Legal Question in Employment Law in Louisiana
I was a manager for a small company. Business got reallyslow and we were unable to pay bills and taxes. Owners were awareof bills and refused to put any money in business. They shut business down and I got a letter from them saying they are thinking of filing criminal charges on me.What can they file? I was not stealing and not my fault business was slow
1 Answer from Attorneys
First, if you committed no crime, obviously you have nothing to worry about. Secondly, there really is no such thing as someone "filing criminal charges" against someone else. A citizen can make a criminal complaint to the police, but ONLY the government (through the state district attorney or the federal US attorney) may file criminal charges.
It sounds to me like these people are just angling to scare you from demanding your last paycheck. If I were you, I would reply with a demand for my last paycheck. Under Louisiana law, an employer has no more than 15 days from the date of termination to pay any employee his last paycheck. Failure to do so opens the former employer up to penalties of a day's wages for every day the former employee is not paid (up to 90 day's wages), plus attorney's fees. Talk to an attorney in your area.