- Jurisdiction
- New York
Hi,
I'm trying to decide if I should file a small claims suit against my former university and/or a professor. A year ago, this professor told me and his graduate student that we would get paid a certain amount to work on a technology demonstrator for a venture capitalist, who would pay us by a grant to the university. He told us well before we finished that the university had already received the grant money and we were going to be paid. Then at the end of the semester, he told us the university had lost the check and didn't have any record of this.
I moved out of state shortly after this, but I recently talked to the professor's graduate student, who told me the grant eventually came in and he had been paid, and that my money "was waiting for me". When I talked to the professor about this, he told me that there was no way I could get paid as I need to be hired by the university first, and he denied that I was ever supposed to be paid for my previous work.
The only evidence I have is some email exchanges I had with this professor after I moved. Where after I tell him I moved permanently (which shows I can't work for him anymore), he says he will try hard to see that I'm paid, blames the university's dysfunction, repeats the story that they lost the check, and suggests the venture capitalist could pay me directly.
I'm considering filing a small clams suit against the university and flying in for the court date, since supposedly they received the grant money. Is this a waste of time? Maybe I should file it against both the university and professor, in case the court sees him as responsible.
I'm trying to decide if I should file a small claims suit against my former university and/or a professor. A year ago, this professor told me and his graduate student that we would get paid a certain amount to work on a technology demonstrator for a venture capitalist, who would pay us by a grant to the university. He told us well before we finished that the university had already received the grant money and we were going to be paid. Then at the end of the semester, he told us the university had lost the check and didn't have any record of this.
I moved out of state shortly after this, but I recently talked to the professor's graduate student, who told me the grant eventually came in and he had been paid, and that my money "was waiting for me". When I talked to the professor about this, he told me that there was no way I could get paid as I need to be hired by the university first, and he denied that I was ever supposed to be paid for my previous work.
The only evidence I have is some email exchanges I had with this professor after I moved. Where after I tell him I moved permanently (which shows I can't work for him anymore), he says he will try hard to see that I'm paid, blames the university's dysfunction, repeats the story that they lost the check, and suggests the venture capitalist could pay me directly.
I'm considering filing a small clams suit against the university and flying in for the court date, since supposedly they received the grant money. Is this a waste of time? Maybe I should file it against both the university and professor, in case the court sees him as responsible.
