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Problem with co worker

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ImtheNicest

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? KY

I have a problem with a co-worker and am thinking about going to small claims court.

I originally sent in a proposal to go to an out of state professional conference to my employer. It was approved for a 4 day stay. My employer was going to cover my airfare and hotel costs. I decided to bring my significant other with me, so we could have a mini vacation as well.

Then, my employer kind of spoiled the whole thing my inviting one of my co-workers to go with me. Luckily it was someone I was friendly with, but still. And they told us that we'd have to share a room, which would interfere with my plan to have my significant other come.

I talked to my co-worker and asked him to invite his significant other to come along as well; however, she didn't want to come. But I still wanted my significant other to come. My co-worker said he was okay with this, but was concerned about the costs, since without my significant other we'd share a room, and he wouldn't have to incur any costs. We then talked about extending our stay by a few days, so we'd have a real vacation, and agreed to split the cost of the extra days.

I wanted to rent a car, but he said that the town we were going to had good mass transit. Our employer said they would reimburse for taxi rides, but I really didn't want to wait on taxis all the time, so I talked to my co-worker and really pushed for a rental. He agreed to it, and said that he'd pay a part of the car if our employer refused to reimburse for the car.

We had a really good time, even though my co-worker was kind of a third wheel.

Since our employer was going to be reimbursing some of the expenses, I put everything on my credit card. My co-worker offered to put one of the hotel rooms in his name, but I wanted the reimbursement to come to me, so I put everything in my name on my card.

The problem came when it was time to split the costs. The total cost for the whole trip for the 3 of us was $1800. My co-worker's half was obviously $900 and mine was $900. Only, he refused to pay all of it! He said that I was trying to get him to pay for my significant other's vacation! And that I was trying to get him to pay me the money that my employer would be reimbursing me.

I figured it's only fair that he pay part of the money that they will eventually reimburse me because it shouldn't sit on my credit card this whole time. When they do reimburse me, I'll give him his portion back. And he agreed to split the costs before we went on the trip, so of course he owes half.

Our employer is only going to reimburse $400 for the hotel room. They are refusing to pay for the car, saying we should have used taxis. The car was $350. So, my co-worker owes me: $200 (his share of the reimbursement money); $150 (for the car); and $550 (for the hotel) = $900.

He says he's only paying me $350 for the hotel (which is only 1/3 of the hotel cost! Totally unfair!) and $116 for the car (again, only 1/3, totally unfair!) and not paying any of the $400 that our employer is going to reimburse me. So I have to just eat that money until our employer pays me back.

So I have to pay for half of this trip all by myself, even though we were both there. How is that fair?

Do you think I have a shot in small claims court?
 


BL

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? KY

I have a problem with a co-worker and am thinking about going to small claims court.

I originally sent in a proposal to go to an out of state professional conference to my employer. It was approved for a 4 day stay. My employer was going to cover my airfare and hotel costs. I decided to bring my significant other with me, so we could have a mini vacation as well.

Then, my employer kind of spoiled the whole thing my inviting one of my co-workers to go with me. Luckily it was someone I was friendly with, but still. And they told us that we'd have to share a room, which would interfere with my plan to have my significant other come.

I talked to my co-worker and asked him to invite his significant other to come along as well; however, she didn't want to come. But I still wanted my significant other to come. My co-worker said he was okay with this, but was concerned about the costs, since without my significant other we'd share a room, and he wouldn't have to incur any costs. We then talked about extending our stay by a few days, so we'd have a real vacation, and agreed to split the cost of the extra days.

I wanted to rent a car, but he said that the town we were going to had good mass transit. Our employer said they would reimburse for taxi rides, but I really didn't want to wait on taxis all the time, so I talked to my co-worker and really pushed for a rental. He agreed to it, and said that he'd pay a part of the car if our employer refused to reimburse for the car.

We had a really good time, even though my co-worker was kind of a third wheel.

Since our employer was going to be reimbursing some of the expenses, I put everything on my credit card. My co-worker offered to put one of the hotel rooms in his name, but I wanted the reimbursement to come to me, so I put everything in my name on my card.

The problem came when it was time to split the costs. The total cost for the whole trip for the 3 of us was $1800. My co-worker's half was obviously $900 and mine was $900. Only, he refused to pay all of it! He said that I was trying to get him to pay for my significant other's vacation! And that I was trying to get him to pay me the money that my employer would be reimbursing me.

I figured it's only fair that he pay part of the money that they will eventually reimburse me because it shouldn't sit on my credit card this whole time. When they do reimburse me, I'll give him his portion back. And he agreed to split the costs before we went on the trip, so of course he owes half.

Our employer is only going to reimburse $400 for the hotel room. They are refusing to pay for the car, saying we should have used taxis. The car was $350. So, my co-worker owes me: $200 (his share of the reimbursement money); $150 (for the car); and $550 (for the hotel) = $900.

He says he's only paying me $350 for the hotel (which is only 1/3 of the hotel cost! Totally unfair!) and $116 for the car (again, only 1/3, totally unfair!) and not paying any of the $400 that our employer is going to reimburse me. So I have to just eat that money until our employer pays me back.

So I have to pay for half of this trip all by myself, even though we were both there. How is that fair?

Do you think I have a shot in small claims court?
I'm not a mathematical guru , but YOU are the one that wanted ( most likely insisted ) on using your Credit card and putting everything in YOUR name , even though you co-worker offered to put the room in his name .

He wanted to take transit although your Co. would reimburse taxis .

Once again YOU dominated the show , and it had to be a rental .

Now you want the co-worker to pay 1/2 the cost , you say that was agreed .

You took your significant other , had a good time , except for the squeaky wheel .

You pay 2/3rds , he pays 1/3 .

You get reimbursed ( but still again after all your dominance ) , you complain you have to wait , and the any extra CC fees .

I think your chance is nill .
 
Okay, the hotel was either $1050 (3 * $350) or $1100 (2 * $550), depending on which of your figures I use.

The car was $350, giving hotel+car as $1400 or $1450. So how do you get $1800 for the trip total?
 

ImtheNicest

Junior Member
The total cost of everything was $1800. The car was $350. The hotel was $1450 for the 2 rooms. Our employer is going to reimburse us/me $400 for the hotel (for the conference.) They will only reimburse for one room. But we AGREED to get two rooms and my co-worker agreed to pay part of the cost. He also agreed to pay part of the rental car.

It's not fair that I'm having to have all this sit on my credit card, waiting reimbursement. He AGREED to help pay for the rental car. It doesn't matter that he wanted to use the mass transit or that our employer would pay for taxis since he agreed to pay part of the rental car. Isn't that a verbal contract?

Now he's refusing to pay his part. He thinks he should only have to pay a third of the costs, not including what is going to be reimbursed. So, he's looking at it as if the hotel was only $1050, and he's dividing that by 3, which is where he gets the $350 he thinks he owes. And he thinks he only has to pay 1/3 the cost of the car, too, which is $117. So he's only offering me $467 - he's cheating me out of $433!

I don't understand why you don't think I have a good case in small claims court. My wife thinks I have a good chance, given that he AGREED to pay part of the costs. Well, the other $433 is PART of the costs. He keeps accusing me of trying to get a free ride for my wife, but to me, it seems like he's the one trying to get a free ride. What, he thinks he can go on vacation for free? I mean, he's suppose to get to pay $467 for a vacation and I'm suppose to pay $1333? That doesn't seem right ... even if I do get reimbursed the $400.
 
Here is my ruling.

Three people shared one car, so each person is responsible for 1/3 of the car. There really is no justification whatsoever for trying to split the car 50%-50%, especially when you were the one who insisted that you use a rental car instead of taxis.

For the days after the conference, he had one room, and you and your SO had one room, so those costs should be split 50%-50%. Also, according to your narrative, this was the agreement for the extra days.

For the days of the conference, you basically kicked him out of a fully-reimbursed (half)-room. So it seems to me that those days should be split 67%-33%, since he only agreed to pay "part" (not "half") of the costs.

So your out-of-pocket costs should be: ($800 * 2/3) for conference days at hotel + ($650 * 1/2) for vacation days at hotel + ($350 * 2/3) for rental car - ($400 * 1/2) reimbursement = $892.

His out-of-pocket costs should be: ($800 * 1/3) for conference days at hotel + ($650 * 1/2) for vacation days at hotel + ($350 * 1/3) for rental car - ($400 * 1/2) reimbursement = $508.

Since you have all the hotel receipts in your name, he cannot submit for his reimbursement. Since that was your decision, I don't see why he should front you that reimbursement.

Thus, he should pay you $508.
 
Then, my employer kind of spoiled the whole thing my inviting one of my co-workers to go with me.

Imagine that, your employer thought they had the right to impact the work-related trip that the employer was paying for! :rolleyes:

The total cost of the non-reimbursed trip is $1400. He has offered to pay 1/3. How is that not fair?

I think your chance of recovering in small claims court is, at best, small, as the court will not be impressed with any of your story. Having said that, you are certainly not entitled to recover any of the reimbursed costs at all from your co-worker. Submit your receipts and your employer will reimburse you - most employers do this within a week to ten days, so you have no damages. Furthermore, you don't have a cause of action against the co-worker for these costs - under no circumstances was there ever a contract between the two of you for these costs. Thus, the total cost is $1400 for all non-work related costs.

Of the $1400 .. nowhere do I read that he agreed to split the costs. He agreed to pay part of the costs.

As it is, he has made a generous offer. For example, why in the world should he pay for any of the costs of the hotel during the conference? He only incured the room because you needed the paid-for room for yourself. You should pay the costs for the second room during the conference.

I wonder what the split would be if he pays you for his room after the conference and even 1/2 the car? I bet its less than the 1/3 he offered.
 

ImtheNicest

Junior Member
See, I think you're wrong, because my wife and I are ONE unit ... it's not like we were going as 3 separate individuals, but as my wife/me AND my co-worker. TWO units, but my unit just happened to contain 2 people.

Most married couples see themselves as one, rather than as two separate individuals. If my co-worker didn't like it, then he didn't have to agree to go to the conference. It was MY proposal, after all, and he just horned in and got himself a nice little vacation which he now wants ME to pay for. Why should he get a free ride? My wife and I shouldn't have to pay for him - he should be paying US.

I think we could do well in small claims court. After all, I have all the receipts, plus I haven't even submitted anything to my employer for reimbursement, so I have received NOTHING. Everything is adding up on my credit card, with INTEREST. So I think I can get him for interest, too. Plus the aggravation.

He tried to give me a check for the $467, but since it was partial payment, we refused it. He's now saying that since we refused his check, we must not want payment at all. My wife went to his house to get the rest of our money, and he actually threatened to call the police! I tried to tell him at work to leave my wife alone, and he told our manager that I'm creating a "hostile work environment" for him, so my manager had a talk with me and put a notation in my file.

Now he's frightened my wife and damaged my reputation at work. I think I could get him in small claims not just for the remaining $433, but also for aggravation and harassment and slander. Maybe a few thousand dollars.

Maybe I should hire a lawyer.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
See, I think you're wrong, because my wife and I are ONE unit ... it's not like we were going as 3 separate individuals, but as my wife/me AND my co-worker. TWO units, but my unit just happened to contain 2 people.
You are one greedy individual (unit?)

Other than the hotel room, the co-worker would owe 1/3 of the UNREIMBURSED costs.
 

BL

Senior Member
See, I think you're wrong, because my wife and I are ONE unit ... it's not like we were going as 3 separate individuals, but as my wife/me AND my co-worker. TWO units, but my unit just happened to contain 2 people.

Most married couples see themselves as one, rather than as two separate individuals. If my co-worker didn't like it, then he didn't have to agree to go to the conference. It was MY proposal, after all, and he just horned in and got himself a nice little vacation which he now wants ME to pay for. Why should he get a free ride? My wife and I shouldn't have to pay for him - he should be paying US.

I think we could do well in small claims court. After all, I have all the receipts, plus I haven't even submitted anything to my employer for reimbursement, so I have received NOTHING. Everything is adding up on my credit card, with INTEREST. So I think I can get him for interest, too. Plus the aggravation.

He tried to give me a check for the $467, but since it was partial payment, we refused it. He's now saying that since we refused his check, we must not want payment at all. My wife went to his house to get the rest of our money, and he actually threatened to call the police! I tried to tell him at work to leave my wife alone, and he told our manager that I'm creating a "hostile work environment" for him, so my manager had a talk with me and put a notation in my file.

Now he's frightened my wife and damaged my reputation at work. I think I could get him in small claims not just for the remaining $433, but also for aggravation and harassment and slander. Maybe a few thousand dollars.

Maybe I should hire a lawyer.
Are you here to just troll ?

Because honestly , either you really do have no clue , or you're just egging us on .

If I were in the co-worker's shoes , I'd do exactly the same thing .
 

ImtheNicest

Junior Member
I'm not greedy. But I do only have a certain amount of money to live on each month and I wasn't anticipating getting hit with an $1800 bill. My understanding of the agreement between my co-worker and I was that we were going to split the costs - or each of us pay half. 1/3 does not equal 1/2. It's much less. So by him insisting on only paying 1/3 of the costs, that leaves me on the hook for paying the rest, even though he agreed to split the costs PRIOR to us taking the trip.

It's not my fault that he agreed to tag along, knowing full well my wife was coming. He had the option to bring his wife. He chose NOT to do so.

We didn't use the car for anything but going to and from the airport and our professional conference, just what we would have used a taxi service for. And my wife was the one who actually drove us. The rest of the time, we took the bus and such. So the car was only used for conference/work related purposes, therefore, I think it's only fair that he pay 1/2. Why should my wife be responsible for paying 1/3 of a car she didn't have any use for?

Also, he's now harassing my wife by threatening to get the police involved. And by reporting me - over a PERSONAL issue - to our manager (not a professional issue, but something that has nothing to do with work), he's threatening my livelihood. It's not fair that he can do these kind of intimidation tactics and get away with it.

We used to be fairly good friends. Apparently $433 is worth more to him than our friendship, which I find sad, especially considering that he could well afford to pay me.

I just think there should be some kind of legal means to prevent him from a) backing out of his word to pay his part and b) harassing me and my wife at work and in our personal life.

I don't need insults. I just want a true and unbiased assessment of our LEGAL chances of success in small claims court. Or, due to the harassment issue, has this now become bigger than small claims court? Do I need to file a police report?

I'm very serious about this.
 
I'm not greedy. But I do only have a certain amount of money to live on each month and I wasn't anticipating getting hit with an $1800 bill. My understanding of the agreement between my co-worker and I was that we were going to split the costs - or each of us pay half. 1/3 does not equal 1/2. It's much less.
The difference between 1/2 and 1/3 of $1,400 is $233. That's a cheap vacation for you and your wife. If you can't afford to go on vacation on your limited income, then you should stay home.

So by him insisting on only paying 1/3 of the costs, that leaves me on the hook for paying the rest, even though he agreed to split the costs PRIOR to us taking the trip.
Yep

It's not my fault that he agreed to tag along, knowing full well my wife was coming. He had the option to bring his wife. He chose NOT to do so.
The employer sent him on a work related trip. He didn't "tag along" or feel the need to bring his wife to work.

We didn't use the car for anything but going to and from the airport and our professional conference, just what we would have used a taxi service for.
Then you should have taken a taxi, since the employer would reimburse that.

And my wife was the one who actually drove us. The rest of the time, we took the bus and such.
So, she dropped you at the conference and went shopping.

So the car was only used for conference/work related purposes, therefore, I think it's only fair that he pay 1/2. Why should my wife be responsible for paying 1/3 of a car she didn't have any use for?
Except for the shopping. She did use the car, and should pay for it.

Also, he's now harassing my wife by threatening to get the police involved. And by reporting me - over a PERSONAL issue - to our manager (not a professional issue, but something that has nothing to do with work), he's threatening my livelihood. It's not fair that he can do these kind of intimidation tactics and get away with it.
You started it.

We used to be fairly good friends. Apparently $433 is worth more to him than our friendship, which I find sad, especially considering that he could well afford to pay me.
Apparently the money is worth more to you than the friendship too, otherwise you wouldn't have your knickers in a twist.

Good luck.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
It's not my fault that he agreed to tag along, knowing full well my wife was coming.

Excuse me? This is a WORK related conference that your EMPLOYER was paying for.

He had more right to be there than your wife did.

Either you are the most clueless individual that ever walked the earth, or you are the greediest son of a rhymes-with-witch ditto.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Oh, and you wanted your chances of prevailing in small claims?

What does the word, nil, mean to you?
 

ImtheNicest

Junior Member
My wife didn't go shopping. She drove back to the hotel and went back to bed. She had to get up at 5:30 in the morning on her VACATION to drive us to the conference. He ought to pay something for the taxi SERVICE we provided him. That alone should make up the difference between the 1/3 and 1/2 of the rental car, even though we AGREED to split the cost of the car.

Does it make no difference that we agreed prior to taking the trip to SPLIT the costs between us? SPLIT means to cut in half, right? Of course, he's saying now that he meant split between himself, my wife, and me, or a three-way-split, but that's not how it works with married couples. After all, if his wife had come, she wouldn't have paid separately - they would have paid together, as one.

My wife and I are one.

And I didn't "start" anything. He started by threatening to call the police on my wife. I simply told him he can't talk to my wife that way. Next thing I know, I'm being hauled into the manager's office and being told off for "bringing personal problems to work." Well, what else was he doing but bringing personal problems to work when he went and complained about this to our manager? And he's impacted my ability to get promotions and raises because there is now a permanent notation in my file.

Isn't that slander?

I've done nothing but be a nice and patient guy, and he's just been stubborn. He keeps telling me to submit the receipts to our employer and then come talk to him. Well, how can I when he hasn't paid me? I need them as proof!
 
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