Legal Question in Business Law in California

"Stock options" is a broad concept that covers a lot of possibilities as to formality and, hence, possibility and method of enforcement. A lawyer would need to examine whatever contracts you had with your erstwhile employer to determine whether you have any vested rights at all, and if so, how they should be enforced. documented, exercised, etc. It is one thing to have a well-documented contributory plan with a third-party administrator running the books and making investments in NYSE stocks (or equivalent). It's quite another to work for a small company where the owner tells you that someday when we're big and profitable we'll reward the troops with some stock. There's lots in between, too. I guess the bottom line is that this will boil down to an enforcement-of-contract matter (or lawsuit), and your rights will depends upon interpretation of the portions of your employment agreement that deal with your rights to receive stock options. Is there any knowledgable person at the company other than the owner who might know anything? One possibility here is that they are hoping you'll lose interest and go away. What is the value, or possible/potential future value, of the options?