Statute of Limitations?

shygrneyzs · #1 Feb 9, 2007, 02:11 PM

In the Summer of 1972 I worked as a waitress at one of the local cafes. There were 10 employees who worked there during that time. All was well until the beginning of November when we did not receive a paycheck. The owner said he had some rough spots but we would be paid. He said that in December too and no one ever got paid for either month. One day he just changed the locks and the business was done. He fled the state. The other employees and I filed a suit against him for our wages and were told when he could be found, we would get paid before the other creditors. He was not found.

Last week I heard this man is back in the city and now working as a police officer - which was his original job but he had gotten fired for accepting bribes. Apparently the law forgets as he is really working for the local police department.

I imagine there is a statute of limitations? Who would I ask?

RubyPitbull · Feb 9, 2007, 02:40 PM

shygrneyzs! Sorry to hear about this. I can only imagine how this makes your blood just boil!

Is your intention to try to recoup the money he owes you or to file a complaint to a state department that this guy is working as a cop again?

shygrneyzs · Feb 9, 2007, 02:45 PM

Ideally I would love to get my money from this guy. There are still five of the former employees living in this area - the rest I have no idea where they are. I had heard two of the former chefs were arrested for a string of church burglaries across five states. They had gotten caught in Nevada. Am sure they are out by now. lol As far as him being a police officer again - there is the chance he has reformed. I will let nature take it's course.

I know it is a long long long shot into a deep dark tunnel trying to get my backpay. Just wondering if it can be done.

RubyPitbull · Feb 9, 2007, 02:55 PM

I think the back pay is the more difficult of the two I am afraid.

Since you mentioned creditors, I am assuming that he most probably filed for bankruptcy. In those days it was very easy to do and a person could set up shop somewhere else in a short time. You could do some research at the county clerk's office in your area to see if he actually did file for bankruptcy. If he did, there is nothing you can do. If he didn't, it would be a very, very, very, big longshot but you could ask at the clerk's office if your old filing is still open. Did you and the other employees file a suit together or separately? If together, the problem is even dicier because you would have to find the missing people to go forward.

I know this is just aggravating the heck out of you but is the money he owed you really worth taking a great deal of your time to do this? It is going to be tough going trying to collect on a lawsuit from 35 years ago.

I guess the easiest thing to do is to ask the county clerk if the statute of limitations is up for this.

shygrneyzs · Feb 9, 2007, 03:11 PM

All ten of us filed the suit together and we even met with the governor at the time and were told that we would be paid first, before the creditors. But I am sure you are 100+% right about getting anything after this long. It just helps to write this down and get feedback. I will call the county clerk and ask on Monday. It is most likely one of those moral vs legal issues. Morally, yes he should rectify his debt, but legally he most likely does not have to. And we all know which one wins over the other.

Thanks, Ruby, for posting. I really appreciate your wisdom.

RubyPitbull · Feb 9, 2007, 03:14 PM

Any time Shygrneyzs. I like reading your postings and think you are an all around "good egg."

shygrneyzs · Feb 9, 2007, 03:23 PM

Thanks! Although there are times I am a bit scrambled. lol

RubyPitbull · Feb 10, 2007, 03:57 AM

Oh jeez, Excon. I was wondering if you saw this! Shygrneyzs, the guy is a true troublemaker. Don't listen to him.

Ahhh, excon knows I fell in love with him pretty quickly when I found this site.

The first thought I had when reading this was, IF the lawyer is still alive. Secondly, do you really believe the lawyer renewed the judgement? These were a bunch of kids the guy ripped off. No one remembered to follow up. Guaranteed. That lawyer filed it away and forgot about it a long time ago.

I DEFINITELY love the angle about calling the guy but I like Shy and don't want her to suddenly disappear one day.

My initial thought when reading Shy's post was to say, forget about it. Not worth the hassle. She wasn't really interested in going after him as she was recouping her money. If she had told me that she wanted to go after the guy and make sure he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of keeping that job, my answer would have been different.

I think what was bothering me the most about this, after the fact he had the cojones to rip off a bunch of kids, is that he was a corrupt cop who managed to wheedle a favor out of an old friend, who in turn, has to be corrupt and managed to stay on the force or in local gov't. How many municipalities do you think hire an old guy as a new cop? Something is going on there.

Shy is now paying this guy's salary! Bit of an ironic twist don't you think? If she acted on this, it would be an angle to this situation that would have a better chance of a positive outcome. In the end, she would be saving money. How many of the local taxpayers do you think would want him out of there if they knew this guy's history?

It might be beneficial to get together with the few people remaining in the area who were involved in the lawsuit. Personally, I think the best thing to do would be to get this guy removed from his position. Talk it over with them. You can still do what excon suggests about the lawsuit. But, wouldn't it make you feel better to contact the local newspaper and talk about what happened years ago, question why he is on the force again, question what is going on with the police dept. You could really open up a whole can of worms. There really needs to be an investigation into how the taxpayer's money is being spent. How much wasteful spending is really going on?

As for this guy, if you did that, you can bet that he will leave town. You will probably not get your money, but you will have the satisfaction of getting revenge on someone who deserves it. What is that expression? Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Normally I wouldn't push anyone to get revenge. But, in this case, the guy deserves to be taken down.

shygrneyzs · Feb 15, 2007, 04:04 PM

Okay you two lovable (I say that very sincerely too) people... update...

It just so happened that last week when I was at a client's home cleaning, the clients friend shows up and so my client starts telling him about what happened to me and the other workers. I was like.... what???? It turns out the friend is a detective on the polcie force who remembers history as well as I do. He was a young patrolman then.

He said he would check for me and get back to me. At first I thought, yeah right. But he does! He called me today and said that this guy is indeed a cop - his record was tough to access but there was NOTHING on his record here. It was like he just quit the force and moved on. He worked for a police department out in Portland and then in Los Angeles and then in Houston and then back up here. He is 58 now. Supposedly moved back here to help out his parents, which is true, his parents are old.

I called the people I knew were still in the area that worked for that guy that summer of
'72. I could only find five, including me. It is not an issue for anyone but me. That figures. My bleeding heart is my achilles heel. Maybe if I took off that "vote for McGovern" bumpersticker off my old car it would help. lol.

I went to the library and searched through the microfiche for articles and found just one article about "alleged bribes" but nothing past that. So I looked for his phone number and called him. I was very honest with him and explained that I only wanted my backpayment for the months of November and December of 1972. He was stunned that I remembered. I said four other people remember too but they said to forget it. He told me that was all discharged in a bankruptcy in the summer of 1973. Told me his lawyer's name - the guy is dead but his son took over the practice so there would still be a file.

So I guess this is just about what I thought. The long long shot on the outside chance there would be some small retribution. Who in the world was I kidding? I think I need to take the other bumpersticker off that says "I'd like to teach the world to sing". lol

But it was educational and interesting to pursue this. Oh I will definitely call the lawyer. Just to make sure. He can remain a cop. He will retire soon enough. If he learned his lesson and kept his nose clean, good for him.

Sighs. I want to thank you both, Ruby and Excon. I think highly of your comments and advice. The check is in da mail.



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