The recent Delaware Supreme Court decision in Delaware Bay Surgical Services, P.A. v. Swier, download file, addressed the statutory interpretation of “wages” as they apply to the claim of a doctor for unpaid wages under the Delaware Wage Act. The court also analyzed the claim for liquidated damages under an Employment Agreement and clarified Delaware law that although such contract provisions are not enforceable as a penalty they will be granted if the amount of liquidated damages in the agreement is a good faith estimate of actual damages from early termination of employment. The Supreme Court also confirmed that in Delaware, when an employee leaves an employer with an employment-related debt, the employer may deduct the amount from final wages if the employer has reasonable grounds to dispute the amount due to the employee. Thus, under the Delaware Wage Act, no statutory penalties such as attorneys’ fees and doubling of the amount due would be payable to the good doctor who had prevailed on that claim in the trial court.