% bonus each year. the way the letter was worded, i understood it to mean each year, not just the year it was written. the next year, the 10% bonus came. the next year, i reminded my boss at that time about the letter. again, the bonus came. this year, i received a letter from my new boss, copying the hr vp, that they were discontinueing the bonus and that they believed it only meant for the first year.

my question is one of precedence. since they did it in previous years, didn't they demonstrate that they interpreted the letter as i did? can they legally just void a letter like that?
 


L

loku

Guest
Promise of bonus

I believe the issue is not how they previously interpreted the letter, but what a reasonable interpretation would be. If a reasonable person in your situation would understand the letter to guarantee a bonus for all future years, then that promise would be binding on the company. The consideration you gave for the promise was your continued employment.
 

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