In August of 2017 on my 5 year anniversary of working at my old job, my boss (we are chiropractors) and his wife (the office manager) asked me to buy their practice. They wanted $650,000 for just the practice and equipment, but they were not selling the building just yet. I asked multiple times to see the financial reports for the last 24 months (as I would assume anyone would) but he told me I would not get to see them, and I needed to trust him. He told me that even though things had gotten slower over the last year and a half, the business was fine. I told him I wasn't comfortable buying the practice under those circumstances, but I was excited to continue working there. He then fired me and told me I had no future there anymore. I quietly walked away and moved 5 hours away outside of the "no compete" area, sold my house, uprooted my family, etc... It has been extremely difficult to say the least.
My issue is that my face and name is still on their sign by the road outside of their office building. I no longer work in the area, but I had a very strong patient base and many people continue to go there looking for my services because of my reputation, and for the fact that they still see my likeness on the sign. For the first 3 months after my firing, my former boss told the staff to tell everyone that I was on a personal sabbatical and they weren't sure when I was coming back. Then, when people started realizing the truth, my former boss told everyone that he didn't fire me, but that I quit.
It has now been 9 months and my likeness is still on their sign. I have chosen not to speak to them, except for when they refused to give me my W-2 from last year for nearly 2 months. I have friends/former patients who have told them multiple times to take my face/name off their sign, but it still remains. Is there any legal precedent about continuing to use my likeness this long after my employment has ended? I feel that they told people I was on a sabbatical only because they wanted people to still come in and see my former employer until I got back, and when the patients finally realized I wasn't coming back, they would just stick with him because they were used to him, and that's why they haven't changed the sign yet. Is there anything I can do?
Thank you for your help!
My issue is that my face and name is still on their sign by the road outside of their office building. I no longer work in the area, but I had a very strong patient base and many people continue to go there looking for my services because of my reputation, and for the fact that they still see my likeness on the sign. For the first 3 months after my firing, my former boss told the staff to tell everyone that I was on a personal sabbatical and they weren't sure when I was coming back. Then, when people started realizing the truth, my former boss told everyone that he didn't fire me, but that I quit.
It has now been 9 months and my likeness is still on their sign. I have chosen not to speak to them, except for when they refused to give me my W-2 from last year for nearly 2 months. I have friends/former patients who have told them multiple times to take my face/name off their sign, but it still remains. Is there any legal precedent about continuing to use my likeness this long after my employment has ended? I feel that they told people I was on a sabbatical only because they wanted people to still come in and see my former employer until I got back, and when the patients finally realized I wasn't coming back, they would just stick with him because they were used to him, and that's why they haven't changed the sign yet. Is there anything I can do?
Thank you for your help!
