united-kingdom contract-law court
UK - Working without a contract. I resign and guy wants to sue me
<p>I am a foreigner from overseas I just arrived in UK 3 months ago. </p>

<p>I have been working for a small startup in UK as CTO, my employer didn't want to give me an employment contract of any type, or founders agreement, he said he had given me so many vested shares but I have given him no info/passport/id for him to put the shares against or sign anything, he pays me weeks late. </p>

<p>I received a better offer at another company.</p>

<p>The CEO has been sending me unethical messages and now wants to take me to court to try and get back everything he paid me, unless I submit to his mutual agreement and send back all the money he paid me.</p>

<p>What should I do?</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>What should I do?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Don't get intimidated, don't sign/accept/submit to his "agreement" now that you are securing employment elsewhere, and make sure that henceforth all your communications with the CEO &amp; his startup be --or continue to be-- <em>in writing</em>.</p>

<p>The CEO's attempt to be reimbursed is pure non-sense because hitherto there is no mutually agreed clause between you two to that effect. Generally speaking, compensation is for the professional's <em>work</em>, not for his employment spanning "n" pay periods. Having there been no employment/founders agreement of any type, he will be unable to prove that this was agreed any differently in your case.</p>

<p>Furthermore, the CEO's threat to seek reimbursement of your <em>earned</em> compensation unless you submit to his "mutual" agreement not only amounts to extortion, but it also reflects his cluelessness about contract law. For instance, that contracts which are signed under hardship or duress are voidable.</p>

<p>By contrast, submitting to his conditions will needlessly impose on you the burden of proving <em>duress</em> once you decide the situation is unsustainable. This is in addition to the legal weight with which your acceptance and <em>subsequent conduct</em> would support the CEO's allegation(s) that you two have "at all times" been in a cognizable contractual relation.</p>

<p>Being realistic, it is highly doubtful that a startup which pays you weeks late is able --or even willing-- to spend money on a lawyer for nonsense like this.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>What should I do?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I would take one of two approaches.  Either</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Ignore him until he actually takes you to court, at which point hire a lawyer, or</p></li>
<li><p>Hire a lawyer now and demand that he communicate with you only through your lawyer.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I would prefer the first course of action because I assume that either he will run out of steam eventually and stop bothering you, or he will actually go to a lawyer who should point out to him that he has no basis for the demands he is making and refuse to take the case.</p>

<p>If he persists in harassing you, though, at some point you'll want to go to the second option.  This will cost a bit of money, but it might be worthwhile if it protects you from the stress of his bullying.</p>

<p>As implied in <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/a/42212/333">another answer</a>, I note that putting you under pressure to "submit" to his demands is not consistent with the meaning of "mutual agreement."  I agree with that answer when it says that he is unlikely to be willing or able to hire a lawyer, and I wonder whether that is the reason he avoided giving you a contract in the first place: he didn't want to spend money on a lawyer.</p>

<p>Don't bother spending your money on a lawyer: those threats sound like bluff. You can always hire one <strong>when</strong> your former employer brings you to court, which (taking into account the absurdity of his claims) will most certainly be "never".</p>

<p>Don't sign any agreements now, unless <strong>you</strong> need something to be signed (and in that case, make sure you understand what you're signing). You can collect messages from your former employer (if they call, tell them right away that you're going to record the call) and see if you can sue them for extortion. You will need a lawyer for that, and based on what you described it will likely not worth the trouble.</p>

<p>Get a lawyer.</p>

<p>Maybe he actually has legal standing, maybe he hasn't. A professional lawyer can look at all the paperwork and then advise you what to do. Anonymous strangers on the internet are not going to be of any use to you, because they don't know all the details.</p>
