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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Company should have said sooner I was personally included in a lawsuit?

53 replies

Whulfc86 · 09/04/2023 05:12

I was emailed today and made aware by a company I work for (contractor not employee) that I had personally been included in a discrimination lawsuit against them.

They had retained a solicitor and the email was letting me know vaguely about the lawsuit and that I needed to sign the attached document to agree to hiring the solicitor that will represent us.

This is the first I had heard of any lawsuit and the email claimed they had been dealing with this since February and I needed to sign within 24 hours. It's Easter weekend and I'm lucky I even checked my email on a Saturday. They signed off with sorry if this seems out of left field we should have looped you in sooner but please sign the attached within 24 hours.

The lawsuit is against the company, the two owners individually and me. It's a very small company and I assist on a part-time freelance basis. The client that is suing I've had no communications with whatsoever, I'm guessing they found my name online somewhere associated with the company and that's why I'm included.

AIBU to be upset that I wasn't told about this sooner and there should have been more information given?

OP posts:

PickledPurplePickle · 09/04/2023 06:37

What does your contract with the company say?

Any subcontractors that work for me would be covered on my insurance

AxolotlOnions · 09/04/2023 06:51

I would tell them that you cannot sign anything until you and your solicitor have looked through the paperwork. I think it is clear they do not have your best interests at heart or they wouldn't have sat on this for 2 months, sprung this on you during a long weekend when you cannot get legal advice and pressured you into signing within 24 hours.

Maybe they thought they could make it go away without you knowing, maybe they're going to try to pin it on you, but it does not bode well. I suspect they have done something irresponsible and unprofessional that they fear will result in you severing professional ties with them so wanted to keep you in the dark, whatever the reason, you have been denied the 2 months to prepare that they have had and that is reason enough.

LibrariansGiveUsPower · 09/04/2023 06:57

I also fear they are trying to scapegoat you. Call your insurance asap and let the deal with it. Do they offer a free legal advice helpline, or are you part of any trade bodies that do?

Magicmonster · 09/04/2023 07:00

Haven’t read all responses so sorry if I’m repeating anything others have said. I’m an employment lawyer and this sounds dodgy to me. We would act for an individual respondent and company in the same claim but we would speak to the individual first and explain the basis upon which we were doling so and check they were comfortable with it. They shouldn’t just be sending you an engagement letter to sign. It doesn’t sound like they are complying with their professional obligations.

do you have a copy of the claim form?

at the very least I would want a copy of the claim form and to have spoken to the solicitors before signing anything.

you want to be sure you trust them to do a good job and represent your interests.

athough if you generally didn’t have any interaction with the claimant and are just a contractor you are very very unlikely to face any liability anyway. The solicitors should be able to get you removed as a respondent at the case management stage.

PoseyFlump · 09/04/2023 07:01

What @Speedweed said. If you are adamant you have had no dealings with this client and are freelance the court should throw out yours. Do you know the date of hearing and court? You could perhaps contact them directly and explain how you are not connected. They may well tell you how to proceed to get your name severed.

ginislife · 09/04/2023 07:11

I'm in a completely different profession but the terms of my PI insurance say that I have to notify my insurers immediately of any likely claim and they will respond accordingly if any response is required. If I didn't do this it would invalidate my insurance so I really don't think you should sign anything until you've spoken to your insurers just in case you end up needing their help.

PoseyFlump · 09/04/2023 07:13

ginislife · 09/04/2023 07:11

That's a good point.

Oblomov23 · 09/04/2023 07:13

This is all sounds really dodgy. How did this client, who apparently is a solicitor, even get your name. Just how? That would really seriously hack me off for starters? You aren't even an employee of this company so there is very little ground/substance to the whole thing.

And the 2 owners also sound dodgy as anything. Scapegoating you, throwing you under the bus, knowing about this since Feb, but not telling you, then practically threatening you the hour before the Easter weekend.

eurochick · 09/04/2023 07:18

If you are named as a party you should have been served with the proceedings. (Not if you are just named somewhere in the claim but not as a defendant.)

Definitely tell your insurers. You might have to use lawyers they name. Don't sign anything now.

Roselilly36 · 09/04/2023 07:30

If you have legal cover on your professional insurance, give them a call. I wouldn’t sign any doc without my own lawyer checking it out. Totally unreasonable of them to expect you to do so, especially over Easter weekend.

Mirabai · 09/04/2023 07:32

Totally unacceptable I don’t have anything to add to the good advice here, but good luck OP.

PoseyFlump · 09/04/2023 07:32

That they intended to settle before trial.

I would take that with a pinch of salt too! Just look out for yourself and get your name taken off asap.

WarmSpring · 09/04/2023 07:48

You can represent yourself and ask to be dismissed from it at the ET3 or preliminary hearing.

tanstaafl · 09/04/2023 07:57

Forgooodnesssakenow · 09/04/2023 06:16

They are professionals who KNOW you can't seek legal advice on a holiday weekend hence why they're asking you to sign within 24 hours. They are planning to scapegoat you.

This was my first thought too.

surreygirl1987 · 09/04/2023 07:57

God this sounds insanely dodgy. Do not trust them and definitely don't sign until you've had this looked into.

Rosula · 09/04/2023 08:02

You certainly need legal advice. You're not involved in proceedings until you have been formally served, and pre-action protocols also require you to have been contacted beforehand with a formal pre-action letter.

Rosula · 09/04/2023 08:04

WarmSpring · 09/04/2023 07:48

You can represent yourself and ask to be dismissed from it at the ET3 or preliminary hearing.

If it's a claim by a client then the ET3 isn't relevant.

mummyoffourminimes · 09/04/2023 08:07

Sounds very dodgy. Do not sign anything. Your insurance might have a phone number for OOH.

Something similar happened to me in a different industry, my insurance said absolutely do not sign and I replied to an email saying so and they went away, it was nothing to do with me.

They backed away when I said I'd not legal advice and was following that.

You could reply to the email to say you don't know why you are implicated here and you will seek Lego advice and get back to them after that.

mummyoffourminimes · 09/04/2023 08:07

*got

WhoToBeToday · 09/04/2023 08:35

So, something like a wedding was booked/planned with wedding planners or a venue. You sometimes work with said wedding venue/planners (catering/mixologist/band/whatever etc). So you maybe sometimes a subcontractor - hired by the wedding planners - sometimes directly hired by clients.

Not hired by clients in this situation.

Client is suing wedding planner for something and had included your name on the action?

I agree - 1) you need to see all copies of the client's claim and/or any agreements and contracts previously agreed
2) Do not sign anything until you have spoken to your insurers/got legal advice.

TitoMojito · 09/04/2023 08:45

Speedweed · 09/04/2023 06:21

Don't sign. Contact your insurers and let them know, tell them that as you haven't had any contact with the client you believe your inclusion in the lawsuit is an error.
They'll tell you to get copies of the claim documents, which is what the company owners need to provide to you on asap (this would be pre-action correspondence, including the letter of claim, and particulars of claim - use those terms).

If you haven't been involved and aren't an employee, an application can be made to the court to sever you from proceedings as it sounds as if the claimant thinks you are part of the company so is just naming everyone, but you need to get the claim documents and see what is said.

Once you've read the documents, tell your insurers that you think you've been sued in error (if that's the case).

The fact that the business owners didn't include you before suggests that they didn't think you'd get sued because you're not part of the company, so don't necessarily be cross at them that they didn't involve you before, but equally it sounds as if they're happy to have you included, when it doesn't sound as if that should be the case.

I agree with this. I'm a part time freelancer with a company but since I'm not an employee I wouldn't be getting involved in anything of this nature. I don't have a contract and the company have no protections for me since I am freelance. And since you've had no dealings with the client and aren't employed by the company they are suing, it shouldn't have anything to do with you.

CheshireSplat · 12/04/2023 05:34

Hi OP. Did you get through to your brokers?

Rosula · 14/04/2023 09:21

Whulfc86 · 09/04/2023 06:37

Yes, basically seems like for the company and two owners to be able to retain the lawyers they hired they had to have my signature too as I was also named. Yes I can call the owners anytime it was just late last night when I saw the email

Show quote history

I can't see how any decision you make could affect their decision about which lawyers they want to instruct.

Did you find out what all this was about, OP?

Original poster

Whulfc86 · 14/04/2023 15:29

I heard back yesterday from the company. It's apparently already been sorted out.

They agreed to settle out of court not accepting any fault as it was cheaper that trying to fight in court. I'm not responsible for any payments and the case will be dismissed so nothing will show on my record anywhere.

I'm still not exactly sure what the case was about only discrimination. The company did apologise for the way I was told, they had hoped to be able to resolve everything themselves

OP posts:

Rosula · 14/04/2023 18:09

I'm glad it's been sorted, though I'm still quite suspicious. If they could settle it so quickly, what was all the urgency around you signing their document? It's probably a good idea to tread carefully with this company from now on.

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