Legal Question in Employment Law in California
Our family business is being sued. The former employee is suing claiming there were no lunch breaks. She was a water and failed to clock in & out. The business was doing extremely poorly, and she wasn't asked to do much. She took every break she could get, but failed to punch in a restaurant software we used for daily orders & time clocks. Each employee has a code when used and is confidential. She falsified her paperwork & is undocumented. We had to sell the restaurant and offered her a job on our other location, but she refused. Since she is unable to claim unemployment, she sued instead. She's demanding a pay out of over 15,000 or will sue. Can we counter claim or neglect request? We have documents to prove daily activity from orders, orders taken by employee specifically, & time clock punch ins. Unfortunately, restaurant was managed poorly by someone else and time clocks were never corrected or revised.
3 Answers from Attorneys
The first question is whether she was provided the appropriate breaks as required by law? You can deny (i.e. neglect) her demand, but you need to first evaluate the situation. I do not think her failure to punch in is going to help you much, it would probably be found to be your responsibility (i.e. if she wasn't following procedures you should have corrected her or let her go.) In addition, you admitted that the restaurant was managed poorly, including that the time clocks were never corrected or revised.
You mention that "[s]he falsified her paperwork & is undocumented. Second question, does this have to do her ability to work in the US? If it does, you could be looking at some other issues. It may be difficult to convince someone that you came upon this information exactly when it benefited you the most (i.e. not when she worked for you, but sometime afterward.)
Obviously, you should address the situation and you should properly respond to a compliant if she does file. Depending on how long she worked there, $15,000 could be way out of line. Without more information, however, it is impossible to determine.Based on your question I am not seeing a counterclaim (i.e. how were you damaged?).
I recommend that you consult with an experienced employment attorney here in California. . Whether to settle or not is a complex question that requires an assessment of much more information than you can provide on this site, and in any event would need to be carefully documented by way of a written settlement agreement, in order to protect your family.
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You'll have a fight on your hands if she pursues it through the Labor Commissioner or files suit. You need to gather whatever documentary evidence and witness testimony you have available to refute her claim. You will need to be prepared to present it effectively in hearings. If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, and if this is in SoCal courts, feel free to contact me. I�ll be happy to help, using whatever defenses there may be.
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