How to proceed?

[jsskimore]

Utah

I was fired in April 2020 from a company (MT LLC)
I am a sole member of an LLC (JS LLC).

Months before I was fired I ordered product from a company in China for my company (JS LLC).
The order and communication was done with my MT LLC email account.
The purchase order was between the factory in China and JS LLC.
JS LLC made a payment to the factory in China (30% deposit).

After I was fired, the owner of MT LLC contacted the factory and told them MT LLC is taking over the order.
I didn't give permission or transfer the contract to MT LLC.
MT LLC did not pay JS LLC for the deposit or for the order.

I was blocked from completing the purchase because MT LLC took over the order.

The owner later bragged in an unemployment hearing that he bought my purchase order.
He wanted to remind me that I lost money to him.

Is there any legal recourse for this?
Is what he did theft?
How should I proceed?

 

[adjusterjack]

Is there any legal recourse for this?

Yes, sue him.

Is what he did theft?

Sure. But it's unlikely that anybody's going to arrest him and put him in jail for it.

How should I proceed?

Sue him.

How much money is involved? Dollar amount please.

Oh, one more thing.

This:

The order and communication was done with my MT LLC email account.

An incredibly dumb move, using the company email account for your personal business. Life lesson from the school of hard knocks.

 

[Zigner]

An incredibly dumb move, using the company email account for your personal business. Life lesson from the school of hard knocks.

The OP could have been (and maybe was) fired for cause over this.

 

[quincy]

Utah

I was fired in April 2020 from a company (MT LLC)
I am a sole member of an LLC (JS LLC).

Months before I was fired I ordered product from a company in China for my company (JS LLC).
The order and communication was done with my MT LLC email account.
The purchase order was between the factory in China and JS LLC.
JS LLC made a payment to the factory in China (30% deposit).

After I was fired, the owner of MT LLC contacted the factory and told them MT LLC is taking over the order.
I didn't give permission or transfer the contract to MT LLC.
MT LLC did not pay JS LLC for the deposit or for the order.

I was blocked from completing the purchase because MT LLC took over the order.

The owner later bragged in an unemployment hearing that he bought my purchase order.
He wanted to remind me that I lost money to him.

Is there any legal recourse for this?
Is what he did theft?
How should I proceed?

It was a big mistake for you to use the MT LLC email account to place an order for your JS LLC.

I do not see that you have a legitimate claim to pursue against MT LLC - but you can discuss the specifics with an attorney in your area.

Good luck.

 

[Zigner]

It was a big mistake for you to use the MT LLC email account to place an order for your JS LLC.

I do not see that you have a legitimate claim to pursue against MT LLC - but you can discuss the specifics with an attorney in your area.

Good luck.

Unjust enrichment comes to mind.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

As does tortious interference.

 

[jsskimore]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[zddoodah]

After I was fired, the owner of MT LLC contacted the factory and told them MT LLC is taking over the order.
. . .

I was blocked from completing the purchase because MT LLC took over the order.

This is a rather odd way for the story to end. What happened after this? What does "blocked from completing" mean? Does it mean that you never received what you had ordered? What exactly was it that you ordered? Did you pay anything more than the 30% deposit? Did MT LLC pay the balance of the purchase price and receive the product? What happened when you called the Chinese supplier to discuss MT's purported "take over" of the order? I don't even know what that means, by the way. If Company A has contracted to buy widgets from Company B and Company C contacts Company B claiming it "is taking over the order," the most likely result would be for Company B to say, "WTH are you talking about?"

Needless to say, your misuse of your MT LLC email to conduct JS LLC business is what brought all this about.

Is there any legal recourse for this?

JS LLC is free to sue the Chinese company to recover the 30% payment. It's not really clear to me that JS would have a valid claim against MT, though.

Is what he did theft?

No, it's you misusing MT LLC assets for the benefit of JS LLC and the Chinese supplier breaching its contract with JS.

How should I proceed?

How much $$ is at issue?

 

[quincy]

Unjust enrichment comes to mind.

As does tortious interference.

Possibly. The problem I see with either of those is that the purchase was essentially made in the name of MT LLC, ordered by an employee of MT LLC.

It could be possible for jsskimore to recover his deposit but I really don’t see a clear claim against MT LLC.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Possibly. The problem I see with either of those is that the purchase was essentially made in the name of MT LLC, ordered by an employee of MT LLC.

It could be possible for jsskimore to recover his deposit but I really don’t see a clear claim against MT LLC.

I don't know that that is correct. The OP said this...

The purchase order was between the factory in China and JS LLC.

Sure using his employer's email was stupid. I just don't think it pushes things as far as you do.

 

[quincy]

I don't know that that is correct. The OP said this...



Sure using his employer's email was stupid. I just don't think it pushes things as far as you do.

Possibly. jsskimore could discuss this with an attorney in his area.

 

[LdiJ]

Unjust enrichment comes to mind.

I agree. The company basically stole his 30% deposit.

 

[Zigner]

I agree. The company basically stole his 30% deposit.

I might use the word "appropriated" - but yeah.

 

[quincy]

I agree. The company basically stole his 30% deposit.

I don’t think we really know enough yet to say. Doodah asked a lot of pertinent questions, the answers to which would tell us more.

Here is a link with access to Utah’s economic interference elements (CV 1401) and unjust enrichment (CV 2101):

https://www.utcourts.gov/resources/muji/index.asp?page=civ&view=all_civ