Verbal/Email agreement no honored

[stump221]

What is the name of your state? Georgia
I am an independent contractor that operates under an S-Corp.
I work for a variety of Audio Visual companies that hire me as an audio engineer for their corporate events. I was recently taken off of 9 weeks of confirmed work that was spread out through the end of october of 2007. I have turned down alot of other business to honor the events that I was booked on for this particular company and will suffer financially.
This is a company that is based out of Boston.
In a nutshell one of their employees has acused me triying to influence another contractor.
This influnece would be in regards to how the contractor bills his overtime. This actually never happened and all they had to do was contact this guy and coroborate that it was not true. Instead they threw me off their events and then called me to notify afterwords.
All of this is confirmed work for them that is under contract. It's not like the shows went away. They replaced me.
Do I have any legal basis to recover some damages here? Some of these dates are as close as next week and I can't rebook myself with others. The positions are already filled.
Thanks for any help. I am very upset over this and discussing the matter with them has not resolved anything.

DPWhat is the name of your state?

 

[moburkes]

What does the contract say?

 

[stump221]

Info

The show is under contract for the company in Boston with their client. Basically just letting it be known that the show still a go.
The agreement I have with the outfit in Boston was verbal and in written email form stating that I was confirmed on the event. I have saved all the emails. It's $25000 worth of work. Thanks!!!!!

 

[seniorjudge]

So, in other words, you have no contract.

Generally, contracts involving that much money must be in writing to be enforceable.

 

[stump221]

so..

Well that is just a running total if you added up all the events. Each event runs about a week for at a set dayrate. I basically have 9 verbal agreements that are all seperate for around $3000 a pop. Would that make a difference?

Thanks!!!!

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? Georgia
I am an independent contractor that operates under an S-Corp.
I work for a variety of Audio Visual companies that hire me as an audio engineer for their corporate events. I was recently taken off of 9 weeks of confirmed work that was spread out through the end of october of 2007. I have turned down alot of other business to honor the events that I was booked on for this particular company and will suffer financially.
This is a company that is based out of Boston.
In a nutshell one of their employees has acused me triying to influence another contractor.
This influnece would be in regards to how the contractor bills his overtime. This actually never happened and all they had to do was contact this guy and coroborate that it was not true. Instead they threw me off their events and then called me to notify afterwords.
All of this is confirmed work for them that is under contract. It's not like the shows went away. They replaced me.
Do I have any legal basis to recover some damages here? Some of these dates are as close as next week and I can't rebook myself with others. The positions are already filled.
Thanks for any help. I am very upset over this and discussing the matter with them has not resolved anything.

DPWhat is the name of your state?

What you describe here are speculative damages.

In other words, you have not been damaged because there are no direct and actual damages.

So, you have no case.

 

[stump221]

last question

So how could the damge be speculative when I know exactly what I would have made on the show. And since I honored the verbal booking and turned down other business so that I could work for them ,I know exactly how much money I am out of?

 

[stump221]

last thing

I charge the same dayrate for all the companies that hire me. So its real easy to do the math.

 

[seniorjudge]

So how could the damge be speculative when I know exactly what I would have made on the show. And since I honored the verbal booking and turned down other business so that I could work for them ,I know exactly how much money I am out of?

There is your definition of speculative.

It hasn't happened yet.

Find other customers and next time demand a deposit up front.

 

[stump221]

more

What you describe here are speculative damages.

In other words, you have not been damaged because there are no direct and actual damages.


This client backed out at the last minute and I cannot rebook my skillset on this short of notice. That means I will suffer a financial loss that cannot be recovered. The direct damage is real and tangible despite the fact that the dates are upcoming. It is a reality.
By the time this goes into the legal system the losses will be a past tense thing as the dates will have come and gone anyway. I have records to show other offers that I had to back out of to honor their dates. This is some cold blooded stuff if I can't get some compensation. In my line of work we don't get deposits for events. I think I'll just put the labor board on notice that they are in multiple violations of labor law and just make it hurt for them if I can't get any satisfaction.

Thanks for your advice!!!!!!!!
I'll see a lawyer tommorrow and go from there.

 

[moburkes]

What you describe here are speculative damages.

In other words, you have not been damaged because there are no direct and actual damages.


This client backed out at the last minute and I cannot rebook my skillset on this short of notice. That means I will suffer a financial loss that cannot be recovered. The direct damage is real and tangible despite the fact that the dates are upcoming. It is a reality.
By the time this goes into the legal system the losses will be a past tense thing as the dates will have come and gone anyway. I have records to show other offers that I had to back out of to honor their dates. This is some cold blooded stuff if I can't get some compensation. In my line of work we don't get deposits for events. I think I'll just put the labor board on notice that they are in multiple violations of labor law and just make it hurt for them if I can't get any satisfaction.

Thanks for your advice!!!!!!!!
I'll see a lawyer tommorrow and go from there.

What contract did he break? If I, at the last minute, cancel my doctor's appointment, my hairdresser appointment, my oil change appointment, etc, all I've done is cancelled. But, since I didn't have a contract which stated that if I didn't cancel by a certain time period the cancel penalty is (fill in the blank), there is no contract to enforce.

 

[stump221]

more

So you are saying that if a company calls me up and hires me for an event for a specified amount and then backs out at the last second that I can't hold them liable? I thought that a verbal agreement can be just as legally binding as a written contract. I can only work for one client per day vs. an oil shack that takes in 50 cars per day. I'll see the lawyer and get the final word on this tommorrow and report back. I may be SOL in the end but I have to try. My reputation has been hurt as well as my pocketbook. I work in a small community of contractors and I have alot of damge control to take care of here.

I'll report back on this. No further exchange is needed until then.

Thanks gang!!!!

 

[acmb05]

What contract did he break? If I, at the last minute, cancel my doctor's appointment, my hairdresser appointment, my oil change appointment, etc, all I've done is cancelled. But, since I didn't have a contract which stated that if I didn't cancel by a certain time period the cancel penalty is (fill in the blank), there is no contract to enforce.

A lot of doctors offices can and do charge if you do not cancel 24 hours before your appointment.

 

[moburkes]

A lot of doctors offices can and do charge if you do not cancel 24 hours before your appointment.

Sure they do. So does my hairdresser. However, unless they have a RULE IN PLACE, they can't arbitrarily charge for it (and expect to be paid).

 

[acmb05]

Sure they do. So does my hairdresser. However, unless they have a RULE IN PLACE, they can't arbitrarily charge for it (and expect to be paid).

Well of course, But I have never been to a doctors office that did not have that in the paperwork they give you on your first visit ( you know the papers that most everyone just dumps in the garbage)