Do I have a lawsuit if they do not pay me? -- United Kingdom

[Sam7919]

Hello my name is Sam,

I am an ex British Royal Marine commando. From leaving the military in Feb 2012 I have worked as a private armed security contractor in the maritime security industry. My last contract was for a Security company based in Houston Texas and my contract was obviously written up by the companies attorneys within the state of Texas. The contract was for an initial 30 day period protecting a vessel from Durban SA to Yemen. However unforeseen circumstances led the job to last for 4 months! *In my contract it clearly states I will be paid within 15 business days from receipt of invoice from the accounts department. My invoice was submitted on the 14/01/2013 and was for a total of $19929. At no time did the company lead me to believe there would be a problem with my payment but on the day the payment was due I have been asked to sign additional release documentation which was not part of my initial contract. Am really worried I could be signing something that would litigate the companies responsibility to pay me. At the moment the payment is over a week late and the company are promising the release statement to be sent to me any day. Guys because I am in the UK ** I don't know where I stand. Perhaps you could advise me? What would it cost for you to review my contract or any additional paperwork if I could send you scans. Do I have a lawsuit if they do not pay me? Am really under a lot of pressure I stand to lose my home soon through debts and have very little money to live off.

Regards Sam H
Sent from my iPad

[AFFA]

Re: Do I have a lawsuit if they do not pay me? -- United Kingdom

I wish to inform you that you can claim your amount due to you because you have earned that salary. Further no additional document can be forced upon you to sign which changes your terms of agreement. You can send a demand letter and if still amount is not paid then a lawsuit can be filed in USA as defendant is residing in USA.

AFF

[Unregistered]

[QUOTE=AFFA;289443]I wish to inform you that you can claim your amount due to you because you have earned that salary. Further no additional document can be forced upon you to sign which changes your terms of agreement. You can send a demand letter and if still amount is not paid then a lawsuit can be filed in USA as defendant is residing in USA.

Thank you for your reply , Having studied the situation I fear I may have been tricked into breaching my contract.As I previously stated the contract was only for a initial 30 day period but due to a dispute with the cargo in Yemen the ship got stuck in the high risk area for 4 months in total.This was obviously a tough job and on finishing the transit and awaiting a flight home a couple of beers were consumed at the hotel by myself. I was led to believe this was not a problem and a well deserved reward as one would expect after hanging in there for 4 months! After letting a joint US /Uk solicitor / lawer look at the meat of the bones of the contract he came back with this helpfull reply but am still fearfull to follow his advice . I'll copy and paste as follows
Sam - from a quick review of your contractual documents with Said company, the*
prohibition of alcohol is very clearly a condition of payment for your services. *However, in
certain circumstances, contract terms can be deemed unfair and the courts will, therefore,
tend not to enforce them strictly. *The alcohol ban condition would seem to fall into the unfair
category where, as in your case, you were through with your deployment and just having a*
few beers while waiting to return to the UK.

The problem is that unless Said company have a business office in the UK,(they do not) you are going to have to pursue*
payment in Texas with the help of a lawyer in Houston. *If Said company does have a UK office, then you
could bring an action in the English Employment Tribunal for your pay and related court costs.

Before proceeding with any court action, however, I suggest you strike out paragraph D of the
Release and Settlement Agreement, sign the document and return it to SAid company with a demand that
your pay be released. *Your cover letter should explain that you had a few beers but only after your
deployment was completed and, that under such circumstances, you have been advised that the
alcohol condition is not relevant and will be waived by a court of law.

Good luck,

Any additional advice people would be appreciated ,am in a real hole here and stand to lose my home soon . Kind regards Sam