Can I be liable for a fee to someone that I had no contract with?
Question Details:
Signed a contract from which I had to back out due to unforeseeable circumstances. Interview was set up by a headhunter with whom I had no contract/agreement. I gave my appropriate notice as per the contract and never took any moving expenses/sign on bonus from employer. Employer wants me to pay headhunter fee even though nothing specific mentioned in contract about that.
Employment and Labor Law Answers
If the contract that you signed and then backed out of had specific language (and it sounds that way, from what you wrote about the notice), about what happens in that situation, then the company isn't entitled to anything more than that. The company wrote the employment contract, I'm sure, so if it's ambiguous, you should get the benefit of the doubt.
Sometimes, contracts don't have any provisions at all, about what happens if one side backs out. If that had been the case here, the company would have a much better case against you, because your decision did leave them out that fee, pretty much for nothing.
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