avoiding slander: how?

[infocus]

What is the name of your state? CA

We hired a contractor to do computer repair work for us and recently let him go. He kept company and client's eqiupment for weeks, and we had to stall our clients and jump through endless hoops to keep everything smooth. Plus he treated our clients very poorly and in every way acted immature and unprofessional.

We still owe him some money for parts he sold us and "service" to our clients. Before we pay him, we want to have him sign a mutual release which says he can't slander us once our ways have parted. Is this legal, and can we withhold payment if he doesn't sign? Where can we find a good general form for this?

[mlane58]

You can't legally withhold any employee or ex-employee's pay. If there is a question about equipment or materials, you will need to sue him in small claims. If he files a wage claim with your state DOL, your company could be fined and then some. Since you have already terminated his position, he is under no obligation to even think about signing anything your company puts in front of him. Just pay the guy and learn from it.

[infocus]

He is not an employee. He is a contractor.

[divgradcurl]

Originally Posted by infocus

He is not an employee. He is a contractor.

All that means is that he doesn't have recourse through the DFEH -- he could still sue you for the unpaid part of his contract, you owe him that for work he already did. If you forced him to sign such a contract to get monies he was already owed, then the contract would be unenforceable anyway.

Pay the man, tell him that you will take any threats or actual slander very seriously, and then wait and see if he does anything -- then take action.

[infocus]

Researching the issue further, I found out that we gave him a "bonus" awhile back which actually is more than what we presently owe him. The bonus was not attached to any work orders he signed and submitted. It was free money just given to him.

Can we just apply that bonus to monies owed and close the deal? How could we document that on paper and show him that he is not owed anything.

Could we not call the bonus an "advance against commissions owed" and then just apply it accordingly?

[divgradcurl]

No. You can't retroactively go back and rescind the bonus. Unless the bonus was given with some strings attached, you can't now go back and attach strings that weren't there when the bonus was given.

Just pay the man, and move on.