Cause of Action-NY

[PrinceCharming]

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

I filed a claim in NYC Civil Court. Maximum Jurisdiction per "cause of action" is $25,000. I filed pro se for a total of $50,000 as three cause of actions.

1) Unpaid wages
2) Consequential damages
3) Punitive damages

However, I received a motion that all three points above are really considered one cause of action.

Therefore, I was wondering if I can consider each paycheck as a seperate cause of action (I would have 10 cause of actions in that case).

Please provide support to your response. Thank You.

 

[Rexlan]

NO ..... the rules are not easily circumvented.

Take some of that $$ you saved on tickets and hire an attorney who can read the rules

 

[PrinceCharming]

Please provide support to your response. Thank You.

 

[You Are Guilty]

He's right. A cause of action is separate if it can stand on it's own without the others. So here, for example, you'd have no punitive damages claim if you didn't have an unpaid wage claim. Two claims that are connected and not independent = one cause of action. I have no clue what consequential damages you think you're entitled to on an unpaid wage claim, but assuming the "consequences" of which you speak are those following from not getting paid, it is again connected to the unpaid wage claim and not an independent cause of action.

And if you try to file the 10 individual claims as 10 separate suits, I can pretty much guarantee the defendant will move to consolidate them all, which will be granted, then you will not only face the same problem, you will have successfully pissed off your judge.

My recommendation? If you are comfortable enough to file in Civil pro se, you can file it in Supreme and you won't have to worry about the monetary limits. The procedural rules are exactly the same (although Supreme's filing fees are a little higher). Supreme even has its own pro se office - room 116 on the first floor:
http://www.nycourts.gov/supctmanh/self-represented.htm

One caveat - Supreme judges may not overlook/ignore/not follow the law like the Civil judges sometimes do in pro se cases. (Which in the end, is not necessarily that big a deal. Even when Civil judges do all that crap they're not supposed to, even if they decide incorrectly, appealing & overturning them is very, very easy - much easier (and cheaper) than appealing a Supreme Court decision).

Good luck.

 

[PrinceCharming]

So based on your experience, the judges at the Supreme Court are better judges than in Civil Court?

Also, why can't I include 10 "cause of actions" in one suit?

I need to ammend the complaint with regards to consequential damages.
I was supposed to put in "loss of wages", and "liquidated damages".

 

[You Are Guilty]

You can put in as many causes of action as you like, so long as the total damages of all of them combined still falls within the court's limitations. So you can have 25,000 $1 causes of action, or 1 $25,000 and it's all the same.

You can amend your complaint without the court's permission if it's been less than 20 days since the "last responsive pleading". After that, you have to do it by motion, i.e. get the court's permission.

 

[azlawstudent]

So based on your experience, the judges at the Supreme Court are better judges than in Civil Court?

Also, why can't I include 10 "cause of actions" in one suit?

I need to ammend the complaint with regards to consequential damages.
I was supposed to put in "loss of wages", and "liquidated damages".

You only have one cause of action.

The unpaid wages are the cause of action. i.e.: "I am bringing this suit because my wages were not paid..."

The consequential and liquidated damages are the remedy. i.e.: "Because of the defendant's actions, I was damaged, please make this better your Honor."

 

[HomeGuru]

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

I filed a claim in NYC Civil Court. Maximum Jurisdiction per "cause of action" is $25,000. I filed pro se for a total of $50,000 as three cause of actions.

1) Unpaid wages
2) Consequential damages
3) Punitive damages

However, I received a motion that all three points above are really considered one cause of action.

Therefore, I was wondering if I can consider each paycheck as a seperate cause of action (I would have 10 cause of actions in that case).

Please provide support to your response. Thank You.

**A: nice try. And generally in a claim for unpaid wages, there is no consequential and punitives awarded.

 

[PrinceCharming]

**A: nice try. And generally in a claim for unpaid wages, there is no consequential and punitives awarded.

But there are ... *drums rolling*

LIQUIDATED DAMAGES!!!

 

[You Are Guilty]

Liquidated damages come from a contract. What else does your employment contract state? They frequently have an arbitration clause, for example.

 

[PrinceCharming]

I am covered under NYS Labor Laws (LAB 190.7, 191.1d) and Federal Labor Laws [WHD Labor 541.300(a)(1)] as I made less than $455 per week.

LAB 198.1-a and USC 216(b) provide liquidated damages for employees covered.

 

[You Are Guilty]

1) If memory serves, NYS requires a "willful" non-payment for liquidated damages to kick in, while the Feds require an equitable need.

2) Which in turn means that liquidated damages can be awarded, not that they must be.

 

[PrinceCharming]

You are right! I do have evidence to prove the "willfulness". Even if the evidence is rejected, it doesn't hurt to ask for liquidated damages on the federal level.

 

[You Are Guilty]

You are right! I do have evidence to prove the "willfulness". Even if the evidence is rejected, it doesn't hurt to ask for liquidated damages on the federal level.

I didn't mean to suggest you shouldn't ask for them or anything else - hell, you have nothing to lose by asking for punitives and attorneys fees too. The worst that can happen is the judge says "no".