Legal Advice on Liable?

[Jade Tigress]

I need some legal advice from anyone who has an understanding of Liable or Slander.

The short story - About 5 weeks ago I was hired by a local web design firm in business for 10 years to be a "marketing rep" from home. In my first 3 weeks of work I closed 4 sales in which I earned $1630.00 in commission. (I am not reimbursed for my phone bill). I was told I'd be receiving a check within 2 weeks.

I have never been paid and have contacted the office via telephone and e-mail about it several times but my inquiries go ignored. I followed up today with the clients only to find the office never followed up and they are no longer interested in doing business with a company that didn't follow up on the sale. They were never charged or anything, but after I made the sale and passed it to the office to complete the service, the office dropped it. So I did my job but the owners didn't do theirs.

I plan on contacting the BBB but my question is, if I write a letter to the local newspaper and detail my experience as being unpaid for my work with this local company, can I get in trouble for liable against them?

Thanks.

 

[TonyM.]

Not if you can prove what you said is true. The truth is always your best defence in a liability suit. Generally your only defence. Keep your paperwork.

 

[Jade Tigress]

Thanks Tony. Is my own written documentation of telephone conversations with clients (date and content of conversation) sufficient?

 

[Gemini]

Do you have some kind of document confirming these 4 "sales". Signed agreement from a potential customer? Do you have a written agreement from the company stating what service you are to provide for them?

I wouldn't contact a local paper on the issue. If you do, you can (and should) state things without actually making accusations. No accusations, no liable. Unless you're sure you can prove any allegations, you could think you're 100% in the right and a court see's it differently. It's not worth the risk. Contacting agencies like the BBB is a much more effective way to handle it.

Regards,

 

[evenflow1121]

I dont mean to sound like the donkey's rear here, but I think you are asking for legal advice in the wrong place. Sure some people in here may be attorneys, but the law varies from state to state and if you want legal advice you should really seek an attorney in your area for that.

 

[TonyM.]

Should be fine. If a suit comes up, ask them for an affidavit. (customers that is.)

 

[Jade Tigress]

Thanks everyone. I guess I should have phrased my topic better. What I mean by legal advice is not so much what I expect an attorney to tell me but what the general understanding of libel is. I believe libel law does not vary from state to state such as other laws may. I guess I should have asked if I am truthful in my statements, and have the information to confirm my facts from the clients, is it still libel? I don't intend on mentioning this company by name, only that it is a web design firm located in name of town.

I would never lie about a situation such as this nor would I ever consider making such a situation public unless I was absolutely sure I had my facts straight. I absolutely closed these sales and the clients I spoke with today were upset at not being contacted for processing of the sales. They have not paid because they have not been asked to pay nor have they received a single followup call from the office. Basically I did my job to the point of completion AND made followup calls to the office regarding these clients but I was always put off about it. The office is responsible for taking it from there. They didn't do their job and I'm out compensation for the job I DID do.

Now, I am only supposed to be paid for my sales when they get paid from the client. If I close the sale and pass it off to the office to process, and they don't process it, then I have worked for nothing and the clients are now fed up with no contact.

Also, I should have made clear that my intent to write the local paper would be a letter to the editor type NOT a reporting news article. Our paper, as I believe most papers do, has a letters from readers section. Was just wondering if I stated facts in a letter to the editor would it cause more problems than it's worth?

I wrote a little hastily without laying out all the details cause I was really steamed at the time. I still am, but I should have taken more time to state my question precisely.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point. Just thinking out loud and wanting some feedback.

Thanks again!

 

[arnisador]

I dont mean to sound like the donkey's rear here, but I think you are asking for legal advice in the wrong place.

Yup.

I am not a lawyer. I think you mean slander, because you'd be saying it verbally, not writing it. Truth is generally an absolute defense against a charge of slander.

Can you prove it's true? Well, your claim of not being paid throws the ball in their court, I'd guess--and their inability to come up with a canceled check is a weakness on their side.

But...is this the best way to proceed? Have you tried small claims court?

 

[TigerWoman]

Well, I think is libel what she is concerned with as she wanted to write a letter to the editor in the local newspaper.

It doesn't matter what you say later in court (and I am not a lawyer) unless you have tangible proof of everything. A contract between you and the graphics firm is a must. That is the basis, I would think. My son just signed a contract to do web page work for a firm in Florida. Same thing. Then you have your clients. Which you should get on paper now, if you do not have the paperwork that they contracted to do X work with the firm you worked for. Then forget the letter to the editor. that's just venting. You need an attorney. I'm the type to press it as it will probably be settled out of court anyway once they realize you have proof. You would file a claim for 1630 plus attorney costs.

BTW, did you talk to the owner of the graphics firm in person, about all of this? What did he say was the reason for not taking the sales you did? You would think he would want the business. Maybe he has too much business and not enough "designers" to do the work. At least he could tell you that and pay you as agreed. He burns too many people in town, it gets around anyway. You might talk to him again, tell him your proof and that you will talk to an attorney. You might get results that way before you go the legal route. TW

 

[Jade Tigress]

Thanks TW. Having more work than they can handle is exactly the problem. They just hired a bunch of new marketing reps and didn't add any web designers. Last I was told they had 4 designers currently working on 32 projects. I have no intention of pursuing it legally if they don't pay. If I did wouldn't be asking this question here. I'll just let it drop.

The point of writing a letter to the editor was indeed to vent and also to let other locals who may answer their help wanted ad know that there is the possibility their sales will not come to completion and be compensated. I guess I wanted to know if anyone knew whether I could get in trouble for libel for venting in the newspaper letters to the editor if I am factual in my statements. I'm not consulting an attorney for that... (sheesh! can't you all read minds?! hee hee)


I spoke with the owner yesterday and again today. It comes down to they are now swamped and trying to get to things as quickly as possible. The problem is when you turn over a client commited to immediate purchase and that client is promised a followup call to proceed and then that call doesn't come. By the time the office gets around to the contact a month or more down the road, the client has tired of waiting and has moved on to another firm. Hence, the sale is made by the marketing rep and lost by the office so no one gets paid, but only the marketing rep is out the work for it, the office didn't put in any work they weren't paid for so they don't care.

 

[arnisador]

Well, I think is libel what she is concerned with as she wanted to write a letter to the editor in the local newspaper.

Ah yes, I misread it! She did say writing to the newspaper.

Sounds like it may a complicated situation (marketing rep., sales rep.)--speaking with a lawyer is a good idea if you hope to get the cash. If you're just venting...I'm not sure that that'll be helpful, to be frank!

 

[Pale Rider]

I see that it was mentioned about Small Claims Court - I don't know how each State varies, but in Small Claims that I have seen the max amount that anyone can be awarded is $1,500. If it is more wouldn't that be in a higher court?