Is possession 90% of the law?

[Snoopy]

A large fortune 500 company I work for had a 1999 manager bonus program they finally announced in Aug 99. In Oct they changed the plan to only pay the bonus to "revenue producing" organizations. My org (admin) got an exception for our field Admin groups. I was in HQ managing a field group that was included in the exception. The managers I manage got the bonus. I (by what they call a mistake) got paid the bonus too. I feel it's not a mistake because the managers reporting to me got the bonus (I think I should too). They want the money back. It's over $10,000 and sitting in my bank through auto deposit. Do I have to give the money back - the changes they made to the bonus leave quite a bit open for a determination of unfair practices.

 

[ALawyer]

This does not seem to me like a typical possession question, but rather one of whether you want to keep your job or not.

While speaking to a lawyer may be worth while if there are interretation issues on the plan itself, and the lawyer could write a convincing letter making your case, you might argue the case to the company's top management as a matter of equity and fairness, not one of law, because if it came to a lawsuit, or something like that, they'd probably can you and give a horrible reference.

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[Attorney_Replogle]

You are correct that "possession is 9/10th of the law" yet that principle does not apply here. Do indeed speak with an employment law attorney ASAP. There may be a reason for the company to agree with your interpretation and let you keep the money. Otherwise you most definitely do need to give that money back immediately.

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Mark B. Replogle