AstraZeneca accused of wrongfully cutting bonus for non-compliance with RTO policy
This complaint was first surfaced by Law.com Radar.
AstraZeneca was hit with an employment lawsuit Monday in a South Carolina court amidst allegations that the pharmaceutical company cut a former senior director’s bonus in half because she didn’t come into the office at least three days a week after working remotely.
This complaint was first surfaced by Law.com Radar.
Elmarie Bodes alleges that AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals cut her performance bonus in half and refused to pay a long-term incentive bonus after she didn’t come into the office at least three days a week in 2022 while working remotely.
According to the complaint, filed Sept. 18 in South Carolina Circuit Court for Greenville County by the Arnold Law Firm on behalf of Bodes, she worked for AstraZeneca as a senior director in business transformation from her home in Greenville, South Carolina full time from 2016 through January 2023.
Bodes claims that her agreed-upon compensation included an annual performance bonus and a long-term incentive bonus of stock options, which she claims are “wages” under the South Carolina Wage Payment Statute.
The performance bonuses and long-term incentives were both regularly achieved by Bodes, including in 2021, with the company clearly setting out criteria for each bonus, which she would then follow, according to the complaint.
Bodes claims that despite meeting the defined criteria for each bonus for her work in 2022, which entitled her to a performance bonus of $124,443.70 and stock options valued around $65,000, she did not receive any bonuses.
She alleges that without any prior written notice, after performing and earning the work for each of the bonuses, the company informed her in early 2023 that because she worked exclusively from home in 2022 and didn’t come into the office at least three days per week, her bonus was decreased by 50% to $62,221.85. She was also informed that she would not be receiving her long term incentive bonus, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges AstraZeneca retroactively changed the bonus criteria without giving Bodes any written notice before the changes went into effect as required under the South Carolina Wage Payment Statute, and that it failed to pay Bodes’s properly earned performance bonus in the amount of $62,221.85 and her stock options.
Bodes brings claims for failure to pay wages due and breach of contract, and requests actual, compensatory, special, and consequential damages, wages due under S.C. Code Section 41-10-10, treble damages under the South Carolina Wage Payment Statute, and reasonable attorney fees.
Bodes’s attorney, Brian E. Arnold of Arnold Law Firm, in Greenville, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant.
Related:
UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, Aetna revamping prior authorization ahead of CMS rule
A new ruling protects employees who take leave due to COVID
Alternative PBM models: 4 proven strategies to reduce drug spend