My Employer Is Trying To Avoid Paying Me Millions Of Dollars In Commission.

I work in tech sales and last year, I closed a large contract, the biggest one in my company's history. It was for $6 million to be spent over the course of 6 years in quarterly payments. The deal was about 24 months in the works when it finally closed.

The commission structure at my company is pretty straightforward: we're paid 10% of the net profits of all sales, and this is uncapped. Since the product I sold is a data product, that means the $6 million is entirely profit to us and there are no hard expenses we incur. So, my commission on this one deal is $100k per year for 6 years. A year into this deal, my company has been paying me at the correct commission.

But last month we signed a 2nd contract with this same client. Basically this 2nd contract positions us as a middle-man for a new service offering in which my client is more than likely to spend $50 million per year. This is a great deal for my company because we are hardly having to lift a finger...we're simply passing our bill along to my client at a 6% higher rate than we're paying. (6% of $50 million = $3 million profit to our company). Bottom line is that, additional to the $1 million per year we're profiting from this client...this is likely to quadruple to $4 million profit per year.

I was present in every meeting that led up to the 2nd contract being signed. I initiated the legal ticket that kicked off the contract being drafted in the first place. It's beyond clear to me that this is my client.

With that being said, our sales management team has begun exhibiting suspicious behavior already. Shortly after the 2nd contract was signed, management scheduled a meeting with me. This was not to congratulate me, but rather to ask me to articulate, in painstaking detail, how this deal came about, what my involvement was, etc. The purpose of this meeting was to let them "evaluate commission on the deal."

My manager has already begun gaslighting me, explaining how even though the first contract was mine, the 2nd one is something entirely different. I explained to her that I was at every meeting that led up to the contract, and she said "Well, how do you know our CEO didn't meet with your client without you?" (Such a ridiculous argument...) The head of our sales meeting was also quoting some massive expenses that we'd be incurring through this new service offering. I then asked the smartest persona at our company, our most senior developer who's deeply entrenched in this project, about these supposed expenses. He assured me that they do not exist. So, here I have a clear and blatant example of management lying to me for the sole purpose of paying me less.

My manager has been procrastinating our conversation about what my commission will actually be on this deal. She says they "Still haven't made a decision." But she alluded that they were considering going down the road of preparing a "referral agreement" to compensate me for the 2nd contract. This would be very unfair because referral agreements at my company expire after 1 year.

Also, I want to be clear that I know there are many companies out there with many different commission structures. I know there are companies who, for example, promise commission on clients only within the first year that they spend. But my company doesn't have that precedent. They promise uncapped commission for a sales rep's entire duration of employment, end of story.

TL;DR: I work in sales at a tech company and I recently secured a contract that would potentially quadruple my $1 million per year client to $4 million per year. This spend would be consistent over the next 5 years ($20 million likely total spend in that time frame). But, my employer seems to be trying to weasel their way out of paying me commission on the 2nd contract, creating flimsy arguments that I'm entitled only to the initial $1 million per year.

What advice do you have for me? Needless to say, if I can avoid the conversation becoming contentious / combative, potentially souring the relationship with me and management irreparably ... I'd like to do that. After all, I have a good thing going, and stand to make good money with or without the 2nd contract. I don't want to give them reason to try to push me out, because as soon as I'm fired, I make 0% commission on everything.

But I don't want to be a spineless pushover either. I know what's fair and the writing's on the wall that they are not going to choose the fair decision regarding my commission. Any advice for how to navigate the conversation about my commission with my manager, in the event that they try to get me to agree to something unfair...I'd love to hear. Again I don't want to be a dick, and I want this to be as amicable and professional as possible.

Lastly, if all of the above becomes impossible, and "shit hits the fan" to the point where I do feel the need to pursue legal action, what questions would a lawyer have for me? The only employment contract I'm aware of between me and my company is the company handbook, which is totally generic and doesn't even mention anything about commission etc. I could be wrong on this. I'd be curious what leg I'd even have to stand on legally, if I were to pursue legal action.

Thanks so much in advance for any help here.