Breach of Contract

Employees commonly enter into agreements with their employer, but what happens when those agreements are broken? First, it is important to determine if a contract exists. It is important that these agreements are between two adults, and that the conditions made were bargained for and agreed upon by both parties. It is also important that the obligations of each side be clearly defined in order for it to hold up in a court setting. For example, agreeing to work for compensation without specifying that compensation is not clearly defined, and any attempt to seek higher wages would most likely be unsuccessful.

It is possible to change the terms of a contract as long as both parties agree to the terms. When there is a dispute over a lawful contract and the differences cannot be resolved, one or both parties may seek legal action. Even if a contract is recognized to exist by the court, there are circumstances under which the court might choose not to enforce a legitimate contract. This typically occurs when the courts seek to protect people from unfair contracts or unfair processes that produced the contract.

A few of the defenses an individual can make for breaching a contract is that they were coerced into agreement, they were threatened, unusual persuasion, and the making of false statements. In order to receive anything other than punitive damages as a result of a breach of contract, the plaintiff needs to clearly demonstrate the loss of profit that occurred as a result of the breach.