Request recommendation for employment lawyer in Houston

[rahul12345]

Hello,

I received as bonus certain units (shares of company, which is not publicly traded in stock market) as part of my bonus from my employer. I resigned from the company in Sept 2020, for all the good reason someone will resign from company. Now I was supposed to receive monetary payout for the number of units I held at the time of my departure. My departure letter clearly mention the number of units that were allocated to me. I was then told the payment would be made in 3 installments in next 3 subsequent years. 

They missed the first payment (Dec 2021), after follow up with them they said they would make the payment in one single payment and offered just 10% of what was owed to me. When I checked with them to see if there was any mistake, they told me I was ineligible for my last bonus, which made up almost 90% of total units, since I left before the end of the year. Now the last bonus was special employee retention bonus, which I got for staying with the company till July/August month of 2020, and all units were vested immediately. They offered extra few dollars for the "mistake" they made on my departure letter while maintaining that I was not eligible for the last bonus. Even with the extra dollars, it was just 25% of what was owed to me. 

Now after almost 2 years of me leaving the company, the employer is trying to stick it to me by saying I was supposed to stay till the end of the year. This is not true, but I don't have the email that was send out to all employees back in 2019 that detailed the date and everything about the special bonus program. I have asked them repeated for that program circular or email, but they have failed to show me anything. (They can just easily print something with whatever date they want and show that since I don't have access to company emails anymore to fish out the old circular/email.) The then controller of the company, who is no longer with them, has told me that he himself calculated the units when I resigned, and what is mentioned in my departure letter is the right total. There is a consensus that the employer doesn't want to payout the entire amount and trying to stick it me for reasons best known to them. 

So I have told them that I will file complaint with the DOL but I am not sure how to explain this on online form at DOL website, especially the part of units and how those units have monetary value. I am not talking of unpaid monthly salary here but some company units/shares whose monetary value is determined by employer himself after internal auditing. If it was unpaid salary it is straight forward to explain on DOL website. But units/shares makes it bit confusing. 

I have a departure letter that was signed by VP of HR, who is also the son of the owner/CEO/Chairman, which clearly mentions the total number of units I own. Do I have a case for Class Action lawsuit? Which course of action should I pursue here? complaint with DOL or hire a lawyer and file class action lawsuit?   

Can you recommend any lawyer in houston who can handle such a case?

Thank you for reading! 

 

Edited May 15, 2022 by rahul12345

[JoeF]

Check the state bar Association website. The usually have a lawyer referral service.