ImtheNicest
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? KY
I originally thought this was an issue for small claims court, but it seems to have expanded, so now I'm thinking perhaps it's a bigger deal.
I wrote a proposal to my employer for them to send me to an out of state professional conference. They accepted, and were going to pay for my hotel and airfare, plus taxi service from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the conference for the 4 days of the conference. I decided to bring my wife along so we could have a little vacation, and we made our plans accordingly.
Then, my employer spoiled our plans by inviting one of my co-workers to attend with me. Luckily, it was someone I was friendly with, but still, it was kind of a third wheel situation. I told him that I already had arrangements to bring my wife and encouraged him to bring his wife as well. His wife, however, declined. So I told him he'd need to get his own room. He was worried about the cost, however, so we agreed we'd split the cost of the extra room between us.
My wife and I also wanted to stay for an extra day, and my co-worker decided to, as well. My wife and I also wanted to rent a car. My co-worker really pushed us to not do this, saying that the city we were going to had good mass-transit, but who wants to take the bus when you could have your own car? However, my wife and I didn't want to drive him around for free, so we asked him to share in the expense. Finally, he agreed that if our employer wouldn't reimburse for the rental, he'd pay his share.
So we went, had a decent time (though he was very intrusive), and then came time to split the bill.
The total was $1800. I had put everything on my credit card, both hotel rooms and the rental car. I did this so that the reimbursement money would come to me (after all, it was my proposal.) My co-worker didn't like this, saying that then he would have no insurance coverage to drive the car and then would have no receipt for his hotel room, but I said it was better this way, and he agreed in the end.
So, our employer will reimburse $400 for the hotel room. That leaves the $350 for the rental car and the $1050 remaining hotel bill. I told my co-worker he needs to write me a check for $900. That covers giving me $200 of the reimbursement money (which I"ll pay him back once our employer reimburses me), 1/2 of the rental car ($175) and 1/2 the hotel bill ($525) - PER OUR AGREEMENT.
And he's refusing! He says that he will NOT pay me what our employer is going to reimburse me (so he's going to let that sit on my credit card, accumulating interest! Totally unfair!) and he says that he only owes me 1/3 of the car ($117) and 1/3 of the hotel ($350) for a total of $467. He's cheating me out of $433. He says that I'm trying to get him to pay for my wife's trip and give her a free ride ... when he's the one trying to get a free ride.
So he offered me a check for $467 and I refused because it's a partial payment, and I don't want a partial payment. My wife drove to his house to attempt to collect the remaining $433, and he threatened to call the police! He basically threatened her and scared her to death. So the next day at work, I approached him and told him he can't do that stuff to my wife. The next thing I know, I'm being hauled into my manager's office and being told off for bring personal problems to work. Now a notation has been made in my permanent file, which will impact my ability for raises and promotions. He's damaged my livelihood. And he was bringing a PERSONAL problem to the manager by complaining about our personal financial issue.
I think this is harassment and slander. I originally thought about taking him to small claims (I posted about this is the small claims section) for the $433, but since he has started the harassment/slander stuff, I'm thinking it's worth more money ... since he has impacted my ability to get raises/promotions ... maybe a few thousand dollars? Can you ask for that much in small claims?
Do you need an attorney to prove slander? What are my chances in a case like this?
Thanks.
I originally thought this was an issue for small claims court, but it seems to have expanded, so now I'm thinking perhaps it's a bigger deal.
I wrote a proposal to my employer for them to send me to an out of state professional conference. They accepted, and were going to pay for my hotel and airfare, plus taxi service from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the conference for the 4 days of the conference. I decided to bring my wife along so we could have a little vacation, and we made our plans accordingly.
Then, my employer spoiled our plans by inviting one of my co-workers to attend with me. Luckily, it was someone I was friendly with, but still, it was kind of a third wheel situation. I told him that I already had arrangements to bring my wife and encouraged him to bring his wife as well. His wife, however, declined. So I told him he'd need to get his own room. He was worried about the cost, however, so we agreed we'd split the cost of the extra room between us.
My wife and I also wanted to stay for an extra day, and my co-worker decided to, as well. My wife and I also wanted to rent a car. My co-worker really pushed us to not do this, saying that the city we were going to had good mass-transit, but who wants to take the bus when you could have your own car? However, my wife and I didn't want to drive him around for free, so we asked him to share in the expense. Finally, he agreed that if our employer wouldn't reimburse for the rental, he'd pay his share.
So we went, had a decent time (though he was very intrusive), and then came time to split the bill.
The total was $1800. I had put everything on my credit card, both hotel rooms and the rental car. I did this so that the reimbursement money would come to me (after all, it was my proposal.) My co-worker didn't like this, saying that then he would have no insurance coverage to drive the car and then would have no receipt for his hotel room, but I said it was better this way, and he agreed in the end.
So, our employer will reimburse $400 for the hotel room. That leaves the $350 for the rental car and the $1050 remaining hotel bill. I told my co-worker he needs to write me a check for $900. That covers giving me $200 of the reimbursement money (which I"ll pay him back once our employer reimburses me), 1/2 of the rental car ($175) and 1/2 the hotel bill ($525) - PER OUR AGREEMENT.
And he's refusing! He says that he will NOT pay me what our employer is going to reimburse me (so he's going to let that sit on my credit card, accumulating interest! Totally unfair!) and he says that he only owes me 1/3 of the car ($117) and 1/3 of the hotel ($350) for a total of $467. He's cheating me out of $433. He says that I'm trying to get him to pay for my wife's trip and give her a free ride ... when he's the one trying to get a free ride.
So he offered me a check for $467 and I refused because it's a partial payment, and I don't want a partial payment. My wife drove to his house to attempt to collect the remaining $433, and he threatened to call the police! He basically threatened her and scared her to death. So the next day at work, I approached him and told him he can't do that stuff to my wife. The next thing I know, I'm being hauled into my manager's office and being told off for bring personal problems to work. Now a notation has been made in my permanent file, which will impact my ability for raises and promotions. He's damaged my livelihood. And he was bringing a PERSONAL problem to the manager by complaining about our personal financial issue.
I think this is harassment and slander. I originally thought about taking him to small claims (I posted about this is the small claims section) for the $433, but since he has started the harassment/slander stuff, I'm thinking it's worth more money ... since he has impacted my ability to get raises/promotions ... maybe a few thousand dollars? Can you ask for that much in small claims?
Do you need an attorney to prove slander? What are my chances in a case like this?
Thanks.