unpaid wages
I live in Cleveland OH and my employer lives in Las Cruces, NM. I have a written contract for two years of employment at a set wage, payable monthly. Last year my employer asked that I defer my wages into this year and I did so. This deferrrment has continued until my termination date, Nov. 30, 2008. I have asked for my deferred wages to be paid, the amount is now $60,000. He is refusing to pay and says he has no monies. Now what are my options?
1 answer | asked Dec 2, 2008 12:35 PM [EST] | applies to Ohio
Answers (1)
You appear to have a valid contract claim but . . .
. . . you may have trouble collecting a judgment for your claim.
If you have not been paid an agreed upon amount of money, you can file suit for breach of contract. Your damages are the amount that is due but unpaid. There is a question as to whether you can file suit in Ohio or you must file suit in NM. If the agreement is silent as to venue and jurisdiction and some or all of it was performed in Ohio, you should be able to file suit here.
As long as the agreement is valid, there is not a claim that you amended the agreement and the fact that you have not been paid is not in dispute, then you should be able to obtain a judgment for the unpaid wages. This process may take up to a year and perhaps even longer, depending on how crowded the court's docket is.
Getting a judgment, however, is only half of the battle. The second half of the battle requires you to identify assets, such as a bank account, land, personal property and so on, of your employer, and then use the legal process to levy on those assets. In short, if you are convinced that this employer cannot pay because of its financial condition, then obtaining a judgment against it may not be worth anything.
Regards,
Neil Klingshirn
posted by Neil Klingshirn | Dec 3, 2008 4:00 PM [EST]
. . . you may have trouble collecting a judgment for your claim.
If you have not been paid an agreed upon amount of money, you can file suit for breach of contract. Your damages are the amount that is due but unpaid. There is a question as to whether you can file suit in Ohio or you must file suit in NM. If the agreement is silent as to venue and jurisdiction and some or all of it was performed in Ohio, you should be able to file suit here.
As long as the agreement is valid, there is not a claim that you amended the agreement and the fact that you have not been paid is not in dispute, then you should be able to obtain a judgment for the unpaid wages. This process may take up to a year and perhaps even longer, depending on how crowded the court's docket is.
Getting a judgment, however, is only half of the battle. The second half of the battle requires you to identify assets, such as a bank account, land, personal property and so on, of your employer, and then use the legal process to levy on those assets. In short, if you are convinced that this employer cannot pay because of its financial condition, then obtaining a judgment against it may not be worth anything.
Regards,
Neil Klingshirn
posted by Neil Klingshirn | Dec 3, 2008 4:00 PM [EST]
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