Your CFO resigned last month. In cleaning out her office, you found bank statements showing she'd been routing kickbacks from a vendor into a personal LLC for the last three years. She was making $350,000 a year while she did it. You want the kickbacks back — obviously — but here's the question your lawyer should be asking: can you also claw back every dollar of salary and bonus you paid her while she was cheating you? In New York, the answer is often yes, thanks to a common-

You promoted your operations manager to run your Long Island City warehouse. Three years and roughly $650,000 in salary and bonuses later, an internal audit reveals he's been steering purchase orders to his brother-in-law's supply company at inflated prices, pocketing kickbacks the whole time. You want him gone, obviously — but you also want back every dollar you paid him while he was betraying you. The faithless servant doctrine in New York is the tool that makes that recove

You just discovered that your VP of sales in Midtown has been funneling deals to a competitor her husband owns. Over the past two years, she's collected roughly $340,000 in salary, commissions, and bonuses while quietly steering your best clients away. You want her out — but firing her doesn't get your money back. The faithless servant doctrine in New York is the tool that does. It's one of the most powerful remedies in employer-side commercial litigation, and most business o

Your CFO resigned last Thursday. On Friday, your bookkeeper flagged a decade of vendor invoices that don't tie to any project you can find. By Monday, an internal audit shows he'd been steering business to a shell company owned by his brother-in-law — and pocketing kickbacks on every invoice you paid. You want him prosecuted, but that's the DA's decision. What you actually control is a powerful civil remedy: under the faithless servant doctrine New York courts have applied si

Your operations manager has been with you for seven years. You paid her $185,000 a year, plus bonuses. Last month you discovered she'd been steering your best clients to a side company her brother runs — and she's been doing it for at least eighteen months. Your first instinct is to fire her and sue for the lost business. But under New York law, you may have a far more powerful remedy: clawing back every dollar of salary and bonus you paid her during the period of disloyalty.

You're the CFO of a Brooklyn-based logistics company. Your VP of Sales earns $385,000 a year plus bonus. Six months after she resigns, your accountant flags a pattern: dozens of fat-margin contracts went to a brokerage owned by her husband while she still worked for you. You're furious — and now you want every dollar you paid her back. New York's faithless servant doctrine may let you do exactly that. The faithless servant doctrine in New York is one of the most powerful — an

You discovered last week that your CFO has been steering company contracts to a side business her husband secretly owns. The kickbacks go back two years. She's still drawing a $385,000 salary, holds equity that vested last quarter, and expects her annual bonus in March. Your first instinct is to fire her — but firing doesn't claw back the money she's already pocketed. The faithless servant doctrine in New York might. If you run a business in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Long Island C

You promoted your operations director three years ago. She built relationships with your biggest clients, attended your strategy meetings, and pulled in a $280,000 salary plus bonus. Then your CFO finds an invoice trail showing she's been routing a slice of your business to a side company she set up with her husband, for nearly two years. The faithless servant doctrine in New York is one of the most powerful tools you have when this happens, and most employers have never hear

Your CFO resigns on a Thursday afternoon. By the following Tuesday, your forensic accountant tells you he's been routing a side consulting business through your accounting department for the past eighteen months — using your software, your staff time, and your client relationships to bill personal clients on the side. You paid him over $600,000 in salary and bonuses during that period. You want him to give it back. In New York, the faithless servant doctrine gives you a power

You hired a controller five years ago for your Long Island distribution company. She had access to vendor accounts, payroll, and the corporate credit card. Last month, your CFO discovered she'd been steering invoices to a shell company her brother runs in Queens — and pocketing kickbacks. You're already calculating the loss. But here's what most owners don't realize: under the faithless servant doctrine in New York, you may also be able to claw back every dollar of salary and

Falls from ladders, scaffolds, and elevated work platforms are among the most common causes of life-changing injuries on New York job sites. When a fall occurs because the “protection” did not actually protect you, New York law can shift accountability to those who controlled the worksite. A new appellate decision, Rojas v. 616 First Ave., LLC , (2026 NY Slip Op 00164) (2d Dept. Jan. 14, 2026), exemplifies how courts look beyond the label on a safety device and focus on what

Protecting Your Commissions is a practical guide for commission-based employees navigating unlawful clawbacks and forfeiture provisions under New York law. It explains when commissions are legally “earned,” why many employer “advance” and “draw” arrangements are unenforceable, and how doctrines like prevention and good faith limit employer control. Clear, statute-driven, and grounded in real disputes, the book shows employees how to identify violations and protect pay they ri