Its about time to #SueYourBoss! Below you can find links templates for several lawsuits.
Templates for lawsuits
Length and stages of lawsuits
Lawsuits can take several steps and stages. Each stage (“instance”) includes several steps and ends with a ruling.
FIRST court hearing (conciliation hearing)
1-2 months after filing your lawsuit there will be the first court hearing. This is the “conciliation hearing”. The court wont make a ruling but evaluation the legal situation a bit and push that an agreement will be reached between both parties.
You do not have to agree to anything that you dont like. Its your right to get a proper (second) court hearing and get a ruling. But if you like the settlement you can accept it.
If you decide to do this hearing without a lawyer then the judge will take more time and explain more so you can better understand the situation.
If there is some important information missing that you can provide then the judge might ask you some questions. If you want to build up pressure: dont accept a settlement but say that you want a ruling in the second hearing.
If not settlement can be reached the judge will announce the deadlines where both parties can send in further arguments to court to substain their perspective on the lawsuits. Normally its 3 weeks for the claiment (plaintiff) and after that another 3 weeks for the defendant and then another 3 weeks for the claiment. Thats why lawsuits take time: both sides will get several weeks to make their point.
If you think you need help then it is advisable to involve a lawyer now.
SECOND court hearing (ruling)
4-6 months after filing a lawsuit there will be a second hearing. This is the real deal. The judge will make a ruling at the end of this hearing. But before that the judge will ask another time if an agreement can be reached. Maybe the situation changed after both sides substained their perspective with possible evidence.
Even at the second hearing you dont need a lawyer. You can do this on your own or with the help of co-workers or unions. If you think your case is clear you can do it on your own.
The judge might ask questions to you and the boss to understand the situation. And the judge might indicate whether they like your or the bosses arguments.
Whenever you have to take a minute and think about something or speak to someone who supports you: take a break! You can always request some minutes to think or talk to supporters.
At the end of the second court hearing (after 15-30 minutes) the judge will make a ruling. It might take up to 3 months until the court sends the written ruling to you. Both sides can object against this ruling upto 3 weeks after they recieved the written ruling. If no one objects the ruling is final and effective.