general question for lawyer...

general question for lawyer...

robatl1711@aol.com (RobATL1711)	12/19/2004 6:17:06 PM
I have a general legal question about suing a company. It seems pretty much impossible to make an inquiry like this and actually have a reply. "You need to consult an attorney" blah... just a basic question. Employer is a corporation, pays someone for a specific pay period like normal. The paycheck bounces, company does nothing. Suing the corporation for unpaid wages plus all these backfire costs from the bank. Also wants to include an amount for punitive damages. The base is all documented. How does one figure out a number for the punitive? Just pick a number or is there a scale of some kind? Thanks for any tips. I know it's not official adivce and all, just wondering in general. Also, only reply if you are responding to this inquiy, please. Keep all smart-ass comments to yourself. RobATL1711@aol.com



"Richard"	12/19/2004 12:46:23 PM
RobATL1711 wrote: I have a general legal question about suing a company. It seems pretty much impossible to make an inquiry like this and actually have a reply. "You need to consult an attorney" blah... just a basic question. Employer is a corporation, pays someone for a specific pay period like normal. The paycheck bounces, company does nothing. Suing the corporation for unpaid wages plus all these backfire costs from the bank. Also wants to include an amount for punitive damages. The base is all documented. How does one figure out a number for the punitive? Just pick a number or is there a scale of some kind? Thanks for any tips. I know it's not official adivce and all, just wondering in general. Also, only reply if you are responding to this inquiy, please. Keep all smart-ass comments to yourself. RobATL1711@aol.com As a non-attorney participant, I believe your first course of action would be to call the "wage and hour" division for your state. They will investigate and the corporation MUST comply with their findings. You may not have to hire an attorney at all. That would happen only if the corp. does not wish to play ball. Then they have other federal agencies to contend with for bouncing that check. For the actual numbers, you would need documentation to show exactly what amounts you were not paid for, and what charges the bank applied. Punitive damages may or may not apply based upon your state laws.



"Falky foo"	12/19/2004 7:19:32 PM
It depends on your cause of action. If you sue under breach of contract, you generally can't get punitive damages at all. You can only get expectation damages, ie., lost wages and reliance damages, ie., what you had to pay the bank. If you sue under some sort of tort, then you can get punitives, and they are designed to punish the defendant rather than enrich you, so they depend on how rich the defendant is. But then again courts will not usually give "excessive" punitives and those are based on the amount of the claim. Try tripling the claim and see what happens. -- Falky San Diego, Calif. ---------------- Disclaimer: This has been the opinion of a law student, not a lawyer. Author advises each reader to get the opinion of a legal professional. This post is not intended to be legal advice. "RobATL1711" <robatl1711@aol.com> wrote in message news:20041219131706.23249.00002417@mb-m03.aol.com... I have a general legal question about suing a company. It seems pretty much impossible to make an inquiry like this and actually have a reply. "You need to consult an attorney" blah... just a basic question. Employer is a corporation, pays someone for a specific pay period like normal. The paycheck bounces, company does nothing. Suing the corporation for unpaid wages plus all these backfire costs from the bank. Also wants to include an amount for punitive damages. The base is all documented. How does one figure out a number for the punitive? Just pick a number or is there a scale of some kind? Thanks for any tips. I know it's not official adivce and all, just wondering in general. Also, only reply if you are responding to this inquiy, please. Keep all smart-ass comments to yourself. RobATL1711@aol.com



Christopher Green	12/20/2004 1:51:56 AM
On 19 Dec 2004 18:17:06 GMT, robatl1711@aol.com (RobATL1711) wrote: I have a general legal question about suing a company. It seems pretty much impossible to make an inquiry like this and actually have a reply. "You need to consult an attorney" blah... just a basic question. Employer is a corporation, pays someone for a specific pay period like normal. The paycheck bounces, company does nothing. Suing the corporation for unpaid wages plus all these backfire costs from the bank. Also wants to include an amount for punitive damages. The base is all documented. How does one figure out a number for the punitive? Just pick a number or is there a scale of some kind? Thanks for any tips. I know it's not official adivce and all, just wondering in general. Also, only reply if you are responding to this inquiy, please. Keep all smart-ass comments to yourself. RobATL1711@aol.com Here are some suggestions to consider: Does your state have an office responsible for enforcing wage and hour laws, such as the Labor Commissioner in California? If so, you may get better and faster results by complaining to that office first. There may be a state law providing statutory damages for a bounced check or for failing to pay wages. Become familiar with whatever state law applies. This may give you a better remedy, or possibly an exclusive one. Unless you can prove the company wrote you a bad check on purpose (and that's a crime), all you are likely to have is a breach of contract. In a breach of contract case, you can get economic damages (recover the wages you should have been paid, the cost of any checks that bounced, your cost of suing to collect, and the like) but not punitive damages. Finally, consider how suing a company that can't meet payroll may be like extracting blood from a turnip. Payroll ranks very high on the list of obligations any company has to meet. If the company bounces payroll checks, think carefully whether they have anything you would be able to win in a suit. -- Not a lawyer, see a labor lawyer in your state for better information, Chris Green

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