A New Jersey law firm has sued its former chief financial officer, seeking reimbursement of fees it paid to a recruiter when he was hired.

Brandon J. Broderick LLC seeks repayment of $19,432 from Seth Gross, representing the unpaid balance due to a recruiting company called CFO Strategies. The suit, filed in Bergen County Superior Court, says Gross agreed when he was hired in June 2022 to pay off the entire $43,000 fee from CFO Strategies in deductions of $1,653 from his biweekly paycheck.

But "unfortunately, it quickly became clear after his employment commenced that Gross was woefully unable to effectively perform the role as the Broderick Firm's CFO," and he was terminated on Feb. 3, 2023, the suit claims.

Under terms of Gross' employment agreement, the outstanding balance he owed to the Broderick firm for the CFO Strategies fee was due in August 2023, six months after his departure, the suit claims. The firm sent a letter to Gross on July 5, 2023 to remind him of the approaching deadline, and made numerous good faith efforts to collect the money before the deadline, the complaint states. But Gross has "willfully refused" to satisfy his obligation, the suit claims.

"Indeed, Gross has never denied or disputed his aforementioned payment obligation under the employment agreement, but is instead simply refusing to pay it in a demonstration of bad faith conduct," the complaint states.

Jason R. Finkelstein of Cole Schotz in Hackensack, who represents the Broderick firm, declined to discuss the case. Gross did not respond to a reporter's questions sent by email and LinkedIn.

The Broderick firm, in River Edge, which lists 51 attorneys on its website, represents plaintiffs in personal injury, workers compensation, employment law and medical malpractice cases.

The firm paid Gross a "handsome" salary, the suit said, but the amount was not specified. The firm paid the recruiter's fee but then demanded reimbursement from Gross, the suit claims.

Gross "is responsible for reimbursing the firm for the [$]43,000 that the firm pays to CFO Strategies. The payments [Gross] will be responsible for, will be reimbursed back to the firm over [Gross]'s first twelve (12) months of employment," the suit said.

Requiring a newly-hired administrator to agree to pay the recruiter's fee is an unorthodox practice, said Dan Binstock, a legal recruiter at Garrison in Washington, D.C.

"In the recruiting industry, generally, it's very unusual for an employer to make the candidates responsible for paying the recruiter who was engaged by the employer. I don't think I've ever heard of that," Binstock said.

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