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andreyalex · Oct 30, 2008, 10:09 AM

Dear Sirs,

My name is Andrey.
I would like to ask for your opinion on the situation I faced.

Two month ago I was contacted by the company that wanted me to translate the documents from Russian into English (I am certified translator/interpreter. I registered at online translator database; that is how the company found me). I did translation for them. They wrote me email statement that they would pay. But, they never did. I started call them every day and they told me that translation was not good enough, because their client did not like it (I never contacted their client and it was not even mentioned that I am translating for somebody else. But it is not a case). The case is that the company's representative told me that their client paid them only the half of what they expect. The also told me that they sent me two checks which I never received.
After many lies that they sent me checks, which I have never gotten, I filed small claim in court in state. I informed them about this fact. As a result they refused to pay at all as they mentioned and informed that I will be contacted by their accounting and law department.

Can the company sue me back? Can the company sue me for the fact that their client did not like the translation, and, as result they lost that client? Can they sue me for some sort of loss of clientele because of me? (I have never had such problem before with people I translated for).

I would be happy to hear your opinion.
Thank you

Sincerely,
Andrey

this8384 · Oct 30, 2008, 11:47 AM

As far as I'm aware, the company has nothing to countersue for. If their client didn't understand your translation, then they should have asked you to retranslate the work. If their client just didn't like it, that's a different story.

Fr_Chuck · Oct 30, 2008, 12:30 PM

Can they sue you, of course they can, they may not have a case, they may lose but they can try and sue you. Most likely they never planned on paying you, my guess is that they use various new people.

I would assume you keep a copy of the work to prove your point that you translated properly.