I am looking at filing a small claims case in Oregon against a past employer for unpaid wages . I read on the info that the court provided that I have to list the "registered agent" on the papers . I have went to the secretary of states corp division web page and ran a business search and it came up empty, I have found a copy of there certificate of incorporation from Delaware (it has a registered agent located in Delaware). However as I understand it to do business in my state they should have a registered agent in my state, is that correct and if so how do I find out who that is since the secretary of state doesn't seem to have record of it . If it help at all the company is 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. . Any help on this would be great , I am looking to keep BOLI out of it because if I go after the wages myself I can collect penalties but if BOLI goes after them I have to wave the penalties.

Hello n:

I can't find 'em either. Call them in the morning.

excon

So I called the Secretary of states office today and was told there was no listing and I should contact the Department of justice, who was nice enough to tell me that they where not really sure what they could do for me. The DOJ said I could fill out a complaint (I did) however "this is not a normal complaint" and the lady said she was not sure they could even do anything about it or for me.

So still no registered agent, anyone have any ideas on where to go from here ?

The lady at the doj said she was not sure that they needed a registered agent since they were incorporated in Delaware and there principal place of business was in New York. Ever head of such a thing ?
It is my understanding that you had to have a license and registered agent in every state you conduct business (if you are a incorporated) in. I would assume that employing within a state would be considered conducting business within that state, am I wrong?

Thank now for all the help...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nes218

am i wrong?

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Hello again, nes:

You are not wrong. Plus, the Secretary of State should ALSO take a complaint.

excon

excon :

Thanks, I asked the secretary of the state about a complaint but was told they just keep the records and that the DOJ enforces everything. However after talking to the secretary of states office this time around I was pointed or ORS 60.701(2) and if I am reading this correctly even though I was employed by this company while a resident of and living in Oregon because I did order entry and the orders where finalized in another place (orders with this company are not final till revived by fulfillment center/flosrt and then charged) it doesn't qualify as doing business in Oregon...

This sucks , so back to square one who do I sue ? And where ?

I would assume that I sue in my county as that is where I was to receive my final pay that didn't show up, and where the law was broken.

But am I OK using the registered agent that was used in the state that they are incorporated in, the registered agent in the state that corporate is located in, or some else entirely ?

Any ideas on this are greatly appreciated and again thanks excon for the input.. .

nes218

They need a registered agent if they have employees working for them, I thought normally they merely contracted with independent firms to actually do the work.

But most large companies actually have a specific office that receives legal mail. As excon said, just call the company you want to sue and ask them where they receive their legal mails.

Plus if you worked for them, merely serve them at the address you worked at

Thanks Fr_chuck ,
I must have misunderstood excon I was assuming he meant to call the secretary of states office since they where not listed in the online register.

This company hires home based agents directly (employees not contractors) who connect to their computer system via a VPN (virtual private network) connection, all calls and needed programs are routed through that connection allowing agents to work for the company from their home in any approved state. They recruit in several state but have no "place of business" as all the employees are based out of their homes. So there is no way I can have the address where I worked served (as this would be my home address). I will attempt to call the corp office and see if they will provide me with the needed info , thanks for the input... hopefully I will get an answer from them...