I WANT TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST MY EMPLOYER, BUT I CAN’T AFFORD A LAWYER…RIGHT?

March 21, 2016

Christopher Anderson

Have you ever heard of a Catch-22? The term comes from a famous book, and has come to be mean “a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules. An example would be: To apply for a job, you need to have a few years of experience. But in order to gain experience, you need to get a job first.” (Thanks, Wikipedia!)

Now, what does that have to do with you?  Let’s use a real world example—one you may know all too well:

Imagine your employer is taking advantage of you. He or she is underpaying your wages by not providing you with the wages or overtime you’ve rightfully earned. Perhaps you don’t earn a very big paycheck anyway, so you depend on those wages to pay your rent, put food on the table for your kids, and quite simply, to survive. You’re furious about being taken advantage of and you want to do something about it, but what options do you realistically have at your disposal to help you fight back against these illegal wage practices?

So, you need professional help from an attorney in order to hold your employer accountable. But clearly, since you are being underpaid, you probably don’t have the funds you think you need to afford the legal help necessary to take action. And that is the Catch-22.

Or is it???

Here’s the good news about the wage and hour laws that are in place to protect you:  they require the employer who violates those laws to pay your attorney fees!  What that means is that where we here at AndersonDodson see a violation, we are able to provide you super high quality legal representation that you don’t have to pay for out of your pocket!  For these kinds of cases, we usually work on a “contingency” basis.  All that means is that payment to the firm is contingent on a positive outcome in your case. Thus, your attorney only gets paid if (when!) we win.  

Money is one of the obstacles we see employees thinking they have to pursuing legal action against their wage-stealing employers, and it is a completely unnecessary barrier. There is no need to let money prevent you from taking action to protect your rights.

Do not allow yourself to fall victim to a false Catch-22. Call our attorneys today to set up a completely free, confidential consultation in which we will analyze your case and determine whether pursuing your claim on a contingency basis is appropriate. Affordability should never impede justice. Give us a call today to learn more!