<p>I’ve never dealt with small claims court and need some advice for a friend.</p>
<p>He loved his job at a small family run business. He was working on a commission basis, and then was verbally offered a 10% raise. Instead of the 10% raise, his pay was actually reduced by 2% in subsequent paychecks. He brought this to his boss’ attention both verbally and in writing, but was always rebuffed with “no time to talk about it now”. (He also started looking for a new position at this time, as the writing was on the wall when the boss hired an old friend to also “fill in” for him.) Eventually, he wrote a letter to the president of the company, bringing it to her attention (completely ignored). Luckily, he almost immediately found another position that paid better and had better benefits and quit. Is this a case for small claims? Or is he wasting his time? The total amount owed with the promised raise is $475.</p>
<p>Proof of a verbal contract is always a problem. I’d just move on. Also, winning a judgment is just the start. If the company still refused to pay, you’d have to hire a lawyer to execute the judgment–it would cost him $$ to do so.</p>
<p>I have never done this, but DH is an attorney. I just asked him and he said that to collect on a judgement if they don’t pay, you do not have to hire a lawyer. You can contact the sheriff’s office.</p>
<p>He feels that a case like this can go either way. He said it depends upon how credible both sides are and what kind of witnesses they make.</p>
<p>He was not giving legal advice, but just answering my hypothetical questions.</p>
<p>“He loved his job at a small family run business.”</p>
<p>Hmm, no written contract, and not much chance of getting any help from other employees of the family business. I’d say your friend did the best thing possible under the circumstances – find a more reputable firm to work for.</p>
<p>I second the posters who suggested moving on. Your friend was smart to notice the warning signs and get out of that place. Verbal contarcts are next to impossible to prove without witnesses. It will be hard to find a witness since salary discussions in general are kept private between the employee and employer. Even if the salary increase was discussed with other employees present around, I doubt anyone would be willing to testify against their boss/relative.</p>
<p>If there’s a “labor commissioner” in the state he’s in he should file a complaint there. No filing fee, and they are set up to handle matters like this much better than small claims court. (In California, anyway. I have no experience with other states.) If he confirmed the promise of a raise in writing, with no written denial from his boss, he should have a good shot.</p>
<p>I am a lawyer, and I doubt that your friend would prevail. The other side will deny that he was offered the 10% raise. They will say something like, “We told him we HOPED to give him a raise in the future, but never promised anything.” It’s not that much money, and while I understand your friend’s frustration and anger, he should be glad to have his new job and be away from these people.</p>
<p>My H said that he would do what kluge said, and just file the complaint the Department of Labor (in the state he works in, anyway). He said they will do the work and investigate. He thinks the outcome would just depend upon who the Dept. of Labor believes.</p>
<p>I have been to small claims court, as a landlord, and swore I would never waste my time again. There’s a $100 filing fee in my state, Then there’s all your time preparing and assembling your evidence for the court, plus thinking through your presentation.</p>
<p>In our case, the defendants continued the case two times, both the day of trial. When we finally went to trial, they admitted everything and we won everything we asked for-approx. $2,500. They filed bankruptcy the day the judge was to order ganishment of their wages. She was so smug about it.</p>
<p>Lesson learned. An awful lot of emotional energy and actual time wasted. People that will flat-out lie to your face have absolutely no problems also lying to the judge and court.</p>
<p>This OP’s friend was very smart to see the signs looming and get out. I’d swallow hard and move on.</p>
<p>I am an attorney and have had one personal experience with small claims court. A drunken neighbor hit my car one night. I had photos of the damage to the two cars showing his paint on my car, photos showing the measurements of where the damage was on the car, etc. (Before anyone says that maybe I caused the damage, my car would have needed to be moving sideways in order to inflict the damage.) I lost. The small claims court judge made some incredibly stupid comment like, “We really needed Perry Mason here.” I would just move on in a case like this of “he said, she said.” I’m glad your friend found other employment.</p>
<p>Don’t go. The fantasy is that the wise judge will see it your way. The reality is that the judges only sit there intimidating both sides into settlements reached outside the courtroom. They (the judges) are clearly scared to death of the nut cases who end up in their court, and the last—I mean last-----thing they are going to do is to hold the trial and decide for one side or the other. if forced to decide at the end of a whole day(plan to spend that) he will probably decide in favor of the defendant/plaintiff he is most afraid of.</p>
<p>Whoa, slow down, Nellie! Let’s not get all carried away. I’ve served as a Small Claims Court Judge (pro-tem - it was about 15 years ago) and I have friends who have done it more recently. Yes, it’s rough justice, and you’re at the mercy of the intelligence and good judgment of the judge. But I’d say that most of the cases are heard fairly promptly, and most of the decisions are pretty fair. </p>
<p>Still, in this case - the Labor Commissioner is the way to go, if there is one in your state.</p>
<p>It is clearly a waste of time to go to court for a possible $475 claim that is highly unlikely to reoccur. Filing with a labor dept. may give you a sense of relief over having done something. This too is most likely a waste of time except if other similiar complaints have been filed against the same company. Assuming that you still want to proceed to small claims court, the first thing you should realize is that these courts vary widely from state to state. Some are quick, efficient & well run. Others can be as described above or worse. To even have a reasonable chance of winning you will need evidence beyond your sworn testimony which you appear to have. In short, it is not worth pursuing. Even if you win (other than by default ) the other side can appeal.</p>
<p>I have been a defendant over a labor issue in small claims court. In fact, I even turned down Judge Judy. Turns out that her producers go over all cases filed, look for nutty ones and then hound people to appear. Yes, if you lose you don’t pay. However, she is not legally bound to follow the law and they basically tell you in legalese that if she decides it would be more interesting to humilate you and have the other party “win” that’s what will happen.
I found that the Small Claims court was fair and balanced. However, this is an awfully small amount and the employee has nothing in writing. Depending on your state, if you are in an at will employment state with nothing in writing the employee will most likely not prevail.
Agree with others that you can try the Labor Commissioner but with nothing in writing you may not prevail there either. Around here they deal with unpaid overtime, unpaid vacation or other wages. Not a dispute over whether a raise was offered.</p>
<p>I did not mean to criticize small claims court at all. I think it is a wonderful tool for the right matter. I just don’t think this is the right matter since there is no written agreement, and, as has been noted, a small amount.</p>
<p>Technical question (ignoring the fact that this was such a small amount) – does that fact that the OPs paycheck was less than usual mean anything? Yes, there was no promise of raise in writing, but are they allowed to decrease someone’s pay without putting it also in writing?</p>
<p>To post #16: There is a writing according to the original post. A key element under these facts is whether or not the company responded in written form to the employee’s writing. And, if so, what is the content of each & any writing. Even “at will employment” states recognize contracts and written evidence as well as other forms of evidence. Not mentioned anywhere is whether or not the alleged raise required consideration from the employee–such as increased production, a change in work duties or foregoing another opportunity–to be enforceable. Proof of a contract which as a contract of employment must typically be in writing under most jurisdictions statute of frauds. Then there may well be a consideration issue even if a contract is shown, etc. Not worth it for $475–especially if the new job pays more (which we do not know).</p>