Legal Question in Criminal Law in Massachusetts

Extortion, second request

My husband owns a small civil eng. company. He does not have a stamp and needs an engineer to stamp plans for him. He hired a woman engineer. After a year of employment, she demanded to be made a partner in the company. He did not want a partner; however, she threatened to quit, leaving him with no one to stamp his work. He told me he was forced to make her a partner; she was extorting him; he feared he would lose his business and we would be 'living in a cardboard box.'' He felt he had no choice. He then made her a partner, unwillingly, but out of fear of losing his company of 16 years. I would like to have her charged with extortion. Do I have a claim?


Asked on 4/12/07, 9:49 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
henry lebensbaum Law Offices of Henry Lebensbaum (978-749-3606)

: Extortion, second request

No.

This is not extortion. This to me seems like business politics. From what you said, there was nothing criminal about this conduct.

If there is more to this, contact me.

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Answered on 4/12/07, 9:58 am

Re: Extortion, second request

No. Based on what you have said, filing a criminal complaint for extortion would be an abuse of process. Your husband's partner appears to have leveraged her value in the company from employee to partner. Yoru husband had the option of letting her leave and replacing her with another engineer; he made a financial decision to make her a partner rather than replace her with someone new.

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Answered on 4/12/07, 10:09 am


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