Retirement

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leafi

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Hello, My father worked at an aerospace manufacturer, his OFFICAL title was NFO which does not give him the extra pay and retirement of an actual pilot. At his job, he was ask/scheduled to work all the responsibilities, and duties of a pilot, but was not given the appropiate, pay or retirement of a pilot. First question is the statute of limitations time wise of a law suit for the appropiate compensation due, botth back pay and retirement. Is there grounds to file suit against the former job. He was layed off unlawfully, which was the caused him to suffer not only major depression but other mental and physical health problems. The unlawfull layoff also caused major financial problems. (unlawfull termination in NY from what I have been informed to lay someone off without reason to fire them, the employer must give the employee 14 day notice, I may be mistaken I am not a lawyer.) The aerospace corporation was eventually baught out by a larger aerospace company. Does new company then inherit the debt of legal and financial responsibilty. My father was laid off in Feb of 1994.
Thank You for all input
Paul
 
1994... that is a long time ago. Why didn't your father inquire about a lawsuit many years ago and what makes you think that you should do so today? The longest statute of limitations period under NY law that might apply which I can indentify is that for breach of contract, which is six years from the time the action arose. Perhaps an exception to the statute of limitations would apply that might toll or delay the statute from running. If you think that the case is questionable, it would make things even more difficult now because a defense attorney would ask the same and witnesses who might be able to prove your father's case might have failing memories at this late date. The statute of limitations was enacted to compel plaintiffs to bring timely actions, prevent suits from becoming "stale", and to avoid dealing with witnesses whose memory would be unreliable.
 
He did inquire about it then, the lawyer he hired couldnt get the case tried in a court. He / she Im not sure which, wrote letters and went into court, but the court that the lawyer went to wouldnt take the case. My parents ended up with a 10 thousand dollar bill for nothing the lawyer did, It occured to me that I shoudl sue the lawyer for failing in its responsibilities to get the case in court. The lawyer wouldnt take the case on commission. Lets see after he got laid off, he ended up moving the next year to Oregon to take a teaching job. Then he went to Japan to teach, so that is why the time went by. Is there precidence to sue the lawyer for failure of hired job? (This probably is a bad thing to ask in a law web site full of lawyers.) But I told him he should have went for the balls of the new aerospace firm. Made them settle at least. Does the company that baught out the bankrupt company aquire all debts and obligations? Im not a lawyer, but I heard about this around. Please any input will be appreciated!
Le AFI
 
What do you mean he "couldn't get the case tried in a court?" Was the case ever filed? There are a couple of things that may have happened. If the case was dismissed against the employer after some litigation for failure to state a claim for which relief could be granted, that might be understandable but not for $10,000. The case may have been dismissed with minimal litigation for failure to file in a proper venue (improper court) or other tecnical violations, but none of these should add up to a $10,000 bill or anywhere near that number.

You can file suit against a lawyer for malpractice but frequently most go to the state bar association and file a complaint there first. HOWEVER, I seriously caution you from doing so before a full investigation of facts because this is a serious claim. Frequently I find that clients are much like patients -- they so desperately want to see results that they ignore the risks that are explained. I don't know how involved the lawyer was with your father's case but for $10,000 there is no question you should have seen some reasonable amount of work product.

And whether or not you can sue for legal malpractice is not a bad question here either -- lawyers who disgrace the profession shouldn't be practicing in the same vein as you and every other competent doctor wouldn't want an incompetent doctor continuing to perform surgery.
 
I want to to sincearly thank you for you replys! The court would not hear the case my mother told me. The lawyer wrote letters and went into court, but the court wouldnt hear the case. my parents were in the alot of debt so they couldnt afford to go to a higher court! In my opinion writing letters and going into court without getting the job done (having the case heard, not gaurenteed to win) is wrong! They hired the lawyer to get their case into court and have the law decide. Ill have to ask my mother and father more information. Thanks again
Le AFI
 
You need to find out why they couldn't get the case into court. Anyone can file a summons and complaint and it shouldn't cost you more than a few hundred dollars.

Additionally, arguments made for a court to accept a case after it has been dismissed is usually accomplished with motions and not opinion letters from a client. I'm assuming that the "letters" could have been motions. It is possible that the attorney was competent but that the case was dismissed in an early stage for the reasons I stated before. I would be very surprised if your attorney was denied an ability to be heard in front of the court to make an oral argument before dismissal.

If you had to file in a higher court such as going to Supreme Court from small claims because the dollar amount you could sue for was exceeded, you should have had your case dismissed without prejudice to file claim for a few hundred dollars (probably around $200 or so) in the Supreme Court.

You need to get all the facts explained in sufficient detail.
 
Yes I will try to get the fact from my mother and father. They are both very weary since they lost 10 grand for in reality nothing. Ill try to get the details as soon as I can.
Thanks
Le AFI
 
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