Legal Question in Business Law in California
I am currently working my last week at a job that really was hell to me. There were two owners one was nice one was horrible. the nice one seemed to be my friend but when the injustices were obvious when i saw he did nothing to help me i knew he was not my friend but just someone trying to keep squeesing whatthey could out of me. i was at the job almost three years now. in the begining i was not even allowed to take a lunch. i would clock out for one and they would pay me for it. this went on for a few weeks maybe two months. then it went to having a luch when ever it was possible. some days i had a lunch three hours after i start work some times i have a lunch an hour before i leave home. It was hell working for two boses if i pleased one one would be upset and vice versa. eventually i quit. but due to the bad economy i could not find work and went back to work for them. things changed for a bit but soon they began saying they wanted to cut back on spending so everything they did to save money was put onto me to do like the janitorial work. i have a degree for crying out loud. when i asked for a raise because of this the boss who was not nice said to me i was not worth more than i was being paid. I have now become very ill from stress. i cant sleep at night i am depressed. my diabettes has worsen and i have developed tachycardia from the stress. The positive thing about this is that i have been inspired to start my own business. I am taking the skills i learned there and going to become my own boss. I dont even care if i fail and end up in the street thats how stressed out i am. I gave them a verbal two week notice and i am schedule to work my last day on friday. the reason i am here is because I know i can probably sue them. or go trhough workers comp or something. but i dont want to. i really want to follow though with this business plan. I have no reason for them to sue me but i think they might when they finally believe me that i am going to start a business. They have enough money to tie me up in litigation that i would probably be forced to close even if i could win. So the question i guess is. is there anything i could do to protect my self if they do try to sue me. i kinda have the mentality if you sue me ill sue you back for what you did to me while i worked there. so far the advice i have gotten is that once i quit i can't do anything. I feel intimidated by them. i am afraid to say that i am leaving because they are jerks and that their behavior has really gotten me sick. I dont like confrontations. I know when their customers come to me and ask me why i left i just have to say its time to go. because if i tell them the truth they would probably lose their business and then they can probably sue me for slander. I am scared to be sued by them because they sue everyone. i mean it's a business expense to them. any help would be appreciated. Sorry for my grammar and or spelling.
2 Answers from Attorneys
The kind of stuff you are discussing here is not what successful lawsuits are usually made from, either on your side or theirs. An employment situation is voluntary on both sides, and people are usually fired or quit before things (of this kind at least) rise to the point where the employer sues the employee. Your main exposure would seemingly be to a suit or threat of suit for misappropriation of trade secrets, which could be winnable by the employer if you take and use special knowledge of customers, plans, etc. that were the employer's carefully-guarded (and hence, secret) information and not in the public domain. So, my advice is to be cautious about trade secrets, avoid defamatory statements, and if sued or treatened with suit get a lawyer to assist you with your response.
Cutting through the fog of sympathy, there are no laws against 'unfair treatment' or poor management. If you don't like the environment, you are free to leave. However, you may have a claim for unpaid compensation if you were denied lunches and breaks, if you can somehow prove the times and hours through witnesses or documents. You'd file that with the Labor Commissioner or in a Superior Court case if the amount in question is enough to justify doing so.
As to you being sued: anybody can sue anybody for anything. Winning is a different issue. Nothing anyone can say or do will prevent you from being sued, especiall if there are grounds to justify it because of some improper conduct by you, and you already said 'they sue everyone'. If they threaten, or sue, you, consult with an attorney to discuss your options.
Your choice is to either start your business and run it in compliance within the laws and good business principles, or walk away and find something else to do. No one can offer you any other choices.
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