little_wilson
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ID
I was the manager of a small business that closed in March, with the owner moving it to a new location. He had 3 employees to pay, but not enough to pay all of them. I made sure the 2 under me were paid in full, and since the owner was a friend of mine, I didn't worry about getting my full pay. He assured me I would, both verbally and via text.
By the second week of April, I had received half my final pay. Then he encountered financial difficulties, and had to close up the entire business (he did not file bankruptcy). I knew he owed many people, so I let him slide for far longer than I should've. But I had numerous texts from him where he acknowledged the fact that he owed me money.
I tried to talk to him about it, and he claims to have told me to get the remainder from his former business partner, who left town a few weeks before March. However, we had discussed in March that we both knew it would be useless to do so. The partner had left on VERY poor terms, and would definitely not be involved in paying any of the employees back. The business was essentially my friend's. And I've even got texts where he tells me HE would pay me, not THEY (as in he and his business partner).
Earlier today, I sent him a notarized letter of intent, informing him that I would file a suit in Small Claims Court if I did not receive the remainder of my pay in 30 days. However, my issue is that all of the evidence that I have is via text, since the verbal stuff would be my word versus his word. Is that enough evidence to win a case like this? I don't even have all the texts I need, at least not in a form that would be admissible in court (I got a new phone in the midst of all this, and the old phone had most of the texts, but it didn't have unlimited texts in the inbox, so pretty much all of them are deleted. But I do know every date and time for every text I need). There are a lot of people who are aware of the situation, and who are very much so on my side in it, and agree with me fighting back about it, but they wouldn't have the kind of personal and involved knowledge that would make them witnesses.
So yeah--I know I'd have to subpoena for the texts (I talked to my provider and that's what they told me), but will those be enough?
I was the manager of a small business that closed in March, with the owner moving it to a new location. He had 3 employees to pay, but not enough to pay all of them. I made sure the 2 under me were paid in full, and since the owner was a friend of mine, I didn't worry about getting my full pay. He assured me I would, both verbally and via text.
By the second week of April, I had received half my final pay. Then he encountered financial difficulties, and had to close up the entire business (he did not file bankruptcy). I knew he owed many people, so I let him slide for far longer than I should've. But I had numerous texts from him where he acknowledged the fact that he owed me money.
I tried to talk to him about it, and he claims to have told me to get the remainder from his former business partner, who left town a few weeks before March. However, we had discussed in March that we both knew it would be useless to do so. The partner had left on VERY poor terms, and would definitely not be involved in paying any of the employees back. The business was essentially my friend's. And I've even got texts where he tells me HE would pay me, not THEY (as in he and his business partner).
Earlier today, I sent him a notarized letter of intent, informing him that I would file a suit in Small Claims Court if I did not receive the remainder of my pay in 30 days. However, my issue is that all of the evidence that I have is via text, since the verbal stuff would be my word versus his word. Is that enough evidence to win a case like this? I don't even have all the texts I need, at least not in a form that would be admissible in court (I got a new phone in the midst of all this, and the old phone had most of the texts, but it didn't have unlimited texts in the inbox, so pretty much all of them are deleted. But I do know every date and time for every text I need). There are a lot of people who are aware of the situation, and who are very much so on my side in it, and agree with me fighting back about it, but they wouldn't have the kind of personal and involved knowledge that would make them witnesses.
So yeah--I know I'd have to subpoena for the texts (I talked to my provider and that's what they told me), but will those be enough?