Legal Question in Employment Law in Louisiana

The question of whether you can go to small claims court depends on the amount of wages you are owed. Louisiana has a statute that allows you to sue for unpaid wages, and also allows you to sue for penalty wages and attorney's fees. Many times, but the time the wages, penalty wages and attorney's fees are combined, the amount sought is over the jurisdictional limit of small claims court.

I'd be happy to discuss the facts of your particular case with you if you'd like.

Mr. Demmons is correct. However, when computing whether your claim exceeds the jurisidictional limit of small claims court (that limit is $3,000 for city courts and $5,000 for Justice of the Peace Courts), you do not count penalties and attorney's fees. So, if your employer is domiciled in Metairie (Jefferson Parish), you would file in a JOP court and can sue in small claims so long as your total wages due do not exceed $5,000. The penalties and attorney's fees are not counted as part of the "amount in dispute", so you can actually get a judgment in excess of $5,000.

That being said, since the statute specifically gives you attorney's fees for a successful wage claim, you should go ahead and hire an attorney. Most will take your case on contingency, which means you would not have to pay them up front. If the claim is valid, the defendant will be ordered to pay the attorney's fees in addition to your wages and the penalty (which is your regular wages up to the time you get paid, capped at 90 days' worth of wages).

While the 2 gentlemen who answered are closer to your locale, a suit in city court has a jurisdictional limit of $15,000.