Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Massachusetts
Personal charge for business conference
I work in the Marketing department of a company and I regularly work with a Conference Host Company to sponsor their conferences, which our employees regularly attend. At a recent conference, I discovered (an hour before the conference started)that none of our employees were registered, and to avoid any registration difficulty for my colleagues, I gave the Conference Host Company my personal credit card information in good faith that we would work together to determine what happened to conference registration/payment. I discovered that my company paid for our employees to attend the conference but the Conference Host Company, uncertain of what to do with the money, misapplied the funds to our Sponsorship fee instead of applying it toward the registration fees. Even though I have confirmed with the Conference Host that we sent the payment and they received it, they charged my credit card and refuse to remove the charge. Do I have a case for a civil complaint to retrieve that money charged on my credit card?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Personal charge for business conference
I am confused by what State this happened in, and if there is any connection with Virginia law. I am also confused by whether your company actually owed money or not. There are two different fees you are talking about. So if your company actually owed money on one of these fees, then I think you would have to talk to your employer about getting paid back. If money was actually due, then the conference company didn't do anything wrong (or maybe not much wrong, even though they may have failed to follow instructions). On the other hand, if the conference company got paid twice on the same fee, then you should be able to get a refund. If it was part of your job to go to the conference and represent your company, then I think that anything you did there was necessary to your job for the company and you should have a claim if your company is not cooperative. But you would have to prove that -- that your company sent you to the conference to represent them, not that you went for your own personal reasons.
Re: Personal charge for business conference
The first thing you should do is contact your credit card company to notify them of the dispute. They may be able to help you resolve it.
Whether you have a strong claim depends on other factors that are not clear such as whether your company will back up you position that the company intended to pay the registration. Other important questions are whether anything was in writing and did you sign anything.
Jim
804-648-0097 (direct line)
www.mckinnonsisk.com
Re: Personal charge for business conference
simple answer is, "no". even if your employer promised in a written contract to reimburse you for necessary business expenses you incur while engaged in your employer's business, you don't have a case, because you weren't obligated to pay other people's expenses. you were a volunteer, so the law presumes that you have your satisfaction from having done good for your fellow man. what you can do is take a tax deduction for unreimbursed employment expenses. check with a tax lawyer. and remember, no good deed goes unpunished.
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