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I'm extremely talented and adaptable. As "secretary" I endured the pain of answering telephones and routing calls. Whether or not I worked on this web site in

I'm extremely talented and adaptable. As "secretary" I endured the pain of answering telephones and routing calls. Whether or not I worked on this web site in or out of official "work hours" is irrelevant. I did work on this site mostly away from my official "work hours," answering the damn telephone. The entire site was developed on my personal server, before being exposed to this Evil property management company, and my site is entirely wholesome. The changed link is not so much. I'm still begging for help; how much do I have to beg?

RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago
> I'm extremely talented and adaptable. I have no reason to doubt that. > As "secretary" I endured the pain of answering > telephones and routing calls. As a technical person who has occasionally been called upon to do this sort of work, I know how difficult it can be, especially when dealing with the general public. > Whether or not I worked on this web site in > or out of official "work hours" is irrelevant. Sadly, I think you'll find that the law takes a different point of view, and if you did do any of this work during the time being paid for, you are on very, very difficult ground. > I did work on this site mostly away from my > official "work hours," "Mostly" is unlikely to be good enough. > The entire site was developed on my personal server, > before being exposed to this Evil property management > company, and my site is entirely wholesome. So the question remains, how has it ended up under their control? Did they wget and upload a copy? Can you prove that? Does the site contain anything that you can prove is yours? > I'm still begging for help; > how much do I have to beg? I suspect you've been given the best advice you're going to get from here. You have two basic options. Either take your lumps and walk away having learned something about employment law, evil employers, and not giving things away before you've discussed and agreed payment terms, or ... Get yourself a lawyer. Do lots of homework, compile your evidence, read about employment law in your area, then take advantage of the free hour initial consultation that many of them offer. Make a compelling case. If you can't convince them then you'll have to walk away. Otherwise you will have some professional advice on your side. Alternatively, what help do you want us to give?
- roundsquare 17y ago
  IANAL.... A few bits and pieces of information to collect before you talk to the lawyer. This list is far from complete. Someone with more knowledge can add to this list of fix it, just a way to get your started. Do you have any correspondence with them? Does any of it show/indicate/imply that they "stole" you work. How were you employed? Do you have any sort of contract? Do you have a copy of it? Any follow up questions to the contract asked via email? How were you being paid? Was it by the hour, by the day, a lump sum for the two weeks? If it was by the hour, did you work on the website during the time you were working as a secretary? If it was by the day or lump sum, was there anything in a contract that specified the number of hours or the times you would be working each day? If so, did you work on the website during those hours? Did they ever ask you to work on the website? Why did you even do it? Were you just bored during work and decided to give it a shot? When they asked you to transfer it to their server, what did they say? Anything in email? Can you get your hands on the email (legally!)? Do you still have the server with your original work? Can you show that it predates the website that went up? How similar is it to the one on your server (aside from the missing signature)? Side note: I'd suggest not touching the work on your server till you talk to a lawyer. Any change on the timestamps might suggest foul play... even if you can show its not I would think its best not to do anything. Also, I would not suggest putting the answers to these questions up on HN. I don't know if it will hurt or not, but if you put stuff up in public, it might lead to further problems.

RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago

> I'm extremely talented and adaptable. I have no reason to doubt that. > As "secretary" I endured the pain of answering > telephones and routing calls. As a technical person who has occasionally been called upon to do this sort of work, I know how difficult it can be, especially when dealing with the general public. > Whether or not I worked on this web site in > or out of official "work hours" is irrelevant. Sadly, I think you'll find that the law takes a different point of view, and if you did do any of this work during the time being paid for, you are on very, very difficult ground. > I did work on this site mostly away from my > official "work hours," "Mostly" is unlikely to be good enough. > The entire site was developed on my personal server, > before being exposed to this Evil property management > company, and my site is entirely wholesome. So the question remains, how has it ended up under their control? Did they wget and upload a copy? Can you prove that? Does the site contain anything that you can prove is yours? > I'm still begging for help; > how much do I have to beg? I suspect you've been given the best advice you're going to get from here. You have two basic options. Either take your lumps and walk away having learned something about employment law, evil employers, and not giving things away before you've discussed and agreed payment terms, or ... Get yourself a lawyer. Do lots of homework, compile your evidence, read about employment law in your area, then take advantage of the free hour initial consultation that many of them offer. Make a compelling case. If you can't convince them then you'll have to walk away. Otherwise you will have some professional advice on your side. Alternatively, what help do you want us to give?

roundsquare 17y ago
IANAL.... A few bits and pieces of information to collect before you talk to the lawyer. This list is far from complete. Someone with more knowledge can add to this list of fix it, just a way to get your started. Do you have any correspondence with them? Does any of it show/indicate/imply that they "stole" you work. How were you employed? Do you have any sort of contract? Do you have a copy of it? Any follow up questions to the contract asked via email? How were you being paid? Was it by the hour, by the day, a lump sum for the two weeks? If it was by the hour, did you work on the website during the time you were working as a secretary? If it was by the day or lump sum, was there anything in a contract that specified the number of hours or the times you would be working each day? If so, did you work on the website during those hours? Did they ever ask you to work on the website? Why did you even do it? Were you just bored during work and decided to give it a shot? When they asked you to transfer it to their server, what did they say? Anything in email? Can you get your hands on the email (legally!)? Do you still have the server with your original work? Can you show that it predates the website that went up? How similar is it to the one on your server (aside from the missing signature)? Side note: I'd suggest not touching the work on your server till you talk to a lawyer. Any change on the timestamps might suggest foul play... even if you can show its not I would think its best not to do anything. Also, I would not suggest putting the answers to these questions up on HN. I don't know if it will hurt or not, but if you put stuff up in public, it might lead to further problems.