02x81 - Vengeful Plumber and Relationship Repair

[bunniefuu]

Did you file a restraining order
against him?

I did.

He came to my house unannounced
and told me that I was fired.

He called and made threats,

basically talking about, "I'm-a come
to your house" and everything.

No, no.

[phone recording] Play with me,
and I'll show up at your house.

Yeah, that's a threat.

[announcer]
This is Judy Justice.

[♪ dramatic music plays]

[announcer] Jeremy DeTorres
is suing his former employer, Chad Young,

for unpaid wages
and filing a false restraining order.

[Kevin] Court come to order.
All rise!

Have a seat, please.

Case 2140.
DeTorres vs. Young.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

Mr. DeTorres,
according to your complaint,

you did some work for the defendant
as a plumber.

Didn't work out
and he terminated you,

and he owes you some wages.

Yes, ma'am.

The defendant says that while
your work in the beginning was OK,

you were never an employee of his,
you were an independent contractor.

That's the way he sets it up,

and he's going to explain that to me.

That he paid you your wages,
even though the last job that you did

cost him an awful lot to repair.

He was not happy with the quality
of work that you did,

and his counterclaim is for vandalism,

something that happened with his truck.

Work hours lost due to your incompetence,
that I'm not gonna hear, sir.

You know, you make a choice
with an employee,

and, if it turns out to be something

that is less than satisfactory,
then you let them go.

But the one who, I assume,
suffered from what you called

lack of quality work that he performed,

was the person that you were working for.

Was that a private residence,
that he was doing work in?

Yes. Yeah,
a bunch of private residences.

[chuckles] Yeah,
that's the person who suffered.

- Yes.
- [chuckles] Yeah, sure.

OK, so we're gonna make this
as easy as possible.

From what days to what days did you work?

I worked for Chad from, um,
June 13th to August 3rd.

And how much were you
supposed to be paid?

Uh, for those three days, $840.

- And that's for three days' work.
- Yes, ma'am.

- Did you say June 13th?
- Yes, ma'am.

- To August 3rd?
- Correct.

Well, that's more than three days.

No, no, his wage, he owes me
from August 1st to August 3rd,

is what he did not pay me for.

OK. And where did you work
during those days?

Uh, multiple residence.

OK. Do you have any sort
of a call log from him?

I do. It's right here.

OK. Do you dispute that he worked
from August 1st, 2nd, and 3rd?

- Yes.
- You dispute that he...

There was one day he actually did one
of my jobs for a couple hours that day.

- Doesn't matter. He has a log.
- Half a day for one day.

Did you pay him for that half day?

I did not because the job was
done incorrectly multiple times.

But he did that job.
OK, now, do you have a log?

- Uh, as in...?
- Some sort of a work log.

You have a business, you have people
who are general contractors.

You get a call, you don't have a payroll

because you pay
these people independently.

- Do you pay them in cash or check?
- Both. I make a withdrawal...

Well, how did you pay him?

Sometimes it was through a cashier's
check and sometimes it was cash.

OK. But never through a company check,
where you deducted Social Security...

No, 'cause I 1099 all my employees,

so they're all self-employed, so they
have to do all that on their own.

I do understand.

I mean, you're not the inventor
of this whole system...

- Yeah, yeah.
- ...sir, of paying in cash.

OK. Are you one of those
independent contractors?

- [man] Yes, ma'am.
- Stand up.

How long have you been
an independent contractor?

I've been contracting
with Chad since July 5th.

- Of what year?
- Uh, this year, 2022.

- Oh, so short term.
- Yes, ma'am.

- Does he pay you in check or cash?
- Uh...

- No, look at me.
- Check at first...

...and then, uh, later on
it became through Venmo,

and then it was...
it's gone back to check now.

- What kind of check?
- Uh, cashier's check.

Just straight cashier's check,
with nothing taken out.

No, ma'am.

[Chad] No, I go... I go to my bank
to get all that.

What?

I go to my bank
to get the cashier's checks,

and sometimes I Venmo him
the payment too.

I understand what this... sir.
You're not the first person who I know

- who pays their people in cash...
- Yeah.

...and says that you're
independent contractors.

You're independent contractors.
I don't wanna know about it.

What name do you use
for the cashier's checks?

My personal name.

Is this the first time
you've worked for him?

- Yes.
- OK.

Let me see what you have
for August 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

- Where did you work?
- Um...

- Come on.
- There were multiple residence, ma'am.

Well, you have to tell me
so that he can answer.

He says that you worked half a day
that he didn't pay you for.

- Yes, ma'am.
- So let's say that's a full day.

So that's $200.

OK. He would e-mail it on his work phone

and I'd follow the addresses there.

- I would write down my short notes.
- You would have it on your phone.

Just a second. Then you would have...
then you would have it on your phone.

It was his company phone.

He took it back when he came
to my house unannounced

and told me that I was fired,
redeemed his truck.

I got my tools out of his vehicle...

OK. Just a second.
Do you have your phone?

I do. Not the... not the...
I have my personal one that...

What about the phone
that you took from him?

No, that one's actually broke.
It's been broke for the past week.

OK. Let me see the notes
that you have that you took.

Yes, ma'am.

Fascinating.

It's my shorthand, ma'am.

- How do I know what dates these are for?
- It was all on his phone, ma'am.

Well, that's not him
to have to prove, sir.

I wasn't able to prove anything
when he took his phone back.

I just had my...

that's the notes when I was employed
for him as I wrote down.

- It's not helpful to me.
- Yes, ma'am.

So far the only thing
that he's acknowledged

is that he owes you a day's wages.

- Yes, ma'am.
- Which is $210.

The other part of your complaint
is a false restraining order against you.

Yes, ma'am.

Did you file
a restraining order against him?

I did.

Do you have a copy of what you wrote
in your restraining order?

- I do.
- I'd like to see it.

So, what got me that restraining order is
he called and made threats.

- Was this after you fired him?
- It was.

- So after you fired him he called you...
- [Chad] Made threats.

Well, what did he say
when he called you?

Just basically talking about,
"I'm-a come to your house" and everything.

- He wanted money?
- I guess, yeah.

- He said, "You didn't pay me"?
- Yeah.

OK. You say you got a text message
and voicemail from Jeremy,

"threatening to come
to my place of residence."

- Yes.
- Can I hear it?

Yeah. You want me to play it?
Or do you want to look at it?

- I wanna look at it.
- OK.

So, Mr. DeTorres, did you,
after he fired you

and came to your residence,
to your house,

did you call him threatening
to come to his house?

- I did.
- You did?

With the police, it says it
on these text messages, ma'am.

OK. I'm gonna take his phone
and those text messages.

It's... there's more texts.

That's just the one where he said
he'd show me... send me my money.

That's the voicemail,
if you want me to play it for you.

Sometimes the transcription doesn't work.

- [Judy] Yeah.
- You want me to play it?

Just...

[Jeremy's recorded voice]
Hey, bro.

Uh, I definitely worked
more than nine hours

for the last week
that I worked for you.

Um... I'll be contacting my lawyer
____ ____. [dipped audio]

Play with me and I'll show up
at your house ____ ____.

- Yeah, that's a threat.
- With the police.

- Just a sec. That's a threat.
- Yes, ma'am.

- OK. That's a threat.
- [Chad] I've had more incidents...

I had more incidents before that, as well.

May I say something, ma'am? He accused
me of going into his gated community,

slashing tires on his work vehicle.

I stated that I was gonna come
to his house after, if you read my text,

I said to him "Hey, bro, I think
I misunderstood your text message.

Uh, if I did, my bad. If not, I'll show up
at your house with the police."

I never went to his house, I waited
to see if he'd be the big man

and just send me my money
like he said he would.

- I listened to the message, sir.
- Yes, ma'am.

The message sounded threatening.

Did you read the rest of them?

I don't care.
That message sounded threatening.

[♪ dramatic music plays]

Where does it say here
that his tires were slashed?

I... in my mind,
somebody writing that against me,

"Flatten tires."
What else would it be?

But you have to understand that
that's not what this says.

[announcer]
And later today...

I was financially struggling...

Well, you weren't living together
at the time.

No, she would periodically come over...

Yeah, but you
weren't living together at the time.

So how would she find out
that you were in financial trouble?

[♪ dramatic music plays]

[♪ dramatic music plays]

[announcer] Jeremy DeTorres claims
his former employer, Chad Young,

owes for unpaid wages
and filing a false restraining order.

OK. That message alone,
if he felt threatened,

'cause you were gonna come to his house,

and you not only said you were gonna
come to his house

but you used an expletive
before you did that...

- And he did.
- ...which sounded threatening.

This may be more benign,
but that... that phone message

was sufficient to him to file
for a protective order against you.

OK. Why didn't he show up
at the protective custody order?

I don't answer your questions.
You don't necessarily...

[Chad] Absolutely, ma'am.

Some people don't pursue it
because once it's done, it's done.

- It wasn't done.
- And, well, once it's done...

This is the dismissal right here.

- Dismissal for the injunction.
- I know, he didn't show up.

- I understand he didn't show up, sir.
- Yes, ma'am.

But I'm saying to you,
I listened to your text message,

and he had an absolute right to seek.

Can you see where he threatened me as well

with all these back-and-forth texts
and calling each other?

'Cause it's in the text messages.

You're suing him for money owed for wages

and filing a false restraining order.

OK.

You've proven that you worked
an additional day

for which he didn't pay you,
which is $210.

He has a counterclaim.

He says that you vandalized
the tires on his car.

The rest of it...
I'm not dealing with, sir.

You picked this employee.

You don't then sue the employee

if you don't like the job that they do.

You fire 'em, and you get
somebody else to do the job.

But you can't sue him because...
[chuckles]

Did... did the person
who you did the job for sue you?

No, because I've got a very good
reputation with my customers.

- Because you fixed it.
- Mm-hmm.

'Cause it wasn't done right.

- Yeah.
- OK.

Even up to that last day
I said he worked for me,

that job I had to go
back to two weeks ago.

They couldn't close on the house
because of it.

And next time you won't hire him.
Maybe other people won't either.

But I want you to tell me about the tires.

I want you to tell me,
what proof do you have

that he had anything
to do with your tires?

When were the tires slashed/flattened?

So the police report was, uh,
done Friday when he made the threats.

[Judy] Friday... what's the date?

Um, I got the date right here.
I think it was...

- August 5th.
- Yes. August 5th is when he did it.

[Judy]
August 5th is when...

The police report
was made for the threats.

For the threat, for the voicemail?

- Yes.
- OK.

So, um, it was end of the day Friday,
so court's closed for the weekend.

- August 5th?
- Yep.

And then, Monday the 8th,
I went outside to go to work.

My tires were, um,
slashed end to end.

At that point,
I realized it was just over and done,

and I needed to go down
and get a restraining order, so he...

people can't come onto my,
you know, my property...

Because you believed
it was the plaintiff who was responsible.

You believed.
You didn't have proof at the time.

Yes. And even in my injunction,

I knew all I needed was this police report
to get the injunction,

- so I just put in my police report...
- You're not talking about an injunction.

You're talking about a restraining order.

Yeah, the restraining order.

- [overlapping remarks]
- Shh!

Yes, ma'am.

So, in my restraining order,
I put just my tires were flat.

I did not put my tires
were slashed at any point,

because I knew that the police report
was enough to get the restraining order.

-OK, your tires were flattened.
-So I didn't go in detail about my tires.

OK. So, in the police report
you have that your tires were flattened.

No, that wasn't on the police report.
That didn't happen yet.

- The tire incident did not happen yet.
- [Judy] OK.

That happened Friday.

Monday morning I went, um,
out to my vehicle to go to work.

That's when I found them
flat and slashed.

Did you file another police report?

That's when I went and filed
the restraining order, that day.

- And I have a copy of that restrain...
- And in the application...

...for a restraining order, you said...

- That my tires were flat and that was it.
- Yes. OK.

- I didn't mention that they were slashed.
- Correct.

So, I don't know how he would
know that my tires were slashed

if I didn't mention it
on my restraining order.

[Judy] I don't know. That's an interesting
question. Mr. DeTorres?

- Mr. DeTorres, stop...
- Yes, ma'am.

Stop your paper fluttering.

- OK.
- What made you think...

that the defendant's tires were slashed,

rather than just the air let out of them?

- 'Cause I read this police report...
- Show me.

...and it has a mark right here saying...

- Or the file that he did.
- Show me. Show me.

- And make a circle.
- Right here.

Damaged property is what I read.

He checked that I damaged his property
'cause this is written against me.

- [Judy] Shh. Mr. DeTorres,
you understand my question, sir?

Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry, I'm nervous,
and the flight, I had no sleep.

This has nothing to do with nerves,
Mr. DeTorres.

You're right.
Well, I had no sleep last night.

That has nothing to do with sleep.

As far as not being...

- Just a second.
- Yes, ma'am.

What I'm asking you, Mr. DeTorres, is,

where does it say here
that his tires were slashed?

I... in my mind, somebody
writing that against me,

"flattened tires,"
what else would it be?

- He lives in a gated community.
- Well, that could be...

Where's the surveillance showing me
that I... the...

My leg injury, the way I walk
is very distinctive, OK?

If he's got proof that I slashed
or flattened his tires...

I said slashed.

It's the same thing as flattened
in my mind.

That's the way I think.

The way I read that, that's just how
it came out of my mouth.

But you have to... you have to understand
that that's not what this says.

OK. It says that I damaged his property.

He said damaged his property
and you said slashed tires.

OK.

- OK?
- Yes, ma'am.

- How much were the tires?
- $450.

Let me see the receipt.

I do not have a receipt
'cause I paid cash for my tires.

That's too bad.
You better stop paying cash, sir.

- You can pay cash for tires.
- Yeah.

But when you buy tires with cash
and you want to sue for them,

- you get a receipt...
- Yeah.

...from the people. And if you
know you're coming to court...

We're not talking about things
that happened two years ago.

- Yeah.
- You were coming to court today!

I went back to the tire shop,
and he was like,

just, you know, "We always do cash
for all your vehicles."

Well, what. Cash for all your vehicles.
That means you get a receipt.

All right, your counterclaim's dismissed,
because you have no proof of anything.

On the complaint, sir, I'm awarding you
$210, which is one day's pay.

Thank you very much. This case is over.

[Kevin]
This court is adjourned.

[♪ dramatic music plays]

The work just wasn't up to the quality
that he promised he was going to offer.

It is what it is.

That's just his nature.
That's always been his nature.

The judgment is what the judgment is.

She felt like I was
only awarded a day's pay,

and that's what she gave me.

Keep doing what I do.
That's all I can do every day.

Well, Sarah Rose,
that is the perfect example of

you're supposed to have a proof
when you come to court.

Yep. Standard of proof
exists for a reason.

You know, I know that when I go
someplace, and sometimes I pay cash.

So even if you pay cash for something,
or Venmo...

There's some record.
Venmo keeps a record.

...you're supposed to get a receipt

in the event that you want to use
whatever you bought

and use that fact
that you purchased something

in the subsequent lawsuit.

- Yeah.
- It's the same thing as sending a gift.

If you send somebody a gift,

you keep the receipt
until you know that they got the gift.

Yeah.

- Then you take it and you throw it away.
- It's just good bookkeeping.

- It's good record keeping.
- And he's a business guy.

- Yeah, supposedly.
- Didn't... didn't make sense to me.

But clearly the plaintiff was
somebody who has a little trouble.

[Sarah] Yeah.

Case 2137. Weiss vs. Lipe.
All parties, please step forward.

[announcer] Katelyn Weiss
is suing her ex-boyfriend, Cody Lipe,

for unpaid loans.

Ms. Weiss, the defendant was
a boyfriend of yours for a period of time.

Correct.

And you allege a couple of loans,
one from a year and a half ago.

The balance of a $200 loan.

- He paid you back a hundred dollars.
- Yes.

Quite frankly, I'm not interested
in what happened a year and a half ago.

[♪ dramatic music plays]

What you say is,
"I need time to catch up."

It was a verbal conversation.

Well, what's in writing it's you saying
to her, "I can make payments to you."

But the thing that
you don't have in writing

is where she forgave the loan.

Is that right?

[♪ dramatic music plays]

[♪ dramatic music plays]

[announcer] Katelyn Weiss
claims her ex-boyfriend, Cody Lipe,

is refusing to pay back loans
she gave him during their relationship.

OK. In March of this year,
you allege that you gave him money.

He was still your boyfriend
in March of this year. Is that right?

- Yes.
- Is that correct?

That is correct.

And in March of this year,
he had gotten a car.

- What kind of car did you get?
- It was a Buick Regal.

- What year?
- A... 2004, I believe.

- Where did you get it from?
- I got it from a private seller.

- How much did you pay for it?
- $850.

- Needed fixing?
- Yes.

- And you didn't have money for parts.
- I did for the first round of parts.

- But you didn't for the second?
- After the first ones failed, I did not.

- And how much did you need for parts?
- That, I don't remember.

- Who bought them?
- Uh... Ms. Weiss did.

- Did she buy them on a credit card?
- I believe so, yes.

And you have no idea
what she paid for those parts?

I don't remember.

But that would be in March of 2022.

It would've been in April.

Did you pay
for the parts by credit card?

Yes. I paid between
Cash App transactions

that were transferred to Mr. Lipe through
Cash App, which I have present here.

[Judy] I'd like to see proof of them.

- What are they total?
- They total up to $920.

Does that sound about right, Mr. Lipe?

- That's about right.
- OK.

And tell me about the discussion
that you had with her

when she paid for these parts.

Um, there was a discussion of how...
how I was going to pay her back.

- And what did you tell her?
- I-I did agree, at that time.

- And then what happened?
- Um...

there were then later discussions,
as we were still in a relationship

and I was in financial troubles, that,
um, she told me not to worry about it.

This $920 was a loan in April of 2022.
That's what you say.

- It was in April, not March.
- Correct.

And then you say at some point
she forgave that loan.

- Right.
- Tell me when that happened.

Um, shortly after the car
got back together,

um, which would have been in May.
Um, I was financially struggling...

Well, did you... you weren't
living together at the time?

No. She would periodically come over...

Yeah, but you weren't
living together at the time,

so how would she find out
that you were in financial trouble?

Uh, I mean, we were
at that state in our relationship

where she knew basically
my financials all the time.

When did the two of you break up?

I believe that was in June.

So, shortly after you say
she forgave the loan.

That is correct.

Did you ever forgive this $920 loan?

No, I did not.

Brendon Black was there the day
that I had confronted Cody at a car meet

and had offered him
a short little payment of $790,

where Cody said
he would do it in payments.

- That...
- [Judy] Just a minute.

- You broke up in June.
- Correct.

He says that you had a conversation

before that, sometime in May,

where you knew
he was in financial difficulty.

Did you ever have
that conversation with him?

No, that is incorrect. I do have
statements here to prove it as well.

I'd like to see them.

So, then you said he owed you $970.

He had been giving you some money?

Yes. He had been giving me
a little bit of money.

It says, "So that puts you at 670, OK?"

That's what you wrote.

Correct. He had been
giving me money, periodically,

throughout the beginning,
of the car parts...

OK. But it says,
"So that puts you at 670, OK?"

Yes, there's more transactions
on the Cash Apps as well.

- Oh, after that.
- Yes, correct. Sorry.

No, sir, what you say is,
"I need time to catch up."

There's no forgiving here,
unless you have some...

It was... it was a verbal conver...
conversation...

- Well, what's in writing...
- ...while she was at my place.

- Right.
- What's in writing...

is you saying to her,
"I need some time to catch up.

I can make payments to you."
All of that is in writing.

But the thing that
you don't have in writing

is where she forgave the loan.
Is that right?

[Judy] Yeah.

$920. Judgment for the plaintiff.
We're done here. Thank you.

This court is adjourned.

[♪ dramatic music plays]

- It is what it is.
- I think it was fair.

Mr. Lipe did owe me money and...
he got what he deserved.

Yes, she lent me the money,

but, at the same time, she was
helping me out in a relationship,

and she knew I was struggling.

He said he was gonna pay me back and
never followed through even after that.

There were discussions about
her telling me not to worry about it.

- Not to trust so much.
- I'm never gonna do it again.

Oh, that's gonna be, um, a contract.

She was very prepared.

Oh, she was. To the point...
knew exactly what she needed...

- And she had all of her evidence.
- Yeah.

- All...
- Just the way we like it.

All lined up. It's unfortunate
when a loan becomes a gift,

and a gift then becomes a loan
when the romance is over.

These writings are always so helpful,

and these text messages
really are making my life much easier.

And one thing that I mention a lot is,
with Cash App or Venmo,

always state if you're paying someone
money, don't just send the money.

Put in the subject line... they have
a subject line on those for a reason,

"For this car part,"

"for this tow,"
"for this X-Y-Z the other."

So I always, when using Venmo
or Cash App

or something like that,
an online transfer system,

I'll send the money and then,
in the transaction,

you can... you can put
whatever you want

in the memo line of... of Venmo.

So, housekeeping for me,
I'll... I'll pay through that.

Or other... other things.

I just, I list "housekeeping for,"
and I put the date and the hours.

So, I at least have a record
of who I'm paying electronically.

If you buy food or if you...

Or if I give someone money for dinner,
for half my meal,

I say, "For my dinner on X-Y-Z date."

- Then you can get a printout.
- It keeps the books nice. Exactly.

- Like a bank account.
- Yep.

- Interesting. I didn't know that.
- It just keeps it organized.

So, I love it when litigants
come in ready to go.

Smart. Well, that's good advice for people
who use Venmo, to use the subject line.

- Exactly. It makes our job easier.
- Good.

[announcer] Are you a victim of a scam?


[♪ dramatic music plays]

[♪ end theme music plays]