Hauled 8 loads for free...

^This is how you really piss a judge off for wasting his court's valuable time.

It has to be handled at the state level. I went through this about ten years ago. First you need to get a determination from the IRS that you were considered an employee of his company. After you have that, you call your state dept. of labor, and they'll have paperwork for you to fill out. Where it goes from there depends on the state's laws.

Here in SD, the idiot who shorted me ignored the Dept. of Labor, and after some set amount of time or number of contacts (I don't remember which...) they would either go to Small Claims for you, or you could do it yourself. Here, if you can show it was done intentionally with malicious intent, you can ask for double the amount owed. However, the state can't do that on your behalf, you must do it yourself. (Again, this the law in South Dakota.) So I filed a small claims suit, and at that point 'Dummy' declared bankruptcy.

So I went to the Bankruptcy Clerk, and got the needed forms, and filed them in the proper manner. At our hearing, the judge looked at my paperwork, and said,"Could you please show some of my attorneys how to do this?" And I would advise you the same: Get you paperwork proof in order, with pages explaining and summarizing your proof, in presentation binder. Number all the pages, and make it to where anyone can understand what they are seeing.

I got most of my money before 'Dummy' defaulted on his bankruptcy, and it drove him out of business as well. And no, I didn't shed a single tear over that. A funny aside, it was completely humorous to hear his attorney tell the bankruptcy judge that they didn't agree with the IRS' finding, even though they couldn't dispute a single answer given to the IRS on the determination form. I think it was a struggle for the judge not to lose it at that point, and 'Dummy's' attorney stuttered a bit when he saw the look on the judges face.

 

Got any links to back any of what you say up are do you just make it up as you go?

If someone actually went to jail for criminal defamation on Facebook then what they said was found to be untrue by a court, it is a simple as that. Your contention that it was true really doesn’t matter, clearly a court found it not to be true. More than likely they whet to jail for something related to the so called defamation as there are only about half the states that even have criminal defamation on the books (http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/criminal-libel-statutes-state-by-state), normally it is a civil matter. To be criminal it has to rise to a much higher level http://www.unc.edu/courses/2010spring/law/357c/001/Cyberbully/criminal-defamation.html.

Lawsuits are a crap shoot, as said before you can sue anyone for anything; it doesn’t mean that you will win. The case I believe you are trying to refer to was a lady that sued the dating site, not the individuals that made posts and it was due to them attacking her, not for defamation. She has not won the suit yet http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...l-butcher-knife-stomped-head-dumped-days.html . If it was some other case, post a link to it.

If you could be sued for defamation or prosecuted for criminal defamation for telling the truth about your own experiences then they would probably have to shut down this site as half the posts on here are people relating there experiences with companies they work for, mostly bad experiences.

 

One way of getting around libel, is on how you write it.

So-and-so is a drug dealer. This is stating a fact.

I believe, so-and-so is a drug dealer. This is an opinion.

 

Hate to sound harsh,but why trust you're money to someone you don't know. I'm leased to small co.only 4 o/o here for a reason.owner has learned hard way about letting joe blow in on his contracts.but Also has no time to babysit a o/o.has hard enough time with co.drivers

 

Similar experience years ago. I was willing to settle for about $1,500, but my former employer told me to get lost and tried to sick the cops on me. After the labour board was finished with him I netted about $7,500... and the judge really didn't like his lawyer "badgering" me. I had no lawyer.

For the OP, you should see if you can report him for fraud and then also file a claim either as an employee or through small claims as has been suggested... whichever is appropriate. Better than even odds he won't even respond to a small claims action. You might not ever collect, but the next guy will appreciate it just like you would have if someone before you would have done the same. Sadly, it's sometimes the "cost" of belonging to a community.

 

holy crap!! all I wanted was the guys name and hometown....not a legal dissertation

 

I actually had a similar experience a few years back. I hauled for about 3 weeks for free. I went to work for an o/o as an independent driver. That turned out to be a big mistake. when you are an independent driver you do not have the same rights as a regular employee. In the eyes of the law them not paying me was a contract dispute, not unpaid wages. I talked to an attorney and they told me that they could persue it, but they needed a retainer. They also told me that there was so many people in line ahead of me with judgement that it would take a long time to collect, if they where ever able to. So I pretty much let this one go. Not that I wanted to, but financially I couldn't afford to go after it. Oh, and all of my evidence was with them, so I had nothing to prove that I had even done the work that I was claiming.

 

Depends on the amount of the claim, but this is the route I'd go. I wouldn't be against putting up advertising after you win judgement.

 

This is an aspect of working for an O/O that far too many drivers misunderstand! Just because they tell you that you're an independent contractor means little in the eyes of the law. Far too many drivers accept pay on a 1099 when, in fact, they are employees.

The determination of whether you are an employee comes down to two main factors: Risk and Control. If you are operating someone else's equipment, and they are paying the expenses, you have no risk. When they are providing you loads, and dictating how you perform your job, you have no control. There is a third factor of how the parties view the relationship, but it generally only comes into play when the first two issues cannot be clearly determined. Here's a good link: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1779.pdf

In my case, I was working for carrier who provided the truck, the cars to haul, and all the expenses I incurred. The out he tried to use was that he would only ask when I was leaving, and when I'd be to the other end. And the judge quoted some case law (Sorry, don't have the paperwork anymore...) which dealt directly with this issue, stating that complete lack of financial investment by one party far outweighed the minor freedom in scheduling in determining employee/contractor status.

My point in all that is that you were not an independent contractor and got some poor legal advise. Because unless you are leasing the truck and paying a substantial amount of the expenses incurred, leaving your pay at risk based on your performance, I can almost guarantee that the IRS would determine you were an employee. One of the reasons so many fleece outfits have separate entities who lease the truck to you is to break the control link, so that the IRS can't come in later and find the L/O's were, in fact, employees.

So drivers, do not work under a 1099 unless you own/lease a truck!!! The companies paying you on 1099 are not paying workman's comp. insurance, nor unemployment insurance. And while it might seem like a good deal to make a little more than most drivers by working percentage, chances are by the time you figure in the extra 7.65% in SSA/FICA taxes that you are now responsible for paying, you are taking a hit on net income at the end of the year.

 

Hammer,
For that important and vital information, if I could have given ya 5 thanks, I would have!
Wow, learned something very valuable there!