Edited: Update TW: Dear diary post - 1/2 venting, 1/2 looking for advice

hlvonb

Update: I received my paycheck in the mail today - almost a week later. So that gives me 5% faith that I will get the rest of the money he owes me.

Long story short: The owner (my boss) called me in for a meeting on Sunday around 8:00 pm & informed me he had sold the company & as of midnight (4 hours later), he was no longer going to be the owner. He also said the new owners have their own administrative team & there would be no work / position available for me after midnight. I told him I understood. He said he wanted to continue to have a personal relationship that we already had (we knew each other before I started working for him) & I said that would be fine. I worked from home so I had all the employee files & things in my home office. We agreed he would stop by my place to pick up the employee files the next day (Monday) & since Monday was payday, he said he would have my paycheck with him & he would give it to me. He also owes me back pay which he said he would pay back in increments of x amount every 2 weeks. This whole conversation took about 45 minutes.

When he came to get the employee files I asked him why I wasn't given a heads up. He wouldn't look me in the eyes & said that the sale of the company came on really quick & he was offered the money & accepted & that he himself didn't even have much notice. We continued to talk & I asked for my paycheck. He said by the time he got to the payroll company to pick up the checks, the checks had already been mailed but luckily he was still able to grab the w-2s & he gave me my w-2. I brought up the back pay & confirmed he would pay back the back pay in increments of x amount every two weeks like we agreed upon the night before. He said he was going to but that he couldn't start this next payday because he had to give the new owners 1 full payroll & that he would start the back pay payments the following payday. I said okay so then I will get the first back payment on Y date & he said yes. I then handed him the files & other office stuff & he left. I also followed up our conversation with an email stating exactly what we had talked about.

It's been almost a week since the paycheck (mine & others) were mailed & I still have not received mine. I also found out he never sold the company & was never planning on it & that an employee of the company now took over my position.

I have thought about taking him to court but he has been sued before & gotten out of it. He told me how he does it about 6 months ago. He said he drags out the process long enough to cost it the person more money than their owed. If it actually goes to court, he either doesn't show up so they have to reschedule or he shows up, agrees to what the judge says & then files bankruptcy & never pays them back because the company goes out of business. He gets out of it that way because if you take him to court for not being paid, you're actually suing the company - not him & if the company goes bankrupt & out of business, then the company can't repay any money owed. He has a habit of not paying people - especially after they're not with the company anymore.

If anyone knows or has any advice on how to handle this, it would appreciated.

SaphireSweetie88

Hold off on taking him to court just yet. I would go through your state's DWD if you haven't already and file a claim with them and ask what you can / should do from there.