sued my boss at the district magistrate court..he may appeal...HELP??

[91rtstealth]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania

i'll try to make this to the point as possible...My ex employer currently owes me more than 6,000 in commission and salary...he is aware of this and does not fail to admit it. Unfortuntely, he (the owner) is a completely ignorant lazy bum, so he has made very little effort to repay me. I filed against him AND the company by constable at the Lehigh Country Court in Allentown, where his business is located. He rescheduled the first trial, and then didn't show up to the second...i won by default, HOWEVER..he has 30 days to appeal and he said he would definitely do this. He said he his applealing because I filed against the business and HIM personally...and he said I can't do that. I can't prove that his company is incorporated, but i'm assuming it is. however..I filed against both to cover both bases. Did I do the right thing?

also..if he appeals, what do I do? according to one source, I have to learn how to file a counter-appeal or something like that...and then the case would move to the Lehigh county court of common pleas...

as far as I know...if he doesn't appeal within 30 days (and i'm about a week and a half away from 30 days with no word from him) he is screwed and I can demand the money....can anyone please give me some advice??? haha

 

[FlyingRon]

How did you file against a business without knowing if it was a corporation or not? Boy magistrate courts are even looser than I thought. If he is not a corporation, naming both him and the company name is entirely proper, though they are the same entity. If the company is a corporation, you probably should have only prevailed on the corporation and not him personally (though nothing prevents you from naming him personally in the suit). Of course, since he didn't mount a defense, that is moot.

He can appeal either to the magistrate or to have the case removed to Common Pleas. One thing that may happen if this is a corporation, that the corporation was perhaps not properly served. You'll need to start over by looking up the registered agent to find where to properly serve the corporation with the civil suit.

 

[davidmcbeth3]

No appeal from sm. claims usually

You went to trial & got a default judgment. Now he wants to VACATE the default judgment or go directly to an appeal? I dont think that small claims allows for an appeal to another court.

He can motion to vacate the default ... see court rules for time period, usually 30 days....after that it is a final judgment.

Dont talk to this guy until after 30 days from your default judgment.

Go to the secretary of state's website & see what type of company he is listed under. If an LLC, he is as liable in person as is the company. If an INC then not.

Seems a little late to argue about the proper defendant after he re-scheduled the trial. But be prepared.

Dont talk to this guy anymore until your default becomes final...some states allow defaults to be open after 30 days with good cause..

 

[91rtstealth]

You went to trial & got a default judgment. Now he wants to VACATE the default judgment or go directly to an appeal? I dont think that small claims allows for an appeal to another court.

He can motion to vacate the default ... see court rules for time period, usually 30 days....after that it is a final judgment.

Dont talk to this guy until after 30 days from your default judgment.

Go to the secretary of state's website & see what type of company he is listed under. If an LLC, he is as liable in person as is the company. If an INC then not.

Seems a little late to argue about the proper defendant after he re-scheduled the trial. But be prepared.

Dont talk to this guy anymore until your default becomes final...some states allow defaults to be open after 30 days with good cause..

well..it's been 30 days and he hasn't appealed so I guess my next step is to send him another certified letter saying "you have 3 weeks (or some amount of time) to agree to a monthly payment to me in front of a magistrate"...something to that effect....what do you think? I was going to give him a few weeks to make an effor to sign a agreement in front of a mistrate paying me 500 a month or something fair