Contractor Issue

[rcrzp9]

Hi

I operate a personal chef company. We have contractor chefs working for us in multiple states. We told one chef in Pennsylvania that we no longer wanted to work with her. During our time together, we paid her extra to develop recipes each week and store them in a database for us. When we told her we didn't want to work with her anymore, she deleted the entire database. We paid her roughly $800 total to create the database. We owe her about $300 in wages from her last week. Can we withhold the $300 because of what she did?

 

[cbg]

If by a "contractor" chef you mean she was an IC, (and she truly meets the legal definition of an IC) it depends on the wording of your contract.

If, however, she was an employee who had a contract, then the answer is absolutely not. I'm not saying you can't take any action at all but not paying her is not an option.

 

[LdiJ]

Hi

I operate a personal chef company. We have contractor chefs working for us in multiple states. We told one chef in Pennsylvania that we no longer wanted to work with her. During our time together, we paid her extra to develop recipes each week and store them in a database for us. When we told her we didn't want to work with her anymore, she deleted the entire database. We paid her roughly $800 total to create the database. We owe her about $300 in wages from her last week. Can we withhold the $300 because of what she did?

If that $300.00 is wages, no you cannot. If its wages she is an employee not a contractor. Did you have any contract with her regarding ownership of those recipes?

 

[rcrzp9]

If that $300.00 is wages, no you cannot. If its wages she is an employee not a contractor. Did you have any contract with her regarding ownership of those recipes?

Sorry, she is an independent contractor. Sorry if I used the word wages. Def not an employee.

 

[rcrzp9]

Sorry, she is an independent contractor. Sorry if I used the word wages. Def not an employee.

The $300 is from a chef job she did for us. Separate from the recipe database. But she deleted $800 worth of the recipe database.

 

[LdiJ]

Sorry, she is an independent contractor. Sorry if I used the word wages. Def not an employee.

Watch that wording. Even calling it wages verbally when speaking to one of the contractors could land you in trouble. Again, did you have a contract regarding the ownership of those recipes?

 

[rcrzp9]

Watch that wording. Even calling it wages verbally when speaking to one of the contractors could land you in trouble. Again, did you have a contract regarding the ownership of those recipes?

We have no formal contract. We have email correspondence saying what our expectations were for creating the recipes/pay rate and then we have emails from her discussing completing her duty.

The relationship ended with us owing her $300 for cooking at a client's home. Then she got mad and deleted the database. Can we keep the $300 because of what she did on the way out?

 

[LdiJ]

We have no formal contract. We have email correspondence saying what our expectations were for creating the recipes/pay rate and then we have emails from her discussing completing her duty.

The relationship ended with us owing her $300 for cooking at a client's home. Then she got mad and deleted the database. Can we keep the $300 because of what she did on the way out?

Maybe, its unclear who actually owns the recipes.