contract-law breach-of-contract employer labor
Can an employee take an employer to court over false promises and breach of contract?
<p>What if something like this happened:</p>

<p>An employer <strong>IN WRITING</strong> stated that an employee would begin receiving compensation on my start date. </p>

<p>That did not happen. Time after time, the employer would insist that an employee would be receiving compensation for her work, but that would not come into fruition. The employee spent nearly two months without an income and could not adequately pay her bills. </p>

<p>The employee only stayed on board because the employer promised to pay "the next week" and the "next week" and so on as the business had an ever-changing opening date.</p>

<p><strong>Some background:</strong> The employee was offered a salaried managerial position at a restaurant, that had a set start date and soft opening date that would guarantee work. The opening date kept getting pushed back every time the employee met with the employer, which resulted in the employee getting strung along in hopes that she would receive compensation. This never happened. </p>

<p>The employee was actively working on the managerial aspects of my job, so it wasn't like she was just sitting around. There was only so much she could do because of the owner not actively working towards the opening date.
Several times she had to inform the employer that she couldn't stay on board if she didn't get paid, but they promised her everytime that she would be paid the following week.</p>

<p>The employee lost thousands of dollars because of this. She was promised a wonderful salary and career advancement. None of this happened, and now she's left screwed over financially and mentally over this. </p>

<p>Apparently, she is not the only one who experienced this with this employer. She knows of THREE other people who were screwed over like this. They were interested in giving testimony if this could be a case for the courts to decide over. </p>

<p>Any advice is appreciated.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Can I take an employer to court over false promises and breach of
  contract?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Yes. But first find out whether your jurisdiction (if in the U.S.) requires you to "exhaust administrative remedies" before filing suit. Michigan is one such jurisdiction where non-payment of wages should be reported/addressed first with the state agency in charge of the Payment of Wage and Fringe Benefits Act, <a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(u5enlssms3jskr5glmh3qxqp))/mileg.aspx?page=getobject&amp;objectname=mcl-408-471" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MCL 408.471 <em>et seq</em></a>.</p>

<p>Make sure that henceforth (whenever possible) your subsequent interactions with the employer are in writing. That is because of the possibility that he might falsely accuse you of something, as my former employer did on a matter which has nothing to do with payment of wages. Unfortunately when those people realize they have no merits, they resort to increasingly despicable practices.</p>
