US DOT hired me - a Mover - for the day but it was a sting

[knowzero]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

I have a moving company. about a week ago i got a call to do a moving job in northern NJ. A job usually takes a full day.

I just showed up there and it was a sting operation by the US DOT, and they had ABC news there.

Anyways i don't care because i am a legit business with insurance and legal workers. So they already let me go. But now i don't have work for the day!!!!!!


Can they do this. If they want to do a sting they could have call and asked me for a meeting before they hire me, which is what most people do. and then when i show up they can ask for papers. Now they hired me for the day and im out of work.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

I have a moving company. about a week ago i got a call to do a moving job in northern NJ. A job usually takes a full day.

I just showed up there and it was a sting operation by the US DOT, and they had ABC news there.

Anyways i don't care because i am a legit business with insurance and legal workers. So they already let me go. But now i don't have work for the day!!!!!!


Can they do this. If they want to do a sting they could have call and asked me for a meeting before they hire me, which is what most people do. and then when i show up they can ask for papers. Now they hired me for the day and im out of work.

I don't understand. Were you or your moving company the object of the sting - or were you called to make the sting look more authentic (which would be odd)?

 

[knowzero]

the object of the sting

 

[tranquility]

When you say, "A job usually takes a full day." it makes me think you did not come to a meeting of the minds regarding your deal. Was there anything in writing or was there any specific representations by the other side that might be an outward manifestation of present contractual intent, with definite and certain terms, relayed to you? Did you accept those exact terms?

 

[quincy]

the object of the sting

If you and/or your movers were the object of the sting, it would have been silly for anyone to call you in advance.

If your last thread is any indication, you apparently are hard to reach any other way.

I see nothing illegal based on what you have posted, but you can consult with a lawyer in your area if you feel that you or your workers were targeted unfairly.

 

[Zigner]

If you and/or your movers were the object of the sting, it would have been silly for anyone to call you in advance.

If your last thread is any indication, you apparently are hard to reach any other way.

I see nothing illegal based on what you have posted, but you can consult with a lawyer in your area if you feel that you or your workers were targeted unfairly.

You got a signed contract prior to going to the job site, right?

 

[quincy]

You got a signed contract prior to going to the job site, right?

It has been awhile since I last moved, but we hired a nationally-known moving company and worked out all arrangements over the phone (what was being moved and from where to where). An estimate for the move was provided. No written contract was signed until the move was completed (but before unloading). I don't know if this is unusual but I suspect it is standard practice. I do remember that there was a time limit for cancelling the move and, if exceeded, a fee would be charged for the cancellation.

So, although I suppose it is possible knowzero could have some sort of claim, I am not sure who it would be against, or for how much. He was the target of a sting operation.

For an overview of sting operations (not only in this country but elsewhere), the University of Albany's Center for Problem-Oriented Policing in New York has published a guide that is interesting. Here is a link: http://www.popcenter.org/Responses/sting_operations/print/

 

[Silverplum]

Post #1 is the one that made me laugh hardest all week, so far.

 

[knowzero]

There are never contracts. We get a call from someone who wants us to move them. We make up a date. Sometimes we make up a price over the phone. sometimes I go to their current house and look around and then give them a price.

Here someone called me. Told me that on 11/6 they would like me to move them from a one bedroom apartment. I asked them some question about the type of furniture they have and gave them a price. They agreed and i made up time when i would be at their location. This is standard process.

I show up to ABC news a cops.

 

[quincy]

There are never contracts. We get a call from someone who wants us to move them. We make up a date. Sometimes we make up a price over the phone. sometimes I go to their current house and look around and then give them a price.

Here someone called me. Told me that on 11/6 they would like me to move them from a one bedroom apartment. I asked them some question about the type of furniture they have and gave them a price. They agreed and i made up time when i would be at their location. This is standard process.

I show up to ABC news a cops.

I guess it is a good thing your business is a legitimate one with insurance and legal workers, huh?

Again, knowzero, you can speak with an attorney in your area if you think you, your workers or your business were unfairly targeted in the sting operation and have damages enough to justify a suit. I don't see one.

 

[tranquility]

There are never contracts. We get a call from someone who wants us to move them. We make up a date. Sometimes we make up a price over the phone. sometimes I go to their current house and look around and then give them a price.

Here someone called me. Told me that on 11/6 they would like me to move them from a one bedroom apartment. I asked them some question about the type of furniture they have and gave them a price. They agreed and i made up time when i would be at their location. This is standard process.

I show up to ABC news a cops.

There are ALWAYS contracts. That is, if you want to get paid. This seems definite and certain enough to be considered an offer and acceptance. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't sue the person who talked with you in small claims.

 

[single317dad]

There are ALWAYS contracts. That is, if you want to get paid. This seems definite and certain enough to be considered an offer and acceptance. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't sue the person who talked with you in small claims.

I believe if OP plans to sue under the Tucker Act, the case would need to be brought in federal court.

 

[tranquility]

I said sue the person, not the government. The caller did not represent he was an agent of the government, nor was there any reason to believe he was working for them. If the OP did sue the agency based on some master/servant theory undisclosed, then he would need to sue under different rules.

 

[quincy]

I said sue the person, not the government. The caller did not represent he was an agent of the government, nor was there any reason to believe he was working for them. If the OP did sue the agency based on some master/servant theory undisclosed, then he would need to sue under different rules.

In a sting situation, I would think it highly unlikely that a caller would say he was a government agent if he was. Sort of defeats the purpose of the sting.

knowzero said his moving company, or him or his workers, were the object of the sting - not the individual who called to have stuff moved.

 

[tranquility]

In a sting situation, I would think it highly unlikely that a caller would say he was a government agent if he was. Sort of defeats the purpose of the sting.

knowzero said his moving company, or him or his workers, were the object of the sting - not the individual who called to have stuff moved.

Of course it would defeat the purpose. But, the government does not get to do harm to others who are doing nothing wrong by pretense. Say the OP sold widgets. The government thought he was using illegal material in the widgets rather than the regulatory approved material. They contract for the goods, get them and then after finding out there was not illegal material, tossed them out. Was the widget seller hurt? Should he have the right to sue? Here, the OP sells his time (gas, truck, etc.), the government's erroneous "sting" cost him money. (Assuming he can prove he could have gotten work otherwise.) The OP was harmed in a real sense based on what very well could have been a contract. Even if we can argue there was no contractual intent on the part of the caller (I'd have to go back to old cases not in my head but believe the key is not what the offeror believed, but what a reasonable person would believe.), we have quasi-contract for the actual harm. (Rather than the profit from the contract.)

Calling it a "sting" does not remove the sting from the OP. Obviously, if the OP was operating illegally, we have any number of defenses to contract. Here, it seems not.

Sue the man. Or, The Man, depending on your theory.