All facts are friendly

Should you tell your lawyer everything? Yes, warts and all.

The case of the misremembered policy

Sometimes, clients do not deliberately hide the truth. Rather, it’s a case of misunderstanding or an incorrect interpretation of a policy.

One such case we worked on involved a salesperson for a large insurance company. The client believed she and her coworkers had been wrongly denied overtime and “reporting time” pay and were owed reimbursement for using their personal cell phones, internet, and cars for business purposes without compensation. Because the policy affected dozens of employees experiencing the same mistreatment, we filed the case as a class action

But when the client was deposed, we learned facts that put the client’s claims into doubt. In fact, what we learned made the claims for overtime, reporting time, and all the penalties that go along with unpaid wages very unlikely to survive a challenge on their legal merits. The employer showed documents and policy announcements that our client hadn’t fully understood and misinterpreted, undercutting their claims.

So, what did we do? We dropped the claims that didn’t have merit, and we pushed forward with those that did. Finally, after several weeks of negotiations, we settled the claims on reimbursement for cell phone, internet, and vehicle use, and all the class members got compensation for what they were owed.

If we had known about the policy and had asked for it in our discovery requests, the result would probably have been the same, but a lot of time, effort, and expense would have been saved. Simply put, we would never have brought claims without a legal basis—but we still would have gone after the business expenses that the workers were owed.

The facts that our client couldn’t recall changed the dynamic of the case, adding aggravation and expense on all the parties. We don’t blame the client for not understanding the policy. Often, these are written by lawyers and HR people who are more concerned with making sure they’ve covered the bases than ensuring employees can understand them. But being surprised by the opposition at a deposition with the existence of the policy made our jobs that little bit harder.

We learned something, too

At the end of the day, we got a good result for the class members. We also learned that we need to be even more thorough in questioning our clients about their cases. It’s our job to ask all the questions to get all the facts we need, and it’s the client’s job to tell us the whole truth.

All facts are helpful. They help you know the strengths of your case, as well as the weaknesses. Strategy is built on facts. Tactics rely on facts. Finding justice depends on facts. And facts can never stay hidden for long.

Is your case bogged down by troubling facts?

If you believe you may have a case against your employer for unpaid wages, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblowing, or any other workplace offense, but you are afraid that some unhelpful facts might come out, we get it. Still, you should tell your lawyer everything. Your confidential consultation with our experienced attorneys will allow us to assess those facts, determine how you can best deal with troublesome facts, and put your best case forward.

We are not here to judge what you’ve done or what you’ve been accused of. We’re here to make sure that your employer abides by the law, pays you what you’re owed, and treats you with respect for your rights and dignity as a working person.

You have the right to a safe, respectful workplace and day’s pay for a day’s work. Those are the most important facts.

Schedule your consultation by contacting us  today.