Ex Employer never paid me and libels me with threats of baseless lawsuit.

[Facekhan]

What is the name of your state? Maryland.

I resigned from my salaried position about 2 weeks into July. I was never paid my partial July check. I contacted them about it and they told me that they wanted me to sign a release and confidentiality agreement. I said I would certainly look at it and assuming everything in it was reasonable I would sign it but they had to send me my last check immediately as it was already late. The CEO also implied that the company wanted this release or else they would accuse me of stealing corporate documents or helping another former employee do so. They instead waited 2 more weeks and fedexed me the contract which only admitted to oweing me about $160 when they actually owed me about $630 for working about 7 of 21 working days in July.

I recieved this document on August 16th which was the first written notice and the first notice of the actual amount they claim is in dispute. They allege that they accidentally paid me for vacation time I took in May which appeared on my May 31st/June 1st pay check and that would be the reason for the deduction. However at the time I recieved the contract they were already 14 days late in paying me which as I understand it runs afoul of Maryland law.

I consulted with a lawyer and was told not to sign it simply because it was not enough money to give them this kind of release and that I should ask for everything I am owed plus some kind of severance payment and/or a letter of recomendation from them and a guarantee of a good reference. He said that they were definitely telling me that they would not pay at all without the contract. He said if I wanted my money I would probably have to go through small claims or the DLLR process.

I sent the company a certified letter and contracted them several times by phone to tell them that they owed me $630 and they should release my check immediately or I would take them to court for it.

On the deadline I gave them, I called them one last time to ask them to pay me but the boss would not take my call so I told them I was heading to the court house to file suit. At the court house I recieved a call from the CEO threatening me with some baseless accusation about stolen documents and threatened to sue me and my father (who has nothing to do with this situtation other than knowing the CEO personally) just so we would have to spend money on an attorney to get the suit dismissed.

After filing the suit and having them served I heard nothing. They did not file to defend Through a mix up on my part I missed my court date. As it turns out though they chose to show up in order to file their motion to defend so that the trial would be delayed. To prove they did not file on time in order to delay the case I have nasty-grams from their lawyer which I got fedexed to me on the court day meaning they had every intention of delaying the case not actually fighting it on the court day.


The accusations they make against me change everytime I hear the story. I have several different written versions of the story and he has in an attempt to interfere with my relationship with my father copied him on many of the letters they have sent me along with the CEO's own personal editorials ahd and threats to "prosecute" me and the like. The accusations are so baseless, malicious and logically inconsistent I have no doubt that they are simply made up by the CEO who also made up a similar story about my predecessor when she quit. For instance if this alleged theft occured in April, why I was promoted right after that if I was suspected of wrongdoing. The CEO is trying to make it seem as though the members of the board of this small company are the ones calling the shots but the fact is that he has been telling them this paranoid fantasy of his to get them riled up enough to let him file some kind of countersuit against me.

I have a few questions

1. What is the time limitation a company has to notify an employee of some kind of accidental overpayment because in my case it was nearly 75 days and I believe I was entitled to the vacation pay since 2-weeks of paid vacation was part of my deal with them when they promoted me and put me on salary?

2. Regardless of any ongoing dispute or my refusal to sign a release contract aren't they still required to pay me ontime for work performed.

3. Could their threats to accuse me and the subsequent accusations which they now threaten to turn into a lawsuit or criminal charge against me be considered Extortion by threat of slander/libel because this entire thing is not because of any monetary dispute but simply because I told them I would not sign the agreement. If this is the case should I report this to the police and press charges?

4. If this does not rise to the level of extortion is it clear cut enough for a slander/libel lawsuit. I have yet to apply for any other jobs partially for fear that they will spread this lie about me.

I may have access to a very high powered attorney friend of mine from a massive firm who was the one who told me not to sign the contract. Would a letter from him likely stop this insanity.

I also know of at least one other person who worked for the company and this CEO who had to fight for her last paycheck and the other former employee who was accused of this nonsense would probably back me up if it came down to it. So far I have been nervous to contact her for fear they would try to use that as evidence we were in collusion. Their accusation against her was untrue but in her case they did have a reasonable suspicion. The fact is though that the company is basically worthless and has basically no revenue at all. I have virtually no assets so them suing me would simply be harrassment.

I am also concerned that the CEO will use two of his current employees to lie for him in court if it comes down to it because they are entirely dependent on their jobs and at least one of them hated me while I worked there.

 

[pattytx]

I'll answer the pieces I can:

1. There is no limit. Regarding your vacation, first of all, even though you said they told you you would get two weeks vacation, that doesn't necessarily mean you accrue it all at once. Perhaps they were letting you borrow against future accruals. However, in any case, the federal DOL has issued Private Letter Rulings that state that employers may not recover advanced vacation from an exempt employee's final paycheck (You said were were a "salaried" employee, which is not the same as exempt, so I don't know if it applies to your situation.) The PLR does not address nonexempt employees. Although PLRs are a response only to the employer that requested it, it seems clear what the DOLs stance would be overall based on the verbiage in this PLR.

2. MD requires the employer issue the final paycheck no later than the next regularly scheduled payday. Period. http://www.dllr.state.md.us/labor/wagepay/wppayonterm.htm

I cannot answer your other questions, because that is not my area of expertise.

 

[Facekhan]

Thanks alot for that. The last time I asked about this I got my head bitten off by someone who obviously did not understand what I was saying.

Do you know where/if I could get a copy of one of those letters.


Upon re-reading the original contract they sent me after my paycheck was late which started this dispute it appears they are claiming my payment was an accident. Is it fair to say that I have to show that the payment was not an accident to win in Small claims court? I think that common sense given that I worked so close to the payroll person and the guy who signs the checks would be enough for that. And of course how this "mistake" was only discovered 71-75 days after I got that check. I think the judge will see this as an attempt to get back at me for quiting. In retrospect I should have filed with the DLLR, I actually thought they would be slower than small claims court. Plus I would not have them trying to intimidate me with their slanders since it would be out of my hands.




I doubt they would argue I am not exempt. They put me on salary mainly so they could work me like crazy and not pay OT while I still made nearly the same crap wage except full time. If I was non-exempt I figure they owe me about 120 hours of overtime at $18/hour. I doubt that is where they are going. I imagine that they will argue they paid me for the vacation time by mistake and only discovered it over a month after I resigned. Either way the very sharp lawyer who reviewed their original contract they sent me told me they were clearly telling me no paycheck without the contract.

Would it be fair to say since they admit to owing me part of the money that even if I lost on the other part I would still get court costs. Although their lawyer claimed after I had filed suit that my check is waiting to be picked up. I asked them very politely to mail it to me when I resigned. The office is at the CEO's house. I considered it a ruse designed to provoke an incident. Me showing up there to get my check and them shoving the contract in my face again to make me angry.

Since then they continue to use the $160 check as their offer in exchange for me dropping the suit so as long as they are using it as part of an offer instead of making the check available to me does that invalidate their BS about being willing to pay me what they owe.

 

[pattytx]

A copy of this any PLR is not going to do you personally any good. As I previously implied, a PLR is only legally binding upon the employer who requested it. Having said that, however, it is likely that if you filed a complained with the federal Dept. of Labor, they would rule the same way in your situation.

 

[Facekhan]

Thanks. In retrospect I would have been better off filing a complaint with DOL or the MD DLLR. This court things takes forever and its way too easy for them to get delays. I mean really, the thing says file to defend within X amount of time or you lose. How hard is that to enforce? I offered to split the difference with them. They refused. Right now I just don't care about the money itself so I told them I would take the $160 and a written retraction of their accusations and a guarantee of a neutral reference. They wanted to just guarantee they would not take any action based on the allegations but based on their past behavior of breaking agreements with me and others I want nothing less than an admission that the allegations they have spread about me are false so I have something to give my lawyer if they don't live up to their end. They have not said no yet.