Negligent Contractor - small claims?

[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 can get testimonials from clients that we have lost permanently due to his negligence and also we kept track of all the time we spent doing damage control and putting out fires.

Would this be a valid case for small claims court? How can you put a value on a small business owner's time or lost clients?

[acmb05]

Originally Posted by 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 can get testimonials from clients that we have lost permanently due to his negligence and also we kept track of all the time we spent doing damage control and putting out fires.

Would this be a valid case for small claims court? How can you put a value on a small business owner's time or lost clients?

Well your first mistake was having a subcontractor having any contact with YOUR clients.

If the clients are willing to give you testimonials then they know it was not your fault so why lose them as a client?

Did he fix the computer? If so then you paid him so what exactly do you want to sue for? You won't get very far with the defense of he took to long.

[JETX]

Originally Posted by infocus

Would this be a valid case for small claims court?

Based solely on your post, no.
You have suffered NO monetary damages, only potential ones. However, if he kept YOUR company equipment then you MIGHT have a case for that. Unless you reimbursed your clients for THEIR equipment that he kept (in essence, purchasing their claim), you can't sue for THEIR losses.