Legal contract advice need help please (1 Viewer)

[Semper]

ok so I am a contractor for a company that teaches gun classes. I signed a no compete clause saying if I left his company at any time I would not compete with him for a year. There was no price listed on the contract. We discussed a price with a couple of other people as well who also became contractors. The first 3 months I worked with him he paid me the agreed upon price per student. Now he wants to pay me by the hour which would pay me much less than what I am currently making. From my limited understanding of the law him and I have a verbal contract in the state of Wisconsin on the original price. Thoughts?

 

[PatrickQB17]

Im not a lawyer, and do not understand wisconsin law to the t.

However, typically a verbal agreement is binding. Sadly enough, eventhough you have this verbal agreement and it IS binding, it is tough to be enforced, as there is no actual signature or proof of this agreement. In court it could simply become their word versus yours.

 

[SaintJ]

Oral agreements are binding, but as noted above, it's a problem of proving what the agreement was.

As far as the non-compete, they are notoriously hard to enforce (as they should be), particularly in situations such as yours (not sure what protectable interest he can demonstrate), and any reasonable plaintiffs' side employment lawyer in your town should be able to give you a very quick read on that part of the equation. Good luck.

 

[buzd]

What SaintJ said. And non-competes, in my experience, do not usually address issues of compensation.

What you are talking about is the terms of your contractor relationship. Employing someone on a contract basis AND having them sign a non-compete basically makes you an employee of that company and potentially makes him liable for a bunch of employer liabilities that are often avoidable due to the contractor relationship (things like wage/hour laws, employment taxes, citizenship paperword, etc etc).

Just my (non-legal) opinion, but I would think your employer is in a pretty precarious position, regardless of the wage change. I also think you would have a hard time proving/fighting the verbal contract aspect and it might not be worth fighting, but you certainly have enough on him to get you out of your noncompete, and much more if you feel like pursuing it. Employment law can drag out though.

(also, insert the rest of the usual disclaimers here, including the fact that I am not a lawyer, and I have only been to Wisconsin once, and I was drunk the majority of the time).

 

[JimEverett]

You have already been paid 3 times?
That is strong evidence as to some sort of an agreement that was reached on those terms.

As far as the written contract - what benefit did you actually receive from it if there was no mention of payment to you? For it to be an enforceable contract you have to receive somebenefit within the terms of the contract.

 

[SaintJ]

Wisconsin is also the state that brought us Joe McCarthy, Jeffrey Dahmer and Bambi Bembenek, FWIW.

 

[Semper]

I was paid on several occasions at the agreed upon rate. So far only once at the new rate. He also promised the same compensation to the other contractors, and several times while we were all together.

 

[saintsfan84]

I was paid on several occasions at the agreed upon rate. So far only once at the new rate. He also promised the same compensation to the other contractors, and several times while we were all together.

Not a lawyer.

Have you cashed the check at the new rate?

Try talking to him in person and seeing if you can come to an agreement. If so, have an amendment put in place to the contract stating you will be paid the price per student. If you can't come to an agreement, draft a formal letter and send it certified mail letting him know of your disagreement in the changes being made to the payment. If you haven't cashed the check, you could use that as support in your claim that this is not the agreed upon rate.