Wholesale Failure To Pay Earned Commissions Does Not Constitute Violation Of New York Labor Law § 193

On January 23, 2025, Justice Melissa Crane granted defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s claim for unpaid commissions pursuant to New York Labor Law § 193. Lichter v. Mass. Mut. Life Ins. Co., Index No. 651558/2022.

Plaintiff claimed that defendants withheld $125,000 in commissions that he was owed, in violation of New York Labor Law § 193, which “prohibits an employer from making any deduction from an employee’s wage unless permitted by law or authorized by the employees for certain purposes.”

In dismissing the claim, the Court explained:

To that point, although Plaintiff alleges that Defendants deducted his earned commissions, the refusal to compensate Plaintiff likely constitutes a wholesale failure to pay, not a deduction of his earned commissions. Specifically, even if the alleged "deduction" occurred after the commission was earned, such claim would not constitute a deduction. That is, Plaintiff’s claim that Defendants withheld his earned commission constitutes a wholesale failure to pay rather than a deduction of his wages. Consequently, Plaintiff does not adequately demonstrate a specific deduction from wages, but merely a failure to pay wages in the form of commissions earned. Therefore, Defendants' motion to dismiss the ninth cause of action for a violation of New York Labor Law§ 193 is granted.

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