1 question for a practicing lawyer when filing a complaint against an employer

[Anonymous]

I have a complaint written and am headed to Fairfax County Courthouse to file it.

Do I need to serve my employer (through a Sheriff), or can I just send my employer the case number and the complaint by email after I file the complaint with the court?

Some of you will ask what it is all about, but I'm not interested in getting into all those details. For all of you nosy Nancy's, I am an hourly worker and I am supposed to be paid overtime but I was not. The amount is not something I want to share online because I will be judged on here (it's not worth it, don't waste your time, etc).

I just need to know if I can serve my employer by email as opposed to paying for a Sheriff to do it. As I understand, a Sheriff takes up to 21 days to serve and I just want to get this over with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a complaint written and am headed to Fairfax County Courthouse to file it.

Do I need to serve my employer (through a Sheriff), or can I just send my employer the case number and the complaint by email after I file the complaint with the court?

Some of you will ask what it is all about, but I'm not interested in getting into all those details. For all of you nosy Nancy's, I am an hourly worker and I am supposed to be paid overtime but I was not. The amount is not something I want to share online because I will be judged on here (it's not worth it, don't waste your time, etc).

I just need to know if I can serve my employer by email as opposed to paying for a Sheriff to do it. As I understand, a Sheriff takes up to 21 days to serve and I just want to get this over with.

LOL ! No you cannot serve your employer by email.

Why not file a complaint with your state labor dept. if it is a wage issue ?

[Anonymous]

This is a wage and hour issue. I’d be contacting that office before I headed off to court.

[Anonymous]

You can't serve them by email. And as far as having a problem with the fact that it takes the sheriff's office up to 21 days to serve a complaint and the "I just want to get this over with" goes -- lol. You are in for a rude awakening regarding how slowly the wheels of justice turn.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

Thank you everyone. I will pay to have service performed by the Sheriff. I understand that the wheels of justice move slowly. Assuming my employer is served, what is the ballpark timeframe to get in front of a judge? Or can someone explain the ins and outs after my employer has been served?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a wage and hour issue. I’d be contacting that office before I headed off to court.

OP here. Thank you for this. I will be contacting Virginia Department of Labor and Industry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

Thank you everyone. I will pay to have service performed by the Sheriff. I understand that the wheels of justice move slowly. Assuming my employer is served, what is the ballpark timeframe to get in front of a judge? Or can someone explain the ins and outs after my employer has been served?

If the defense is any good you’ll never get near a judge.

[Anonymous]

You should ask the labor agency as to the next steps. Unless you are filing your own civil suit against your employer, it would generally not be your responsibility to serve the employer if the state agency is investigating and handling the complaint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

Thank you everyone. I will pay to have service performed by the Sheriff. I understand that the wheels of justice move slowly. Assuming my employer is served, what is the ballpark timeframe to get in front of a judge? Or can someone explain the ins and outs after my employer has been served?

If the defense is any good you’ll never get near a judge.

NP and maybe. Some of these small time cases they just go straight to trial and dispense with motion practice because it's cheaper to just do the trial than all the discovery and motions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

Thank you everyone. I will pay to have service performed by the Sheriff. I understand that the wheels of justice move slowly. Assuming my employer is served, what is the ballpark timeframe to get in front of a judge? Or can someone explain the ins and outs after my employer has been served?

You are going to need to get a lawyer to represent you to get answers to these questions.

[Anonymous]

If you have a decent case, you can hire a plaintiffs attorney on a contingency basis. There are probably also fee shifting provisions involved—so the employer would be on the hook for your attorneys fees if you have a valid claim. My advice (as a lawyer) is that you should get a lawyer, and not be deterred by concern about expense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

Thank you everyone. I will pay to have service performed by the Sheriff. I understand that the wheels of justice move slowly. Assuming my employer is served, what is the ballpark timeframe to get in front of a judge? Or can someone explain the ins and outs after my employer has been served?

You are going to need to get a lawyer to represent you to get answers to these questions.

She could get advice and counsel from a lawyer rather than straight up representation. I agree if she has to do any kind of discovery it's going to be hard to do that herself.

If it were me I'd start with the wage and hour division of the state labor agency. That will be cheaper and probably faster than going to court. If they won't take the case I would ask them if there is a fee-shifting provision in your state's wage and hour laws that would enable you to recover attorney fees.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I filed! I asked my questions to the workers at the court house in Fairfax (super nice people) and basically, my employer will get served in about 2 weeks (could be longer, could be shorter). After getting served, my employer will have 21 days to respond. Then, depending on their response, I have to decide what to do. I could file something to get a date in front of a judge, settle, etc. I hope the above information can help someone else in the future if they do a search.

Thank you for everyone who helped with my questions earlier and offered advice.

If you have any recommendations for an employment lawyer that will take a case on contingency, I would appreciate any suggestions!

[Anonymous]

You might contact a worker center or similar organization, depending on the industry, and ask if they would be willing to serve as counsel or provide advice. Ideally you have timesheets and pay records.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I filed! I asked my questions to the workers at the court house in Fairfax (super nice people) and basically, my employer will get served in about 2 weeks (could be longer, could be shorter). After getting served, my employer will have 21 days to respond. Then, depending on their response, I have to decide what to do. I could file something to get a date in front of a judge, settle, etc. I hope the above information can help someone else in the future if they do a search.

Thank you for everyone who helped with my questions earlier and offered advice.

If you have any recommendations for an employment lawyer that will take a case on contingency, I would appreciate any suggestions!

You should have found a lawyer and contacted DOL before filing a pro se action. There are all kinds of reasons why there could be an exception to the overtime you are alleging but almost certainly you didn't plead the case properly and will have to start over. If your action is baseless, a lawyer or the agency could have saved you from making a complaint that was not going to succeed.