To cut to the chase, I don’t know the outcome since the commissioner feels the need to review plaintiff’s submitted documents.
Last summer I made the poor decision to do some hourly computer work for a person I thought was a friend. To say it turned into a nightmare that is hopefully now going to end is an understatement.
This person initially asked me to show how to use Twitter, Facebook, clean up some old stuff on an existing computer and see why backups were apparently not working. However just before I got to the office the additional request of selecting and setting up a new netbook was added.
Over several weeks I did 25 hours of work, though really we never got to the initial requests as getting a working netbook kept getting in the way. To put this politely, I reached the tolerance limit for working in an increasingly negative environment.
Some weeks later I started getting emails requesting additional help and then a refund of most of the small fee I’d charged. I refused but as the emails (and snarky remarks when we happened to be in the same place) kept coming in, despite my repeated requests to leave me be, I unfortunately got increasingly negative in response.
On a number of occasions this person threatened to sue me. Finally a month or so ago I was served and today was the specified appointment.
Small claims is interesting, and generally a good idea. You don’t tie up real courts and require expensive legal assistance to resolve small dollar value claims. There are even volunteer mediators who attempt to get parties to settle without going before the judge.
The process is also informal: the plaintiff makes a statement, the defendant makes a statement, if either side brings a witness those people make statements and each side can make a rebuttal. The judge can ask questions at any point he or she deems fit.
The person suing me brought a thick volume of printouts–amusingly this person was suing their homeowners association as well and gave the judge the wrong set of documents–while I brought none.
What really surprised me is how differently the plaintiff and I recall the events in question. Memory is so subjective! Of course I believe I told the truth and I won’t say the plaintiff feels different about their statements. The plaintiff brought a witness, a mutual friend, but I think his testimony helped me as much as it did the plaintiff.
I hope the decision goes in my favor since of course I feel I did nothing wrong. Also, I did some research on the State of California website and couldn’t find any legal basis for the plaintiff’s claim so there’s that too.
BillSaysThis 