Traing bond legal question

['97 Tercel]

Lightspeed Zulu is the best headset..

[JasonE]

Now that's funny.

[Capt. Underpants]

I wasn't referring to blatant and obvious stupidity of calling a company directly but things like references and the "unofficial" phone call to a friend of authority to give them a heads up is what I witnessed.

Any such action, be it formal or not, has been frowned upon in the courts. They take a very dim view of anything that doesn't directly deal with job performance, and like it or not, training bonds have zero to do with one's job performance as a pilot.

[valleyboy]

Are you saying that calling someone to give an evaluation is illegal. I have been on both ends and when I was hiring I never checked references on CV's but would call past employers. I can't think this is any worse than checking social media, which is standard today. The fact someone bailed on a bond is only part of the equation but it is a bit of an insight to character.

I worked for a company as a chief pilot /ops manager and would not consider bonds but going through the insanity of the last 2 years I can see why they exist. Having pilots quit after upgrading in less than a month of getting their left seat was painful. We put a bonus system in place and a reduced wage for the first year with lump sum amounts for every 6 months of service so at year's end they made the advertised salary and if they bailed the 5 or 10 grand offset training costs depending on how long they stayed. Pilots are whores - haha

[digits_]

but it is a bit of an insight to character.

This in combination with:

We put a bonus system in place and a reduced wage for the first year with lump sum amounts for every 6 months of service so at year's end they made the advertised salary

Pot ... kettle ... black ... ?

[flyinhigh]

Reality is,

1) you signed the bond.
2) when the plane was in Maintenance.
3) after 2 weeks of maintenance, you chose to leave.

If they come, pay up as you signed it.

You obviously had the intentions of leaving as you resigned 2 weeks after the Aircraft was in maintenance. At the time, you had no idea how long said plane would be in maintenance.

If you hung out and let them lay you off it’s a different story.

I’ve dealt with this before, there is ALWAYS two sides to the story.

[flyinhigh]

Dp

[Daniel Cooper]

Are you saying that calling someone to give an evaluation is illegal. I have been on both ends and when I was hiring I never checked references on CV's but would call past employers.

I think one needs to be careful regarding doing pre hire references on other sources unilaterally. The candidate may not want certain people to know he/she is looking at a new job for a variety of very valid reasons. Word spreads quickly despite all caution taken. I would be hesitant to reach out to any of the candidate's connections without clearing it with the candidate first.

[JBI]

So here's the standard lawyer response: It depends.

Generally speaking, training bonds are enforceable. However, like all contracts, there are issues both with respect to whether both of the parties kept up their end of the contract and whether the party that is suing for breach of contract actually suffered damages.

The answers to these depend on the wording of the bond as well as the facts of the situation. I can't act for you but, depending on the amount of the bond, it wouldn't be a bad idea to consult an employment lawyer.

Altiplano hit on a few of the relevant topics and, in addition, depending on the wording of the contract, there may be an issue with respect to the actual damages suffered by the employer as a result of you leaving.

The problem with the value of most training bonds is that for the time and cost to fight them in court, a lawyer who makes the appropriate effort to understand the facts, law and draft strong pleadings will end up costing you a few thousand dollars (probably around the same price as an average bond). And, sometimes even the best argued case gets a Small Claims Court judge who doesn't properly follow the law.

The above is not legal advice.