non payment of outstanding dues

[roopkhanna]

i have been working online with a company for almost two years and was always punctual in meeting deadlines. however, late in june, while doing my tasks my computer crashed. having finished my assignment, i took the computer to my dealer asking him to find out what was wrong. he said to come back in a few hours and when i did he had reformatted the hard disk without asking me or taking a backup of my documents. this led to missing my deadline and subsequently losing my contract. though the informal agreement states that if a contractor misses one deadline a warning is given and after three warnings the contractor will lose their job.
though i explained the problem, the employers decided unilaterally to deactivate my membership. this is fine with me but they have to pay outstanding dues for approximately one month plus outstanding arrears all of which totals about sixteen hundred dollars.

as i suspected, the employers are using this missed deadline to not pay me and they are not responding to my emails.

since everything is done online, and since i cannot access the forum where jobs were posted, i am left high and dry.

i would like to know my legal position and how i can get my outstanding dues which for me represents a considerable sum of money.

i would be grateful for legal advice and i can give the contact email of the employer in case it is required.
thanking you
roop khanna

 

[Michael Wechsler]

This is difficult to say without seeing the agreement you are referring. I think your best bet is to write them a letter - fax it or send it via certified mail - explaining to them that you intend to file a small claims court case against them if they don't remit the sum of $xxxx to you within xxx days. State that they have no right to withhold this sum of money owed to you. Since you have a relationship, you may want to include something personal, e.g. "I hope that we can end this relationship on an amicable note rather than in court" or something of that nature so that it may take the edge off of your letter - but that's a personal decision. You know these people and how is best to handle it. Best of luck.