My ex boss is threatening to sue! - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

neddy65 · 05-30-2004, 08:10 AM

Seversl years ago I was in a financial bind concerning an outstanding student loan. Noticing that I was not myself, one of the business owners( there were 2) aksed what the problem was. After discussing my issues he offered to repay my loan and I could repay the company at whatever pace my finances allowed. I made regular payments for the next several years and there was no more mention of the loan or the pace at which it was being repaid, except that the owner who wasn't initially involved in the tranaction(but who signed off on the deal) would sometimes make comments that were sort of veiled as jokes about me oweing him and shit like that.
Last year I had a falling out with the 2nd owner about staffing issues ( I was the Manager) and was dismissed from my job with 7 weeks pay and letters of recomendation. Despite glowing letters I was out of work for almost 3 months and was left in poor finacial shape. I had meetings with the first owner to discuss the loan and was told to not worry about things as he was not concerned. Several months after this the good guy sold out to tne not so good guy and things quickly went down hill. After several visits and calls to my current place of employment concerning my outstanding loan and a detailed breakdown of my income and monthly expenses I recieved a letter from the company's lawyer demanding full repayment of the loan within the next few weeks.
This guy does not need my money to stay afloat( he is quite wealthy) but simply seems to want to ruin me over $6000.

Any advice would be apriciated.

djtestudo · 05-30-2004, 08:43 AM

If you have all of this in writing, any half-decent law student should be able to win this case for you.

Try and have a civil discussion with the guy. Explain your situation to him, and the fact that you have all of it in an agreement with the other owner. If he won't help you out then, prepare for court.

ratbastid · 05-30-2004, 01:30 PM

Verbal agreements are binding, and a change of ownership does not change an agreement with a principal of the company. The thing about verbal agreements, of course, is that it's hard to prove that they were ever made.

If it comes right down to it, Owner #1's word on the stand may be all you really have.

MerKon4 · 05-30-2004, 09:45 PM

That is what we call a strong arm. Basicly, play hardball, and get a lawyer and shove it up the new guys ass. May get out of it with no payments left to be made.

BCD · 05-31-2004, 01:34 PM

My opinion differs from the majority. First of all, the other owner didn't say that you never had to repay the amount (i.e., the debt was being forgiven). Second, you admit that you owe the money to the company, with the only issue being your ability to repay it. I say that you abide by your oblgations and propose a payment plan that you can live with (don't over-commit) or agree to pay him a reduced amount in a lump sum now to resolve it. Usually the discounted, lump sum payment is the best way to go, since it is cheaper in the long run and cuts all of the ties with your former employer. It is usually more palatable to the creditor, since they want to get some cash out of it and move on. If you have to, borrow the money from a family member to come up with it. Good luck.

macmanmike6100 · 05-31-2004, 10:01 PM

I'm with BCD on this one. Good luck and please keep us posted.

neddy65 · 06-01-2004, 05:27 AM

I do owe the money and I have every intention of repaying the full amount oweing. I simply am in no position to make the kind of payment this guy wants. He knows full well what my situation is and is not the least bit flexible. I honestly believe he is being petty and vindictive. He was left terribly short when he let me go as 4 of my staff quit simpathetically telling him they would not work under him directly . He and I never saw eye to eye on the day to day running of the store and I was almost always right in my dissent. The other owner and I were quite close and that sort of rubbed him the wrong way also. I know this sounds petty and grasping on my part because you can only hear my point of view. but he really is not approching this objectivly, he really seems to be making this thing personal.

Journeyman · 06-01-2004, 05:02 PM

Inform him that his intention to screw you because the terms of payment and lax attitude towards your debt was never written up could turn into your intention to screw him because the debt was never written up at all. Any legal wranglings he tries to pull would probably bring in the former boss as a witness, who would also bring up the fact that full payment was never going to come down on you like this.

Johnny Rotten · 06-01-2004, 10:56 PM

Man, you gotta choose your battles. It sounds like he interpreted your dissent as galling belligerence, given your financial relationship with him and his apparent pettiness. My advice to you is to talk to a lawyer, pronto, with all available documentation in tow.

choskins · 06-07-2004, 06:09 PM

Do you have a written Note with them? Is it with the individual or with the company? It sounds like it was verbal and with the individual. If so, tell the lawyer to kiss your a$$. Your agreement is not with his client or the company, and you owe neither anything. However, you do owe the other individual. I cannot comment on the exact details, as I don't know what state you live in. However, ethically you owe him as he volunteered to help you in a time of need.

As to calling your employer, etc., they simply cannot do that. They are violating numerous federal (and probably state) laws concerning employment, consumer protection, etc. Write a letter asking them to stop contacting you at work.

If you would like more advice, feel free to contact me with specific questions.

pocon1 · 06-08-2004, 09:18 AM

If you were paying regularly before and with set amounts, then it would seem to be no problem to have a court with a lawyers' help agree that payments should continue. A precedent was already set for this and should just be continued. Maybe I am wrong, but that is the angle I would take.

G5_Todd · 06-19-2004, 02:11 PM

pay it back just like you were doing...keep it documented each time you pay.....

if he doesnt like it let him sue you...it will cost him money to do it.......

Hedgehog · 06-30-2004, 07:59 PM

Let him sue you. It's small claims money, and you can simply go to court with no lawyer needed and tell the judge what you just told us. Worst case is that he finds for the plaintiff and makes you work out a payment schedule. You can't get blood from a stone.

05-30-2004, 08:10 AM	#1 (permalink)
neddy65 Loves green eggs and ham Location: I'm just sittin' here watching the world go round and round	My ex boss is threatening to sue! Seversl years ago I was in a financial bind concerning an outstanding student loan. Noticing that I was not myself, one of the business owners( there were 2) aksed what the problem was. After discussing my issues he offered to repay my loan and I could repay the company at whatever pace my finances allowed. I made regular payments for the next several years and there was no more mention of the loan or the pace at which it was being repaid, except that the owner who wasn't initially involved in the tranaction(but who signed off on the deal) would sometimes make comments that were sort of veiled as jokes about me oweing him and shit like that. Last year I had a falling out with the 2nd owner about staffing issues ( I was the Manager) and was dismissed from my job with 7 weeks pay and letters of recomendation. Despite glowing letters I was out of work for almost 3 months and was left in poor finacial shape. I had meetings with the first owner to discuss the loan and was told to not worry about things as he was not concerned. Several months after this the good guy sold out to tne not so good guy and things quickly went down hill. After several visits and calls to my current place of employment concerning my outstanding loan and a detailed breakdown of my income and monthly expenses I recieved a letter from the company's lawyer demanding full repayment of the loan within the next few weeks. This guy does not need my money to stay afloat( he is quite wealthy) but simply seems to want to ruin me over $6000. Any advice would be apriciated. __________________ If you're travelling at the speed of light, and you turn the headlights on, do they do anything? My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die! Drink Dickens' Hard Cider because nothing makes a girl smile like a Hard DIckens' Cider!

05-30-2004, 08:43 AM	#2 (permalink)
djtestudo Baltimoron Location: Beeeeeautiful Bel Air, MD	If you have all of this in writing, any half-decent law student should be able to win this case for you. Try and have a civil discussion with the guy. Explain your situation to him, and the fact that you have all of it in an agreement with the other owner. If he won't help you out then, prepare for court. __________________ "Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen." --Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

05-30-2004, 09:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
MerKon4 Upright	That is what we call a strong arm. Basicly, play hardball, and get a lawyer and shove it up the new guys ass. May get out of it with no payments left to be made. __________________ yes

06-01-2004, 05:27 AM	#7 (permalink)
neddy65 Loves green eggs and ham Location: I'm just sittin' here watching the world go round and round	I do owe the money and I have every intention of repaying the full amount oweing. I simply am in no position to make the kind of payment this guy wants. He knows full well what my situation is and is not the least bit flexible. I honestly believe he is being petty and vindictive. He was left terribly short when he let me go as 4 of my staff quit simpathetically telling him they would not work under him directly . He and I never saw eye to eye on the day to day running of the store and I was almost always right in my dissent. The other owner and I were quite close and that sort of rubbed him the wrong way also. I know this sounds petty and grasping on my part because you can only hear my point of view. but he really is not approching this objectivly, he really seems to be making this thing personal. __________________ If you're travelling at the speed of light, and you turn the headlights on, do they do anything? My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die! Drink Dickens' Hard Cider because nothing makes a girl smile like a Hard DIckens' Cider!

06-01-2004, 10:56 PM	#9 (permalink)
Johnny Rotten lost and found Location: Berkeley	Man, you gotta choose your battles. It sounds like he interpreted your dissent as galling belligerence, given your financial relationship with him and his apparent pettiness. My advice to you is to talk to a lawyer, pronto, with all available documentation in tow. __________________ "The idea that money doesn't buy you happiness is a lie put about by the rich, to stop the poor from killing them." -- Michael Caine

05-30-2004, 01:30 PM	#3 (permalink)
ratbastid Darth Papa Location: Yonder	Verbal agreements are binding, and a change of ownership does not change an agreement with a principal of the company. The thing about verbal agreements, of course, is that it's hard to prove that they were ever made. If it comes right down to it, Owner #1's word on the stand may be all you really have.

05-31-2004, 01:34 PM	#5 (permalink)
BCD Insane Location: Charlotte, NC	My opinion differs from the majority. First of all, the other owner didn't say that you never had to repay the amount (i.e., the debt was being forgiven). Second, you admit that you owe the money to the company, with the only issue being your ability to repay it. I say that you abide by your oblgations and propose a payment plan that you can live with (don't over-commit) or agree to pay him a reduced amount in a lump sum now to resolve it. Usually the discounted, lump sum payment is the best way to go, since it is cheaper in the long run and cuts all of the ties with your former employer. It is usually more palatable to the creditor, since they want to get some cash out of it and move on. If you have to, borrow the money from a family member to come up with it. Good luck.

05-31-2004, 10:01 PM	#6 (permalink)
macmanmike6100 High Honorary Junkie Location: Tri-state.	I'm with BCD on this one. Good luck and please keep us posted.

06-01-2004, 05:02 PM	#8 (permalink)
Journeyman Like John Goodman, but not. Location: SFBA, California	Inform him that his intention to screw you because the terms of payment and lax attitude towards your debt was never written up could turn into your intention to screw him because the debt was never written up at all. Any legal wranglings he tries to pull would probably bring in the former boss as a witness, who would also bring up the fact that full payment was never going to come down on you like this.

06-07-2004, 06:09 PM	#10 (permalink)
choskins Psycho Location: Greenville, SC	Do you have a written Note with them? Is it with the individual or with the company? It sounds like it was verbal and with the individual. If so, tell the lawyer to kiss your a$$. Your agreement is not with his client or the company, and you owe neither anything. However, you do owe the other individual. I cannot comment on the exact details, as I don't know what state you live in. However, ethically you owe him as he volunteered to help you in a time of need. As to calling your employer, etc., they simply cannot do that. They are violating numerous federal (and probably state) laws concerning employment, consumer protection, etc. Write a letter asking them to stop contacting you at work. If you would like more advice, feel free to contact me with specific questions. __________________ "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." - Sigmund Freud

06-08-2004, 09:18 AM	#11 (permalink)
pocon1 Banned	If you were paying regularly before and with set amounts, then it would seem to be no problem to have a court with a lawyers' help agree that payments should continue. A precedent was already set for this and should just be continued. Maybe I am wrong, but that is the angle I would take.

06-19-2004, 02:11 PM	#12 (permalink)
G5_Todd Junkie Location: Reichstag	pay it back just like you were doing...keep it documented each time you pay..... if he doesnt like it let him sue you...it will cost him money to do it....... __________________ "....and when you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she knows she's dating a pussy." -General Franks

06-30-2004, 07:59 PM	#13 (permalink)
Hedgehog Crazy Location: Charlotte, NC	Let him sue you. It's small claims money, and you can simply go to court with no lawyer needed and tell the judge what you just told us. Worst case is that he finds for the plaintiff and makes you work out a payment schedule. You can't get blood from a stone. __________________ Wait a minute! Where am I, and why am I in this handbasket?