Suing for backpay. Need help.

[vcdude]

Hello everyone,
I am at a loss right now at where to find legal advice. My former employer owes me around $10,000 in backpay for a development job. He insisted that he was short on money and was gather funds to pay me. So I patiently waited. That was a month ago. Today, I called him again and to my frustration, he told me to "f**k myself" and my contract is hereby terminated. My question is, what are my legal options in obtaining the payment. I have the job contract in front of me, signed and dated. If anyone can offer some sound advice in these dark times, I would be quite grateful.

 

[cbg]

You will need to show the contract to an attorney in your state, but chances are you will have to sue him for it.

 

[vcdude]

I've just spoken with a friend and she suggests I go and contact the depart of labor and file a complaint. Would this be enough or should I continue and sue? Because of this delinquient payments, I do not have much money to pursue a long legal process.

Here is more information in case it helps. In the contract, it saids "[company name], is an S-Corporation organized and existed under the laws of the state of Delaware, with its head office located in the state of Philadelphia, P.A". I currently live in NY.

 

[cbg]

Were you a W-2 employee or a 1099 contractor? It makes a difference whether you can go to the DOL.

 

[weenor]

Your owed money under a contract and the contract was terminated by the other party...you have a breach of contract action and will be limited to the terms of the contract...talk to a lawyer and see if he/she will take your case on contingency.

 

[vcdude]

I was paid with company checks but no pay stubs. I also have a bounced check from them. Maybe I can use it for evidence. My contract doesn't specify a duration but it does say I am supposed to be paid a certain amount per year. I am a former employee for the company, so I assume I was a W-2 employee.
Please excuse me as I am very new to all of this. Being my first employment opportunity, it is still a shock to me that an employer would go through such strong arm tactics to not pay the employees.

 

[pattytx]

Were taxes withheld from the payments you DID receive?

 

[vcdude]

Were taxes withheld from the payments you DID receive?

That's actually part of my frustration. My former boss said he withheld the taxes for me, but now I'm not so sure. It's almost time to do my taxes and I don't have those information either.

 

[pattytx]

So, call him and ask where your W-2 is.

 

[vcdude]

He won't return my phone calls. His voice mail box is maxed out. So far, I've been in talks with a lawyer about this and he was suggesting it would probably cost around 4000-5000 dollars to pursue this case. I was wondering if I could sue for more than just the backpay at this point. Is withholding tax information illegal? Also, are there any other ways in which I can sue in regards to the way I was fired? I mean, how much more wrongful termination can it get when it is over the phone with telling me to "F**K myself" and my contract is hereby terminated.

My frustration is that even if the law is on my side and my former employer does owe me around $10,000, there just isn't any way to get it except to hire a lawyer, which I can not afford without having a contigency lawyer, which is a problem because the few lawyers I've talked to would not accept contingent payment for such a small sum. There has to be more than just suing for backpay in order for a lawyer to take on this case.

If there are any alternatives, I'm all ears. I'm beginning to see why so many people can get away with these types of crimes. It's just too expensive to do anything about it. I worked night and day to break those deadlines for this company and this is what I get. Okay I've vented. Now I'm hoping to find some solutions.