I need a serious advice

[Arkteia]

I had to fire my biller for being totally unavailable to patients. When she left, we found out that she had a heap of uncollected and already uncollectable (too old) bills. What I am talking about is not the cost of a ring or two rings - it is a huge amount.

How could I have not noticed it? Easy, because biller previously collecting for our practice was billing for 19 people and when she left, things were a horrible mess. My collections, actually, grew by 1/3 when this one came to work for me. In my view, she was doing a good job, I was making good money and things were fine. The only variable I forgot to notice was how much I worked. Also, her account receivables on paper were much lower than in reality.

Apparently, this biller, too, expanded her practice and had neither capacity nor knowledge to deal with miminally complicated situations. There may be other issues explaining her lack of attention, but I can not discuss it here.

Her other clients left her, too.

My lawyer says, let's sue her, it is so easy. You now have two people working for you, (one of them solely on old bills) who have acquired all documents showing her mistakes, lack of followthrough or simply not billing. What if she does not have errors and commissions insurance, say I. Well, it is not a problem, she has a house, replies he.

Now here is my problem. It is one thing if she has insurance which reimburses me. But to make someone bankrupt, drive him out of the house is something totally different. My scheme of beliefs is complicated, but I have this notion of karma (although, as I suspect, not in a way Indians see it). And I never sued anyone, am not used to and always try to put myself into other person's shoes.

Plain and simple: an heap of uncollected/unbilled documents on one end of the table and someone potentially going bankrupt on the other end. What would you say?

 

[House Cat]

You worked for that money. You didn't receive that money.

My first question, through the process of collections, to include selling these bills to collection agencies, will you recover ANY of that money?

 

[Indylady]

Is there any way to recover the funds (by sending the bills out)? I know you said they're un-collectable. Does that mean its been years?

Is there a way to find out if she's got the insurance without suing her first?

Crasru, I'm sorry you've been put in such a crappy situation. I commend you for your thoughtfulness in deciding whether or not sue; I hope that karma works with you and helps you recover the amount without putting your old employee in a terrible place.

 

[swingirl]

I don't think someone should loose their house because they did their job poorly. The employer has a responsibility to themselves to make sure their employees do the job they were hired to do. It sounds like you hired someone, they performed poorly, you didn't notice and now you are considering suing them. It seems to me if someone does their job poorly, they should loose their job. But how much financial ruin should they endure because they were lousy at billing? And as the employer how much loss should you take for not keeping a better eye on the financial side of your business? I know, tough questions. I am sorry you are having to deal with the whole situation.

 

[Arkteia]

I can send patient's bills to collections and yes, I required some. In fact, most patients paid their portions. But the main bulk of money comes from insurance companies.

We can not send insurance companies to collections. The statute of limitations for billing is one year, so we collected what we could from last year. Some bills were filed timely, unpaid, and insurances agreed to pay them retroactively. I even got some bills from 2007 paid. Problem is, many of bills were never billed timely. And no insurance company will now pay for bills not billed in 2007 or 2008. The patients exist, the records are there, the names are on their lists... but according to contracts, we should have billed on time.

Billing is difficult. Sometimes you have to jump through many hoops. Apparently, she decided to collect the ripest, easiest apples for six doctors rather than stretch far to get everything for one. Problem is, five of six doctors have left her. And when I fired her, I never imagined the extent of the problem, the biggest issue at that time was her rudeness and lack of communication with patients.

 

[rosetta]

I would sue. Her behaviour was grossly incompetant and unacceptable and her attitude doesn't sound much better.

I believe that people have to live with the consequences of their actions.

I believe karma will come back to bite you in the butt only if you act with deliberate maliciousness only.

 

[rosetta]

Also if you don't acr crasru, she will continue to do the same with her other employers.

 

[Arkteia]

I don't think someone should loose their house because they did their job poorly. The employer has a responsibility to themselves to make sure their employees do the job they were hired to do. It sounds like you hired someone, they performed poorly, you didn't notice and now you are considering suing them. It seems to me if someone does their job poorly, they should loose their job. But how much financial ruin should they endure because they were lousy at billing? And as the employer how much loss should you take for not keeping a better eye on the financial side of your business? I know, tough questions. I am sorry you are having to deal with the whole situation.

And you are absolutely right. But I see at least 40 patients a day. With all dictations, admissions, discharges, family meetings it takes a huge chunk of my time. Given the fact that I was also on call once or twice a month, how many days would it be? 40 x 25 = 1000 people a month. You can not keep track of everyone's payments. Especially since people have different insurance plans and each plan pays different amounts of money.

So you pay someone 7.5 % of collections to do the job for you. And they are supposed to do the job. Hence the errors and omissions insurance. It is exactly the situation; if she neglected or erroneously did not bill for too many patients her insurance pays for her. Trouble is, she is self-employed and I do not know if she has the insurance. I have no problem with collecting money from her insurance. I have problem with making her bankrupt.

 

[rosetta]

Can you find out if she has insurance?

Are you sure that this hasn't caused discrepancies that will land you in trouble with the IRS? Something similar happened to a colleague of mine and the investigation was extremely stressful.

I admire your sentiments but do tread carefully here.

 

[Arkteia]

The only problem will be if (miraculously) all money is paid during this year. That will skyrocket my income, but in ain't going to happen...
Otherwise my lawyer would have advised me against it. He is a corporate lawyer and pretty savvy.

I have re-read your post... and understood it better...no it won't cause any discrepancies. It is way more straightforward. The system of billing is not simple and it is very well known where and why she did not follow through but it is probably beyond the scope of this discussion.

 

[diva rose]

Crasru - I also believe in karma however I think in this case - it is best to take your lawyer's advice and sue.
She can do this to someone else and then you'd feel so bad not stopping her.
You deserve your money and it isn't right for her to take advantage of you.

I really do hope things get sorted.

 

[JewelFreak]

Crasru, first -- is there an accountant board or professional org. to which you can report her? At least her failures would be on record for whoever may think of hiring her later.

I can see your point about bankrupting her; would feel the same way myself. So much info about anyone is available somehow these days, there must be a way to find out if she was insured. Anyway, if you sue her & win, you may be able to take any judgment out of future earnings or her savings, whatever, short of making her lose her house. Do you know if she even owns her home? The other consideration is that this too would be on record in case she tries to work in the same field again. You would be doing a service to potential employers. If she went to work for somebody in another field, smaller businesses, she could potentially bankrupt them by not collecting monies owed.

I'm sure you're making insurance a requirement for anyone else you hire.

You're a compassionate girl & smart. I can totally empathize w/your dilemma but I'll bet there's a middle ground there somewhere. The other thing is she has brought her own karma down on her head & will have to face the consequences.

--- Laurie

 

[Nashville]

Personally, I could not sleep at night if I sued someone and they lost their home. The woman sounds completely incompetent, but... I don't know, I just couldn't do it.

Money is an important part of life, but it's not the only part of life. You have to make a choice. I know you earned that money, so it's your right to sue and try to claim some of it back. If you don't, will you lose your home? Will you lose your practice? Will your business take a complete nosedive?

Think long and hard about this (as I'm sure you already are). I've screwed up some jobs in my younger days but if I were to have been sued because of it, that would have been a devastating thing I'm not sure I'd have recovered from. Losing my home? The thought alone makes me ill. Usually if you've messed up a job, your consequence is that you get fired... not lose your home.

 

[perry]

I had to fire my biller for....

Crasru:

The situation may be more complicated than you are thinking. Was this person truly an independent contractor, or an employee?

The fact that this person may have worked out of her own home does not immediately mean they were an independent contractor - due to all the "work at home" employees out there. It gets very much into how you hired them - what kinds of paperwork may (or may not) exist - etc.

If they are an employee.... you cannot sue for poor job performance. It was your job to oversee your employees.

If they are an independent contractor.... yes you can sue... (but I might add - why did you not check to see if their company had adequate insurance, and bonding).

Another item - is it that this person was incompetent; or is this person suffering from some kind of medical problem which affects their ability to work effectively (which may affect how much you could collect). On an OSA forum I used to participate on a person who was a Biller related how they missed doing a lot of billing when her problems developed.

In the end, before filing suit I would have a formal discussion with the person- perhaps with a lawyer involved to flush out some of the details of the case. You may wish to hire a PI to investigate this persons past as well. I may sue just to start the discovery process as well. You can always decide not to proceed with the suit later.

However, something to keep in mind. You can easily drop a solid 5 figure number into legal bills to sue (and it will be at least 4 figures just to start). In addition to the cost there is a personal cost as well in time and stress - will it really be worth it (lawsuits and collections can take years). I'd want to make sure that there was a good likelyhood of recovery before proceeding far down the lawsuit path (if you proceed at all). I note that I have twice decided not to sue - because the cost to my life in stress and time would not be worth it.

I wish you the best in this. I have no problem with you doing a little investigation; but I suggest you research and think through the full ramifications of a lawsuit before you file. Waiting a few weeks (or months) to investigate and think will likely provide a clearer path for you.

I would also think a bit about how to better handle your billing in the future. While finding a better biller sounds easy; how do you know how good of a job they are doing? Might I suggest you make up a simple chart where you write down your appointments (or whatever); then have a series of boxes you can check (or write dates in): Person Billed, Insurance Co Billed. Person paid, Insurance paid, etc. You can also just cross out the boxes and write "charity" (or whatever) for your charity cases (which everyone usually has). Yes that takes a few minutes each day to do; but keeping the chart and asking the Biller to update you every day (or every week) you can track what is and is not getting done.

Have a great day,

Perry

 

[kenny]

If someone believed in karma couldn't karma explain why she lost her house to her irresponsibility and bad choices?
And wouldn't it be bad karma to get in the way of karma?

I'm not saying what you should do but you can't have it both ways - believing in being guided by both karma and niceness.

 

[perry]

To update my post on the employee independent contractor status question:

If you sue - and they present the defense that they were acting as an employee - then you will have to prove that they were in fact an independent contractor. Unless things are really crystal clear in that regard - you can expect any competent defense lawyer to raise the employee defense. Then they can also claim their legal cost if it is determined that they were acting as your employee (most states have pretty strict laws/legal interpretations that say employers cannot sue employees). I am not a lawyer - but any business owner should be aware of these things.

Edited to add: Questions to ask - how was this person paid? Did the checks go to "J Doe" or to a business name. How were the contracts or agreements filled out between the two of you? "J Doe" or to a business name. If "J Doe" there is a good likelyhood that this may have been an employer/employee relationship (at least there is a really solid argument that they were your employee). If a business name - that is an argument that they were an independent contractor.

Also, if a court rules they were an employee.... you will be potentially liable for years of back tax withholdings, SS, Workman's Comp, etc... (I know of cases like this here in Wisconsin - and it can really hurt the bottom line).

So make sure you really are on good grounds that they were an independent contractor first.

Another thing: I always ask the following question when dealing with lawyers who are advising hiring them for additional legal services (such as filing a lawsuit): Are they giving me advice on what's the best for me and my business - or are they giving me advice on what is best for them (especially when its 4-5 figures in additional business).

The most economical and useful lawyer tool I've used: A letter from a lawyer delivered with a formal receipt signature. Such a letter usually resolved the situation (or led to a discussion that resolved the situation to the best likely possible solution).

I wish you the best,

Perry

 

[tigian]

Hi Crasru,
I do my own medical billing (I see much less people that you do.) I understand how complicated it can be, how you must have trusted her, and it was her job. I may be harsh, but I think there is no doubt in my mind that she was stealing from you. I understand that she may have financial hardship if you take her to court, but in the back of her mind she must have known she may get caught taking money that isn't hers. The decision was hers. As for karma, I highly doubt you have acted the way she did. If you did act like her, you may get taken to court as well. But it seems that it is pretty clear cut that legal action should be taken against her. Just my 2 cents.

 

[rockzilla]

While it is a tough question, if she was indeed an independent contractor, I believe you should go ahead and sue. Despite all the emotions connected to a house, in black-and-white, it is an asset. Let's say she has $300,000 of equity in her house, and your settlement is $250k and she is forced to sell her house to pay. Now, let's take the corollary: instead of buying a house, she has chosen to rent, and instead has $300k in her bank account. Would you feel *less* bad about going after the dollars sitting in her bank account, even though the value of the asset is exactly the same?

I understand your trepidation about going after someone to an extent that it will significantly affect their financial picture. Another possibility: a friend of mine had parents who were doctors and a settlement was reached against them for improper billing over MANY years. They were close to retirement at the time, and while they did "lose" their house in the settlement, the terms allowed them to live in the house until they both passed away, at which point it would be handed over to the state.

 

[Arkteia]

To update my post on the employee independent contractor status question:

If you sue - and they present the defense that they were acting as an employee - then you will have to prove that they were in fact an independent contractor. Unless things are really crystal clear in that regard - you can expect any competent defense lawyer to raise the employee defense. Then they can also claim their legal cost if it is determined that they were acting as your employee (most states have pretty strict laws/legal interpretations that say employers cannot sue employees). I am not a lawyer - but any business owner should be aware of these things.

Edited to add: Questions to ask - how was this person paid? Did the checks go to "J Doe" or to a business name. How were the contracts or agreements filled out between the two of you? "J Doe" or to a business name. If "J Doe" there is a good likelyhood that this may have been an employer/employee relationship (at least there is a really solid argument that they were your employee). If a business name - that is an argument that they were an independent contractor.

Also, if a court rules they were an employee.... you will be potentially liable for years of back tax withholdings, SS, Workman's Comp, etc... (I know of cases like this here in Wisconsin - and it can really hurt the bottom line).

So make sure you really are on good grounds that they were an independent contractor first.

Another thing: I always ask the following question when dealing with lawyers who are advising hiring them for additional legal services (such as filing a lawsuit): Are they giving me advice on what's the best for me and my business - or are they giving me advice on what is best for them (especially when its 4-5 figures in additional business).

The most economical and useful lawyer tool I've used: A letter from a lawyer delivered with a formal receipt signature. Such a letter usually resolved the situation (or led to a discussion that resolved the situation to the best likely possible solution).

I wish you the best,

Perry

You have asked very smart questions, Perry. But she, indeed, was an independent contractor and her initial documents written to us definitely indicate so. The checks were written in both her name and her company, but I have all her billings on fine, they all have her company's name on them. My tax returns imply that she was a contractor. This part, actually, is fully straightforward.

Re. my lawyer. Indeed, it already cost me a lot for him to talk to her, to write her letters, etc. And, true, it will be a huge cut of it in the settlement since the sum is so large (I usually assume that in worst possible scenario, a person may collect 2/3 of what had been billed - well, even if we deduct 1/3 it will still be humongous). He, however, would never advise me to sue unless the case was airtight.

She had the stupidity to send me an e-mail after I sent her a letter indicating that I was no longer needing her services (one month in advance). Her e-mail implied that she wanted to outsource the job of collecting my money to a third party for rapid results. I forbade her to do it but the letter itself was a huge mistake.

Re. the illness - it is an interesting question, and I can not discuss it here, but her problem is not valid in the eyes of the law. It can explain constant need for money, though.

And I hope you already understood that no letter has resolved the situation so far. In fact, she simply ignored it. So I shall have to use law to a certain degree to at least grab my records from her. Sometimes I think she has become off. She sends me e-mails in at night indicating that she is going to give me the papers because she has no space for them, and when I forward them to my current biller, she answers to her that it was my fantasy and that I used her old e-mail address and she is not going to talk to me and where had I dug out her old e-mail address anyway? The e-mail address was on her e-mail! So I know something is not there, or at least suspect what could not be.

 

[Arkteia]

Personally, I could not sleep at night if I sued someone and they lost their home. The woman sounds completely incompetent, but... I don't know, I just couldn't do it.

Money is an important part of life, but it's not the only part of life. You have to make a choice. I know you earned that money, so it's your right to sue and try to claim some of it back. If you don't, will you lose your home? Will you lose your practice? Will your business take a complete nosedive?

Think long and hard about this (as I'm sure you already are). I've screwed up some jobs in my younger days but if I were to have been sued because of it, that would have been a devastating thing I'm not sure I'd have recovered from. Losing my home? The thought alone makes me ill. Usually if you've messed up a job, your consequence is that you get fired... not lose your home.

I agree, Nashville. And these are exactly the sentiments I feel, and this is probably what I call "karma". I know she screwed up her job, and I know the reason why. Trouble is, it happens right, left and center. I think I have mentioned the previous biller. Several people wanted to take her to court, there was a humongous amount of uncollected money because she, too, physically could not collect well for 19 people and the billers she hired were cheap and incompetent, except for one person. So she went after top earnings, and when she chose to close her practice, she left only four top earners as her clients. Two of them dropped her in 6 months. Karma?

So a competent biller is a rarity. The one I have now has one advantage: she is billing only for me. And so she is interested in every dollar - she never earned that much. And I see my earnings grow.

If my prior biller were just a normal but not a very competent person, or a person burdened with many home problems, I would not be asking this question here. Since the time I fired her, I found out that she has many problems unrelated to the job and, in fact, is mean in a stupid sort of way. I could even explain what kind of money were uncollected and if you think of each individual patient, it is a fraction, but together, it makes a huge amount. It just went on for many years and while these money were the smallest part of my earnings, for many years they made... what they made.

If we were talking about the cost of a very expensive ring, or a car, I would not even raise this question here. These are money that I could have put into my retirement fund, or my child's education fund. And I am not greedy at all - but if anyone could see how hard I worked. At a certain point in time, I was driving each day 73 miles each way, pregnant, to do the job. She was not collecting for me at that time, but when I was driving 30 miles each way three times a day, then to my hospital, then to my practice, she was.

Trouble is, there are very few people I can discuss it with. The only person in my life who advised me not to sue was my son. His point had nothing to do with emotional part, he simply pointed out to the fact that she may claim bankrupsy before the lawsuit is over or with current market stage... in other words. I simply may not receive the money. But at least someone said, no.

I am afraid that even my father, who is the kindest person, had I told him about it, would say, sue her. Because of the amount involved. But I do not even want to tell him because he is old and I don't know if he can take this amount of stress.

 

[Arcadian]

I don't see this as Karmic at all. This is business.

I'm an independent contractor (LLC). Trust and believe if I did not do the work I was paid to do or I messed up an important contract because of sheer incompetence, I know I could get sued...several times over in fact! You don't stay in the type of business I'm in without knowing that fact or having all kinds of signed contracts between you and the company you do work for.

Crasru, I'm going to tell you to consider working with your lawyer to recover some part of your money. Its money you earned, and because she didn't do her agreed job for you, money that you lost. If you have a contract between you and her, I would go over it with a fine tooth comb.

Considering what I've heard, she'll carry on with the same shoddy work with someone else without a doubt. I've been in the business long enough that those types of people tend to coast from job to job until they get pinned.

This is business to business. Personal shouldn't come into it. She certainly wasn't thinking about you on a personal level when you were paying her for doing basically nothing. And I have myself had to take someone to court to get the money I've worked hard for.

Were the tables turned, trust and believe she would do it to you.

If you're paying money to a business name, have your lawyer find out if she was truly self employed or under an LLC. It could make the difference in your approach with her.

-A

 

[allycat0303]

Well you are in a difficult decision.

I think you have to do what your gut and your conscience tell you. It is probably a huge amount of money. However, after the lawyer fees have been deducted, how much will it really be? How stress will you be under during this time? Personally, I would probably let it go. I feel the same about karma as you do in the sense that if you show compassion and mercy, it will be shown to you. I don't think someone should lose their home for doing their job badly, however, they should never be allowed to do that job again (i.e file a complaint with a professional organization). I think to an extent, doctors need to be in charge or oversee the amount they are billing. At the very least, they have to ask some serious questions every month about how/when their biller is working.

In terms of handling money, I don't trust anyone except myself. To collect it, or to spend it.

I hope you can resolve this!

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

I think there are a few question that you should ask yourself.. How much can you even get from this woman? Is her house paid for?
Is her business a sole ownership or something other.. Is she still in business? She has income there maybe. First tally up how much you can possibly recover..

The next question I think you could ask. How long will this process take. It might be more simple than you think. You can prove she was an independent contractor and due to her negligence has lost you a large sum of money. I do sometimes simplify. Do you think this woman has the funds to hire a good attorney to fight you? I doubt it. There will most likely be a settlement, if anything.

If its quick, you might get something. But I doubt, house notwithstanding, you won't recover all anyway. You can ask your attorney how much he thinks this will cost and after looking at her assets , how much you can recover. Look at the whole. Value your own work, your time, your children and know that you are only asking for what belongs to you. If the process seems too weary and exhausting don't do it. But don't be hestitant over karma. This woman didn't care about any of you.

You have a smart son. Check with your lawyer on his point--filing bankrupcy.

Annette

 

[KatyWI]

It is as much your fault for not managing her correctly and keeping tabs on her as it is her fault for not doing her job in the first place.

Consider it a lesson learned and keep tabs on the next one!

 

[Pandora II]

I'm sorry for your situation.

Although a very different reason, I sued my former employer in 2009. I had a very strong case and ultimately we settled out of court in my favour for a substantial sum in November last year. My brother is a dispute litigation lawyer and between us we did the vast majority of the legal stuff. Then I hired a heavy-weight to show I meant business and to have a 'name' on the letter paper.

The case took over our lives - I had just got married and was pregnant at the time and was even calling my lawyer from the hospital after my daughter was born. The first 6 months of her life, every minute that she was asleep I was working on the case. I still don't have any wedding photos as I couldn't bear to look at anything happy while it was going on and I'm only now going through to pick the ones I want!

I NEVER want to live through another legal battle again in my life. It ruined the first years of our marriage, my pregnancy and the early months of my daughter's life. We needed the money so I'm glad I won, but it wasn't worth the misery, the stress and the total exhaustion of the whole thing.

Think very carefully about what you choose to do.

 

[yennyfire]

I'm so sorry that you're going through this. It just sucks. I think you've been given some really sound advice here (and from your attorney and your son). I hope it all works out in the least stressful way possible.

 

[iheartscience]

It is as much your fault for not managing her correctly and keeping tabs on her as it is her fault for not doing her job in the first place.

Consider it a lesson learned and keep tabs on the next one!

Yeah, this sums it up for me.

 

[rockzilla]

It is as much your fault for not managing her correctly and keeping tabs on her as it is her fault for not doing her job in the first place.

Consider it a lesson learned and keep tabs on the next one!

I disagree with this. If you hire a company to do a job, and enter into a contract with the company to do so, and they then egregiously do not fulfill their end of the agreement, how do you then deserve equal amounts of blame? Crasru held up her end of the bargain by paying out the commission, etc. This was not an employee that was hired, trained and supervised in the medical office, this was an independent contractor, basically an outside agency that was contracted to do the work. The agency was SPECIFICALLY hired so that all bills would be filed in a timely manner to take the burden OFF of crasru's practice.

To put it in another way: Say I was planning my wedding, but was so busy with work that I decided to hire a wedding planner to take care of 100% of the plans. Booking vendors, finding the location, picking colors, doing contracts, the whole nine yards. Throughout the year long process, the planner tells me everything is going well, on track, things are booked, contracts signed, etc. THEN the day of I show up and find out that the planner never booked the florist, cake person, or D.J. and oh yeah, didn't put in the final payments so I've lost thousands in deposits and now have no venue. Would it be my fault that the planner didn't do what was in the contract? Should I have been better "supervising" the planner even though they were hired to take the planning OFF my hands?

Or, another example. Say I hired a lawyer to help me with (insert lawyer-needing-thing here). They tell me all throughout the process that everything is going smoothly, papers are being filed, court dates are being set, etc. Turns out, they don't do half the things they need to do, and the case/deal falls through due to their incompetence. Is it then MY fault that I didn't oversee them as a lawyer and KNOW that they should have filed form BCD143 by August 21st? NO, that is why you hire a professional (and why disbarment is an option). I don't see how this situation is any different, and I don't think it is fair in the least to heap blame on crasru.

 

[risingsun]

It is as much your fault for not managing her correctly and keeping tabs on her as it is her fault for not doing her job in the first place.

Consider it a lesson learned and keep tabs on the next one!

I disagree with this. If you hire a company to do a job, and enter into a contract with the company to do so, and they then egregiously do not fulfill their end of the agreement, how do you then deserve equal amounts of blame? Crasru held up her end of the bargain by paying out the commission, etc. This was not an employee that was hired, trained and supervised in the medical office, this was an independent contractor, basically an outside agency that was contracted to do the work. The agency was SPECIFICALLY hired so that all bills would be filed in a timely manner to take the burden OFF of crasru's practice.

To put it in another way: Say I was planning my wedding, but was so busy with work that I decided to hire a wedding planner to take care of 100% of the plans. Booking vendors, finding the location, picking colors, doing contracts, the whole nine yards. Throughout the year long process, the planner tells me everything is going well, on track, things are booked, contracts signed, etc. THEN the day of I show up and find out that the planner never booked the florist, cake person, or D.J. and oh yeah, didn't put in the final payments so I've lost thousands in deposits and now have no venue. Would it be my fault that the planner didn't do what was in the contract? Should I have been better "supervising" the planner even though they were hired to take the planning OFF my hands?

Or, another example. Say I hired a lawyer to help me with (insert lawyer-needing-thing here). They tell me all throughout the process that everything is going smoothly, papers are being filed, court dates are being set, etc. Turns out, they don't do half the things they need to do, and the case/deal falls through due to their incompetence. Is it then MY fault that I didn't oversee them as a lawyer and KNOW that they should have filed form BCD143 by August 21st? NO, that is why you hire a professional (and why disbarment is an option). I don't see how this situation is any different, and I don't think it is fair in the least to heap blame on crasru.

I absolutely agree with rockzilla. This was a business agreement under a signed contract. Crasu had the expectation that the contractor would do the work for which she was hired. She failed to live up to the terms of the contract. She should be held accountable. We had one person, in our busy practice, who handled insurance and billing. That's all that she did. Because she was an employee, she was supervised by the office manager. That is entirely different than Crasu's situation. She hired an independent contractor to do this job. The contractor bears the responsibility.

 

[Nashville]

And Crasru, don't get me wrong here... you're completely within your rights to do what you have to do to recoup some of that money back. I am not in your shoes, I don't go to your job every day, and I don't know how I'd feel given your current situation. No one wins here, unfortunately. Whether or not you get the money back, it will come with a heavy price.

I truly admire your kind spirit and compassion, regardless of your decision. It is a rarity in this world.