If you are an employee looking to get paid a commission after you have departed your former employer, then Rice v. Multimedia doesn’t help. However, in the 14 years since Rice, South Carolina courts have had a chance to revisit and refine an employee’s right to be paid commissions after the employee terminates employment. In Ross v. Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 371 S.C. 464, 639 S.E.2d 460 (S.C.App. 2006), the South Carolina Court of Appeals held that an departure policy that set “target dates” for payment of commissions violated the South Carolina Wage Payment Statute. The employee was awarded three times the amount of commissions owed ($12,000 x 3 = $36,000) plus attorney’s fees ($18,000).
