My small business was just about ruined by an employee. I need all the help I can get.?

Hello,

I am the owner of a quite small service-based company and have come across a situation with which I could really use some advice. Basically, one of my employees wanted to quit (which was only discovered after a little digging by me) and was set to leave within 3 weeks time. This was three weeks ago. Since then, he has been extremely rude to everyone else, has skipped work without saying anything, has come late and left early.

But, the worst that he did is, on his last day, he called all of our clients, lying to them that my company was going out of business and that he himself can take over their work (he is apparently starting his own business). He has stolen some clients that we worked so hard to get, and his malicious lies are making them all but impossible to get back.

He signed a contract, as all employees, stating he wouldn't do this. This kind of thing is hard to prove, I just am a wreck and really don't know what to do. Your advice is most welcome. Thanks.

Although it may be quite satisfying to sue and win it is more important to reclaim your customers and get your business back on track.

So, contact each and every customer you have ever serviced.

If you can phone or call on everyone you have done business with in the past year. (If it has been any longer don't phone since you could run afoul of the Federal Do Not Call law and leave yourself open for fines of up to $11,000 per call!)

Next, send each and everyone of your customers (including the ones you called an called on) a letter explaining that you are NOT going out of business and that an former employee, in violation of his contract with you, is attempting to steal you customers and compete by spreading rumors about your business. (Run the wording of this letter by your lawyer, since you don't want to give him any valid grounds to sue you.)

Next check with your lawyer and find out how long you have before the Statute of Limitations in your state kicks in and how long it take your lawyer to initiate a suit. This will give you an idea as to how long you wait before you take legal action.

I suspect that most of your customers will come back to you simply because they will feel that they cannot trust your ex-employee. After all, if he lied and violated the trust of his former employer how can a customer trust him? That being the case you and your business will not suffer any significant damages.

By the way, as to legal action -- you might want to check into what would be involved in getting an injunction barring him from doing business in your trading area. The strategy here is to enter a suit then tie him up until the suit goes to trial -- while having your lawyer take his/her time about setting a trial date.

Finally, bear in mind that going to court is always risky. If his lawyer is better than yours, or a judge or jury sympathizes with him or doesn't like you or there was a loophole in your contract you might not win.

Hope this helps
Jerry-the-bookkeeper

Hiring a lawyer for legal problems can be expensive, but there are websites like LawGuru, FindLaw and other places where you can get free legal advice. I found this website useful - http://www.uelp.org/freelegal.html

i think you may be able to sue him if he signed a contract and he spread false lies about your company

Find a good business lawyer. This is actionable.

Find a good attorney and lay the wood to him. You've got a good case.

Make a list of your most loyal clients.
Contact them and ask if they were contacted by this employee. Politely explain the situation without going into too much detail and ask if they would be willing to speak to your lawyer should it become necessary.

If you can get even two reliable witnesses to testify that they were approached by this employee you should have a pretty solid case.

Do not give your clients so much information that you are telling them what to say and be careful not to muddy their credibility by offering them favors or free services. You just want them to tell the truth as they know it.