Suing over unpaid wages

October 24, 2007 9:54 PM

Suing over unpaid wages when it's a small amount?

I worked for a blog for 13 months. The blog's owner is in Canada and I am in the US. The blog owner decided to change my contract (to require more content in each post), which I declined and decided to quit. He decided not to pay me for the past month, saying that I was lucky he'd kept me on staff as long as he had. That makes no difference as there was no hint of a contract change before then... I had every reason to believe I'd be paid.

The blog is not incorporated - it is simply the owner himself paying people. My mom works for a debt collection lawyer, and he said I can sue him for 3 times the amount he owes me, plus court costs and attorney's fees, despite Canada and the non-business status. Because I was being paid regularly, I was reasonable to expect my wages. I haven't directly asked him to take the case yet... my mom feels he is busy and may not be able to, and I'm just waiting a few days to think it over. (She did not tell him how much I am owed.)

The thing is, it's only $80 he owes me. I know, most people think it's such a small amount that I should just let it go. And life is short, and all that. The thing is, I need that money very badly. I am on the verge of bankruptcy and filing for food stamps, and I have a crapload of medical bills. I expected that money and I was relying on it. If I wasn't so broke, I probably would let it go.

Will lawyers take me seriously when I mention $80, or will they laugh me out of the office? I don't know that I can represent myself in small claims court, since the blog owner is in Canada.

posted by anonymous to law & government (18 comments total)

They will not.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:07 PM on October 24, 2007

Let it go. Spend the time you might have spent bothering about the case on finding/pursuing a new job; this is almost certainly a better use of your time.
posted by Count Ziggurat at 10:13 PM on October 24, 2007

Regardless of whether an attorney will take you seriously (my guess is no) you need to consider the opportunity cost of trying to recover your $80. Even if you were to recover the amount you're owed plus court costs and attorney's fees - that is you end up with $80 in hand (again, I think this is unlikely) the time and effort involved could easily be more costly than what you'll regain.
posted by sanko at 10:19 PM on October 24, 2007

Nuts to Count Ziggurat. I got burned like that more than a couple of times when I was a student and those $80ish amounts were eat/not eat things.

Which doesn't help with the original question. But. Well, maybe it does. Yes, there is value in punishing that brand of jerk.

Can you contact other employees, past and present? You won't be the only one who's been screwed, and at least once, I saw group pressure work to get some paycheques out.

Good luck.
posted by kmennie at 10:46 PM on October 24, 2007

What's the game plan here? You sue him in your local court? If I were him, I wouldn't even show up. In the mean time, you're burning through money to pay filing fees and a process server.

You get a default judgment, but now what? You're going to traipse up to Canada to sue to enforce your judgment, hoping it will be respected and a Canadian sheriff or whatever will put a lien on his house or something?

This doesn't sound like a good way to get $80 that you really need.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 10:56 PM on October 24, 2007

I don't know about your jurisdiction, but filing a small claims in Canada costs in the neighbourhood of a couple of hundred $, and even if you win in court you would likely only be able to recover half of your lawyers costs from the other side (if you don't represent yourself), which will certainly be more than $80. If you represent yourself, unless you can claim significant punitive damages, you may not be able to recover even you filing costs, since the amount is so small.

It seems like a shitty situation, but I'm not sure any legal recourse would be financially viable. Perhaps you could just write to him with the threat of legal action and see if that changes his mind?
posted by modernnomad at 4:07 AM on October 25, 2007

By the time you get your hands on that $80, you hopefully won't need it any more. Rather, I would write him a registered letter to put him on notice that he owes you the debt (which province is he in?), and sit on it. In Quebec, you have 3 years to sue for this, and I imagine it's similar elsewhere. You can ask for interest to accumulate from whenever he received the letter of notice. If within three years you have the have the time/energy/money, etc, to sue him, go for it on the principle of the thing. Otherwise you can always decide to let it go later.
posted by Salamandrous at 4:39 AM on October 25, 2007

Forget suing or any "legal recourse". Write a nice friendly email to the blog owner, explaining that you are in tough circumstances (re: foodstamps and medical bills), and were relying on the money for work that you did. You don't have to sound needy or pleading, just make sure the guy understands that he bilked you at a difficult time. $80 probably isn't that significant to him, and he may well feel better by doing the right thing by you.
posted by roofus at 5:06 AM on October 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

Another vote for "let it go". You could sue in small claims court where you live. (Your state has jurisdiction because that is where you worked.) You would have to give him notice and ask the court to order service by publication - more time, more money. You go to court. You get a judgment for, say, $120 with costs. Now you have to collect. That is the fracture point.
posted by megatherium at 6:12 AM on October 25, 2007

Explain your situation to him. Be nice, but be firm. If that doesn't work, I think you'll have to let it go.
posted by sid at 6:35 AM on October 25, 2007

just let it go. there are easier ways to get $80.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 6:53 AM on October 25, 2007

The freelancers' e-zine Writer's Weekly has a section on its forum called "Whispers and Warnings". If you get in touch with the zine's editor, Angela Hoy, she'll e-mail the deadbeat on your behalf and "out" the company on the site, raising the warning flag for other writers. This has shamed a few publishers into sending checks in the past, and it may be worth a shot.

I can't, in good conscience, endorse just letting it go; that's how the unscrupulous keep taking advantage of creative content providers.
posted by weatherworn at 7:47 AM on October 25, 2007 [2 favorites]

IANAL - Have you told him you are going to sue him and that your mom works for a collection agency? I'd do that and look up the requirements online for filing, so you sound like you know what you are talking about and that you are really going to sue. Be very professional about it. Don't get mad. Just say I really hope we can work this out between us, but if I'm not paid in X of days, I really have no choice but to file a claim against you, in which case you'll be paying my attorney's fees and treble damages, and really that situation isn't ideal for either of us.

It's amazing how often this sort of bullshitting actually works. And remember you do have a very valid claim against him, let him know you know that.
posted by whoaali at 8:56 AM on October 25, 2007

I am on the verge of bankruptcy and filing for food stamps, and I have a crapload of medical bills.

Even if you got 3x the judgement at no cost to you (the best possible and least likely outcome), is $240 going to buy food and pay your bills? My guess is that it might cover food for a couple weeks and won't make a dent in the latter, so I'm going to chalk this one up to let it go and move on. Heck, a week of working at a fast food joint will make you $80 if you really need the money that badly.
posted by mathowie at 9:07 AM on October 25, 2007

Likelihood that you will spend 8 hours trying to extract that $80: High.

Your "earnings": $10/hour (minus whatever costs you incur).

Can you find temp work for more than $10/hr.? If so, do that instead.
posted by googly at 10:25 AM on October 25, 2007

Go for it. It's a matter of principle.
posted by randomstriker at 10:27 AM on October 25, 2007

This is not directly answering your question, but given your emergency financial circumstances, you may wish to investigate Modest Needs, and also read the answers to these Ask Mefi questions: 1, 2, and 3.
posted by WCityMike at 1:11 PM on October 25, 2007

Word from anonymous:

Hi Cortex, could you post in this thread and let them know the blog owner finally agreed to pay me after a legal threat?

Also, an extension of thanks in particular to weatherworn, whoaali, and WCityMike for their answers.
posted by cortex at 8:28 PM on October 25, 2007