This is about my ex employee that ordered mobiles in my name. The mobile company wants nearly 2k.
Went to court early December, they didn’t show, it was nearly thrown out.
I was then sent a letter saying the claimant must provide proof that I held out my ex employee as my agent. That was to be recieved by 4pm 20/12/2010 that arrived 24/01/2011. I did inform the court last week that I hadn’t recieved it, nor had they.
Now they’ve put in a massive claim and defence, but it still comes down to my word against theirs.
Opinions please, taking into account the late claim.

Opinions please, taking into account the late claim.

Without wishing to be too harsh how about; Employ an experienced legal proffesional to represent you in the matter rather than seeking random opinions on a mountain bike forum.

As above, I think the time has come to get some proper legal advice.

You’ll probably get an initial visit with a solicitor for ‘free’.

taking into account the late claim

Is it >6 years late? Then you’d have a point.

If the court has said they must provide evidence that you held him out to be employee then that seems a sticking point to me – under the law of agency as I recall it, this is a hurdle they must get over. Keep at it.

carl – seriously, you need to engage a lawyer now.

cycnic-al is right that this revolves around the law of agency, and also on the facts as to whether that employee was ever held out as being able to contract in your name/the name of your business/company.

Good luck.

Tom

I say lawyer, if are in Devon I can recommend an excellent one.

I’ve tried, but no one thinks it’s worth the bother. They all seem to think it’s clear cut.
I’m a sole trader. The mobile company claim my ex employee said he was acting on my behalf. Lawyers say regardless of what the ex employee said, as I’m a sole trader i.e a private individual it has to come from me.

Here’s the sticky bit?
My ex employee doesn’t deny ordering the phones. But he claims he was ordering them for his new business. I have his business cards with his business name, the mobile numbers in question and the names of him and his staff on them.
However he did this from my work place using an email he set up to enable him to recieve mails when he worked for me. Looking at copies of the emails the mobile company thinks they were mailing me.
They acknowledge they spoke to my ex employee over the phone, but the authorisations were done by mail. My ex employee never corrected this.

Now when I found out, the mobile company said in so many words tough, Mr X said he weas doing it on your behalf. I went mental but genuinely thought I was stuck with a three year contract. I did bar all calls though.
So they have all this info in diary form, but the long and short of it was I never ever gave permission for this, why on earth would I?

In case they try and say I used the phones, the only proof (if it is proof) are statements going back to 2002. Things like Thopsons and yellow pages that advertise my mobile number. And proof that I had a business email that only I had access to from 2002, that is different to the one they communicated on.

Sorry to rant on, but what’s really annoying is that I went to court about this in early December and they didn’t show up.
Then the court sends a letter to the claimant that says their proof must be with myself and the courts by 4pm 20th December 2010. That didn’t turn up until the 24th January 2011 over a month late and it wasn’t lost in the post as it’s dated 19th January.
Is it acceptable to ignore the courts like this? though it does show what sort of business I’m dealing with here.

I take it he’s done a runner and mobile co. are after you?

“mobile company thinks they were mailing me.”

That may well be their problem, particularly given:

“But he claims he was ordering them for his new business.”

“Is it acceptable to ignore the courts like this?”

Whether it is or not, it happens all the time.

What proof have they provided?

Proof is in the form of computer print outs, it doesn’t seem to be transcript more like notes.
The closest they have to what might be taken as proof is them phoning me, and me telling them they need to talk to Mr X about his phones. But you have to bear in mind he wasn’t working for me then and I wouldn’t have had any knowledge about him ordering these phones.
There is absolutely nothing at all anywhere where I give permission of any kind.
He worked for me. he had a mobile on my business, that ran out of contract, he left and that’s when he contacted them to carry on and add phones. I knew nothing until the first bill arrived. I still have the mobiles here.
Edit; the mobile companies solicitors said in private to me that MrX has commited fraud, Hmm thing is he doesn’t deny it, he genuinely wanted this new contract but for his new business. Between the two of them it’s become this mess and I’m left to clear it up.

You have gone to the Police yes?

Sounds like you are on good ground but the devil is in the detail.

oldgit, it doesn’t quite match up with this though:

From here http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/i-have-to-go-to-court-any-advice [Your former employee said:] No, as i recall myself and Lisa were stood at the front desk and i shouted back to you, “can i sign, can i sign etc, in my usual winding up way. You said check the details etc etc and i returned the email as it had been sent to your email, not mine. She then went off to her police driving course all happy. As you know anything connected to her, i remember every detail, as she was hassleing me to get things sorted. Remember the car?????? “get me this get me that, it’s got to have this, it’s got to have that.

Surely if it is clear cut then you should have no trouble getting a lawyer to act on your behalf and recover their costs from the claimant when you win?

Hello Polly.
I didnt use that email from my ex employee, I dont recall that and even the mobile company admit to never sending anything to my email address.It turns out he did forge my details to get accounts information and to open trading accounts, but thats another story.

Odd that you are not pursuing him either civilly or via Police.

Does the ex-employee have express written consent from you, to act on your behalf?

Is there a clause in the employment contract, that states employees are not permitted to act on behalf of the company, unless express written permission is given?

You seem to get into a few pickles oldgit 😐

Your not my old MD are you? He always had Solicitors suing someone or taking someone to caught and vice versa.

How long has email been legally binding then?

You are now facing a legal bill. This can be large or small, depending on what you do next.

Option 1
Continue to try and fight this thing yourself. You might win, you might not, but the mess is getting bigger and now that you’re actually in court, you need representation. The longer you leave it, the more your lawyer (when you eventually engage one) will have to review, ergo, the more it’s going to cost

Option 2
Get a lawyer right now. If they’re any good, and the facts are as you’ve stated them on this and the earlier thread, they should be able to get the case dropped.

It’s up to you what you do next, but I know I’d rather have a £500 bill now rather than one which is many multiples of that in a few months time.