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CA N AN INTENTIONAL TORT arise out of a employment agreement/contract that was breached and if so are these 2 separate causes of
Anonymous3 views4 answers
If my employer fails to pay for 8 months work and I find out later he and his partners of the LLC were embezzlement the money all along, is this in addition to breach of contract (not paying me) but a tort if it caused me harm?
More facts are needed for a full case analysis. Were you an employee or an independent contractor? Did you actually have a contract or were you an at-will employee? I suggest you contact an experienced employment attorney for a free consultation to see if in fact you have a case.
Matthew P. Blair
www.chakmakislaw.com
More fact will certainly be needed to understand the extent of your contract and whether you are an exempt or non-exempt employee or even an independent contract. These determination will be very critical in evaluating what causes of actions you have and how to get them remedied.
In general, however, it sounds like you may have claims for breach of contract and wage and hour violations. You may even have a claim for violation of the minimum wage laws.
Although not technically a tort, a knowing violation of the minimum wage laws can result in punitive damages against the employer per the minimum wage statute.
If they promised to pay you knowing that they were not going to pay you, you would have a cause of action for fraud. That is a tort and can come with pain and suffering and punitive damages.
You may have many other causes of action. I strongly suggest you engage an attorney to go over all the facts.
Joshua Burt
Breach of contract and embezzlement are two separate causes of action, but the embezzlement claim is more appropriately raised by shareholders or the company itself. Of course, proving the claims is a whole different story.
In any event, no matter how many causes of action you assert, you can only be made "whole" once -- you would not be entitled to "double recovery" even if you were harmed 2 (3, 4, 5, or 100) different ways (unless the damages themselves are different).
Best wishes.
No. What you suggest is not a tort that you could sue for. The tort would be against the company. Your rights were to be paid by the company, and your claims arise out of the employment relationship with the company, not the members of the LLC.
If you owned part of the business, you might be able to bring a representative action on behalf of the company. Otherwise, no tort was directed at you.
Good luck to you.
