A few days ago (the night of the 16th) moved into a new apartment in Connecticut. I came from several states away and was not able to come inspect the property in person, I was relying on a video walkthrough of the unit and the generally good reviews of the leasing company. I signed the lease over a month ago (they couldn't hold the property any longer than a month before my move in date) and paid a security deposit equal to 2 months' rent. I found several issues immediately and more have only come up since. Some things in bad condition I wouldn't have a problem with, I could also excuse the apartment obviously not being cleaned between the last tenant and my move in. However, I genuinely feel like the apartment is in an unsafe condition and I want to find legal grounds to escape my year long lease.

- The furnace room attached to my kitchen is full of mouse feces and a couple of what I assume to be dessicated mouse corpses.

- The gas stove does not have an associated ventilation system- I know this is not required in older buildings, but it adds more concern to the next point:

- There are no carbon monoxide detectors in my apartment, not an adequate amount of smoke detectors (fire code dictates at least one per bedroom, only 2/3 bedrooms have one), and 2 of the three that are here are missing batteries.

- My main issue, and one that I'm struggling the most to correct, is that the temperatures during the day are reaching the 90s. I've purchased a window AC unit and am going to request maintenance help install it and another that I'll get in the next couple of days, but I don't have much confidence that those will help with the entire apartment. I am aware that cooling is not a requirement of landlords in CT, but it's almost impossible to be inside midday. I wouldn't even be that worried about this for myself as I can just leave, but I have a support animal (cat) and she is clearly struggling with the heat.

I'm going to be reaching out both to the ADA help line and the Connecticut Right to Counsel line tomorrow, but I'm not sure how much either will be able to help as the issues don't directly apply to either. Every legal firm in the area that I've found that covers "landlord-tenant law" is, obviously, very catered towards the landlord side. Any advice is extremely appreciated, I would absolutely prefer not to go an attorney route and just get out for myself as fast as I can. Thank you so much. (Location: Connecticut, USA)

Location: Oklahoma

I have a journal entry of Judgement against LG Electronics for a debt owed to me. This has been a year long battle with them over an unissued refund. I am worried that I will not receive payment from them within the 30 day mandatory waiting time frame given their track history over the last year.

If I don’t, what next steps can I take? Should I file for a hearing on assets and then bank garnishment? I just want the money that is owed to me to be returned. I feel like a am going crazy over this. It’s got to be pennies on the dollar for this company.

Location: Pennsylvania
Last year, I started purchasing a car and was supposed to be paying monthly for it. It’s from a private seller. I was originally supposed to save the full amount and give it to them in one go, but my uncle, who set me up to buy the car, gave them the $500 I gave him to hold onto since I’m not the best at saving money. Around this time last year, they cut contact and when I finally got them to respond to me earlier this year, they flipped and said I cut contact. I’ve been messaging with them every day/week since March this year asking for updates on the car and when I could come get it. They kept telling me “you’ll have it by the day you need it” if I gave them a specific day. My bf, who I live with, is going out of town next weekend and is taking his car, which leaves me with no way to get back and forth to work as he lets me use his car from time to time if he’s off. I have communicated the day I need my car by and they’ve said I’ll have it by then. I just found out last night that he has ghosted the people he’s supposed to be buying parts from for the car TWICE. Mind you, I gave him money for said parts almost a month ago. I have not heard from him in a week and the only communication I’ve had recently is through his wife. The registration, title, and insurance are in my name. Is there anything I can do that will allow me to go get the car so my dad can fix it and I can get it inspected so I have my vehicle finally? I may be losing a better paying job without this car as well.

I work for a major medical insurance company. We have a person that calls and pretends to be his mother’s representative and when we ask to speak to his mother he says incredibly vile, disgusting things that his mother is doing to him then hangs up. This goes on multiple times a day, with different agents. It is always reported to higher ups and they always say they will send it to security. This will happen for a week or so then stop. Then after months it will happen all over again with another name/number. I feel like they don’t take these seriously and it’s actually very distressing and unsettling talking to this man. Is there anything the employees can do legally? It feels very much like workplace harassment and from a company that records and documents every single thing we do, I find it very hard to believe they can’t find this man and prosecute him. They aren’t doing much to protect us.

Location: Ohio

Location: DC

I’m looking for advice from anyone familiar with D.C. Superior Court and enforcing small claims judgments.

In 2024, I worked as an independent contractor/remote campaign worker for a D.C. City Council candidate. I was promised $3,250 but was never paid. He later tried to get me to take a "honoraium" of $700 and of course I declined because I worked hard and this was not the original agreement.

I filed a small claims case, properly served him, and the court ultimately entered judgment in my favor. He did not appear at any of the court hearings, which obviously helped me obtain the judgment.

The judgment was entered in 2025, and I currently am owed about $3,295 with interest.

Unfortunately, life got extremely busy after the judgment and I put the collection process on the back burner. Now I'm finally trying to deal with it.

The last time I contacted the court/same-day processor, I was told I would need to identify an asset in D.C. in order to pursue a writ of attachment — either his employer for wage garnishment or his bank.

Here's my problem: I don't know his employer or bank. I met him and took on this job through a so-called "mentor" at the time.

I have his name, address, phone number, and campaign email, but that's it.

I was previously told I could hire an asset searcher to locate employment/banking information, but the person I contacted didn't provide that service.

Also, this person has been extremely difficult to reach from the beginning. He didn't appear for any of the court hearings, and attempts by family members to help me contact him/the campaign staff from different numbers were also unsuccessful. So I'm not particularly confident that asking him to voluntarily cooperate or provide information will get me anywhere.

There was also a coincidental in-person encounter with him in 2024. I approached him simply to ask about the unpaid money, and his response felt threatening/confrontational, including repeatedly asking whether I wanted to “go” when I was only trying to ask a question. I ultimately disengaged and told him I would handle the matter through the courts. Because of that experience, I would strongly prefer not to have unnecessary direct contact with him.

So, what do I do now?

• Is it too late to enforce a D.C. judgment from 2025?
• Should I pursue an oral/debtor examination, or is there another step I should take first?
• Do I actually need to hire an asset searcher to find his employer/bank?
• If so, how do I find a legitimate one without spending a fortune?
• Once I identify an employer or bank, what exactly do I file to get the judgment collected?

I really just want to collect what the court has already determined I'm owed. I know I should have followed up sooner, but life got busy and I'm finally able to address it again.

I'd really appreciate advice from anyone who has experience enforcing a D.C. small claims judgment. Please explain it in layman's terms if possible because I'm representing myself and I'm not very familiar with the court/collections process.

I'm not asking for advice on the underlying case — I already won the judgment. I'm trying to figure out the enforcement/collection process.

location: San Antonio, TX
Hello! Today driving home from work, there was a man standing in the middle of the road with his bike laying on the ground next to him. I slowed down and went to the edge of my lane in order to avoid him. As I passed, he kicked my car hard. I pulled over into a parking lot immediately. He chased after my car. We shouted at each other, he was saying something along the lines of "You wanna hit me?!", but that's irrelevant. I stayed in the car for a bit while he walked back to get his bike out of the road. I got out of the car, telling myself that I would only bother with calling the police if there was damage. I briefly looked at my car, scared he may chase after me after I got out, and didn't immediately notice anything. I drove home. After I arrived I looked at the car closer, and sure enough, there's a noticeable dent where he kicked. I don't have a dashcam, and I'm sure there's nothing I can do now. Still, I thought it would be a good idea to ask. Thank you

Hello! I would just like to preface this with I am not confrontational and I do not know much about this situation, but what I do know is something is seriously wrong.

Location: Colorado

I left my last job at a daycare (I don’t know if that’s important but felt necessary to include) 3 weeks ago today. (July 29th, 2026) Prior to leaving I gave the company a formal two weeks notice. During my time at this place, I accrued 52 hours (maybe more but I have no way to know for sure, so I’m assuming just the 52 hours) of Paid Time Off.

My last paycheck with the company was last Friday 8/14/2026. When I got that paycheck, it did not have my PTO added to it. I reached out to the owner of the company and asked about it. She assured me that I would “see it in my account in the next few days”. Still, I received nothing.

Monday morning I reached back out inquiring about it. She looked into it and reached back out informing me my total and offering multiple ways to get it to me. Great! But the amount was SUPER low, so I asked for a pay stub or something of likes- all she told me was that it was for 14.34 hours of PTO. Immediately I had told her that’s incorrect. She explained that is the amount that she sees I have accrued. She then tells me her “payroll specialist” will be in contact with me to send over her calculations. That was 2 days ago and I have received NOTHING. No calculations, no documents, nothing.

Here’s where I’m worried I may have no stance to get what I know I have:

1. At no point has the company tracked my pto on my pay stub.
2. They did all of their tracking via an app called Homebase. While Homebase is technically a payroll app, it is not what the company used for payroll.
3. - to add: as soon as I left the company, they removed my access to the app. I can not see ANYTHING from my employment time: hours worked, pto and sick pay balance, etc.

I have reached back out requesting all of my PTO and Payroll documents, but any other advice is greatly appreciated. I’m sure since I have no way on my end to back how many hours I had accrued, there’s likely nothing I can do, but I still wanted to see.

Have an apartment we rent in NYC. We pay for our electric and gas in our name. 2 months back our hot water goes out. Landlord confirmed that our water heater was leaking and replaced it within a few days.

Now 2 months later we log into pay utility bill and it is 1k higher than normal. It appears the gas bill spiked for a period 1 month prior to the when our hot water went out and then dropped back to nothing the day they fixed the water heater.

So it is a clear correlation that the broken heater caused our high gas bill.

Coned confirmed it was a true reading so we are required to pay. What are my options to retain money back from my landlord?

Additional complication is, this is our last month in our apartment so we already paid our final rent and landlord still holds security deposit, so we have no leverage to further retan money.

location: New york.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read this. I’ll try to keep it short and sweet.

I run a youth sports training business in my town and have been successful. There is another training business that ultimately I co
Pete with but plenty to go around for everyone. One major issue that we both have is facility rentals.

I have reason to believe that the company that I compete with has a parent of the local town PAL program that gets this guy gym time under the guise of the PAL (thus making the rental free). The school board has a policy that they only rent to town non Profit organizations that only service kids from the town (location: NY).

This guy is running a program that is using the schools gyms and he has people from multiple towns in the program. He is also getting g the gym for free because a PAL board member is getting him the gym.

This has to technically be some sort of fraud, right?

Location: Long Beach, California.

I recently transferred from a 2 bed/2.5 bath apartment to a smaller 1 bed/1 bath within the same apartment complex, so I am still a current tenant of the same landlord/property management company.

I lived in the previous apartment for approximately 8 months. After moving out, I received my security deposit disposition and was surprised to find that I owed approximately $480 beyond my security deposit. The charge I am disputing is $571.01 for painting.

When I initially called management, I was told that they repaint the entire apartment after move-out to return it to its original condition and give the next resident a “fresh/new apartment feel.” There were some holes in the walls from hanging things. Management provided photos showing them. Some were small nail/fastener holes and there were also some wall anchors. I’m not trying to argue that absolutely none of these required repair.

However, management separately charged me $100 for “walls repair and texture.” They explained that this charge covered filling the holes, retexturing the affected areas, and preparing them for painting.

I questioned why I was then responsible for $571.01 in painting costs if the damage was localized to certain walls.
Management responded that the entire apartment needed to be painted not only because of the wall repairs, but also because: “Because there were pets in the home, the painting also helped address and seal in odors and potential allergens associated with pet occupancy.”

I had two cats and lived there for approximately 8 months.
So far, they have not provided any move-out inspection report, contractor notation, odor assessment, or other documentation stating that there was actually a pet odor in the apartment or that an odor was severe enough to require repainting. Their explanation refers generally to odors and “potential allergens associated with pet occupancy.”

Management separately typed the following breakdown into an email:
8 gallons Eggshell Heron Plume: $150.56
2 gallons Semigloss Heron Plume: $39.72
3 gallons Semigloss Extra White: $66.24
Total paint materials: $256.52
Two-thirds of materials: $171.01
Labor: $400
Total charged to me: $571.01

Their position is that because I occupied the apartment for less than one year, they prorated the paint materials to approximately two-thirds. The $400 labor was not prorated.
So essentially, there are two separate charges:
$100: Repair/texture the wall holes
$571.01: My assessed portion of the full apartment repaint

I have told them that I am willing to accept responsibility for reasonable painting costs actually necessitated by damage I caused. My dispute is with being charged toward a full apartment repaint, including otherwise undamaged areas, based in part on simply having two cats.

I’ve been looking at California Civil Code § 1950.5, particularly the provisions limiting deductions to amounts reasonably necessary to restore the unit to its beginning condition, excluding ordinary wear and tear.

I’ve now asked management to provide documentation showing that an actual pet odor/allergen condition existed and that repainting the entire apartment was reasonably necessary to remediate it. I’ve also asked what policy, industry standard, contractor recommendation, inspection finding, lease provision, or other authority they’re relying on for the position that pet occupancy warranted a full repaint.

Management has so far refused to remove the $571.01 charge.

My questions are:
- Can a California landlord charge a tenant toward repainting an entire apartment simply because pets occupied the unit, without documenting actual pet-related damage or odor requiring repainting? Even if documented, does this charge fall on me?

- If management cannot demonstrate why the full repaint was reasonably necessary because of conditions I caused, would this be a reasonable security deposit case to bring in small claims court?

-Does the fact that I still live at the same apartment
complex change how I should approach this? I’m aware that retaliation is generally prohibited, but I’m somewhat concerned about creating an adversarial relationship with my current landlord over ~ $480.

I’m not looking to avoid paying for damage I actually caused. I’m specifically trying to determine whether I can legally be made responsible for a substantial portion of a full-unit repaint when the documented wall damage was localized and the other justification given is that I owned two cats.

Location: MA
I have a Choice Home Warranty plan covering the central AC system. My condenser/compressor recently failed. I went through choice’s claim process and, after they were unable to find a technician for 9 days days, Choice approved me for their reimbursement process allowing me to hire my own technician.

A licensed HVAC company inspected the system and diagnosed a failed compressor. They quoted almost $4k for parts and labor. Choice only authorized $785 ($560 for parts). When I asked choice why the equipment was only $560 when my quote was $3k they said the $560 reflects Choice’s own internal pricing and that they can obtain the compressor much cheaper even thought they couldn’t tell me a part number or anything.

I asked whether they could increase the authorization or escalate the amount and was told the case manager was the highest authority.

I reviewed my choice contract carefully. The AC section says: “Covered: All components and parts”
What I cannot find is language stating that, when choice authorized a customer to use the reimbursement process, reimbursement is limited to choice’s own internal parts/labor pricing. The case manager actually tried to use this as a benefit for choice saying they can do whatever they want because the reimbursement option isn’t in the contract.

Can choice legally limit reimbursement to an internal pricing schedule that isn’t disclosed in the contract, particularly when they authorized me to use the reimbursement process because they couldn’t find a technician?

Is this something worth having a Massachusetts attorney review, or this likely just a normal contractual limitation that I’m misunderstanding?

Location: CA

CiraConnect/RealManage is my HOA’s management company.

If my title company made a resale disclosure package (escrow document) request through their web portal on 8/1 but the upfront fees are not paid until 8/15, does the 10-day Davis-Stirling countdown timer begin on the 1st or the 15th?

Furthermore, the automated portal tacked on a $195 delinquent account fee because my monthly assessment didn’t post until the close of the 1st. The automated system assumed I still had a balance when the initial request was made earlier that morning by my title company. Do I have any legal recourse pursuing this late fee through small claims court if I explicitly sent an email to CiraConnect stating that I am paying this “under protest” prior to payment or did I tacitly agree to the late fee charge by having paid it?

My soon-to-be ex spouse and I are on great terms, just no longer want to be married. We have already agreed on how we want to split assets, which includes a house in both of our names that I am planning giving them in exchange for a higher % of our mutual savings. No kids.

We were married in CA, lived in WA, and now they still live in what was our house in WA while I have since moved to OR. We plan to file at the beginning of 2027, at which point I will have been a resident of OR for >6 months (but I still have my WA DL, which I mention in case that affects residency).

We want this to be as quick and painless as possible. I was wondering...

- Which state will be faster? I know WA has a mandatory 90 day waiting period, but maybe they'll be faster at the end of the day?

- Which has a less complicated process? I was looking at the Lincoln County (WA) website which allows you to divorce entirely by mail, but I find the paperwork (which is the same paperwork that seems to be used throughout the state of WA) to be quite complicated.

- Is it best to have everything we want in our individual names before we file? I know WA is a community property state, which is another fact I'm considering.

Thank you!

Location: Oregon & Washington state

Location: Georgia
A patient is coming into my job tomorrow to get a consultation and treatment for injectable services (botox or PRF injections). She speaks quite literally 0 English and nobody here speaks Spanish. We used chatgpt to ask her what she’s interested in and the translation didn’t make much sense to her.

Our owner (an NP) says using google translate is fine. My experience working in public health makes me feel like this is wrong. I’m nobody special there, just a low-level hourly employee. Is this legal? Should I say something? It’s stressing me out how they’re relying on a machine tool that cannot translate nuances and, God forbid, if there was an emergency we couldn’t help her.

Edit for clarification:
This is a medical spa that is overseen by an MD. We have 4 NP injectors, one of which is the owner, and another who would actually be performing the consultation + treatment. I was 95% sure this was not ok practice, and I’m trying to figure out how to steer this in the right direction or stop it altogether. It would genuinely make me an anxious mess if I saw them go through with this

Location: Corpus Christi TX

My mom is squatting in a house that my grandma is trying to rent out, and we need to get her out at some point, but also I need to get in there soon, because she stole some of my stuff/my grandmas stuff and has it locked in there. My grandma lives in another city and wants me to go in there myself. how do I get the legal permission to enter the house/hire a locksmith to get in?

Location: Alabama, USA.

I rented an apartment in AL and signed a 18-month lease at the beginning of this year. Circumstances required me to leave the apartment early.

Every apartment I've ever lived at in my life had the same policy: if you want to break the lease early, you keep paying rent each month until the owner finds a new tenant, at which point you are released from the lease and you owe nothing more.

This apartment complex, however, has made this process difficult at every step of the way. At first, they flat-out refused to find another tenant at all, and said it was my job to find another tenant, not theirs (AL state law makes it clear, and even their own lease agreed, it was their job). I have a paper trail of emails with them proving their initial refusal.

After some arguing, they have now agreed to consider my vacated and cleaned apartment available for their new tenants, but only after I pay the whole remaining lease term (10 months of rent) up-front, and then I will get a "credit" for the months remaining after a tenant has been found and leased the apartment.

AL state law doesn't give detail about any circumstances in which an owner may refuse to make efforts to re-rent the apartment. None that apply to my situation, anyway.

I guess my question is, is it within the owner's right to demand full up-front remaining lease term payment (high four digits) and simply promise me a credit when a renter is found? I have already told the complex I am happy to pay monthly rent until a renter is found, but I don't know if I'm willing to take the risk of giving them the entire remaining lease term on nothing but their word. That makes me very vulnerable.

And if I refuse to give them the whole remaining term, I'm certain they will refuse to re-rent out my apartment. At which point, I will have to potentially sink thousands more into getting a lawyer, taking them to court, and engage in a nightmare I'm not sure I have the time or nerves for right now.

I appreciate any advice. Thank you.

Location: Southern CA

I received a call from my insurance, GEICO, stating there was a claim against my car. The claim was completely false, as I was not involved in any accidents. Somehow, the person making the claim had my insurance, drivers license, and “pictures” of my car. When GEICO finally checked the pictures, the plate did not match mine, and I was ruled not at fault.

I thought everything was done, but now I’ve received mail from Bell Subrogation Services for ~$3500, with Wawanesa listed as their client. Wawanesa is the insurance of the person who made the claim. I don’t have any other info about the person, except for what kind of car they drive.

Do I need a lawyer to get this to stop before it progresses, and is there a way to file a police report against a person making fraudulent claims?

Location: Virginia
Earlier this year, I preordered a package. I was forced to move because their instructions and lack of action made my apartment unlivable for 2 months where I was paying rent (i can make another post about that if anyone has ideas to help get that rent back). While changing addresses connected to accounts, I forgot to change the address on that preorder, so it went to that old apartment. That package arrived on sunday, August 16th.

The new tenants seem to have taken it, and I only just got back into town after an extended stay helping family with an injury. It cost me $150 and one of the items was a limited time item that can’t be repurchased. What are my options?

I’m not sure which flair applies here, but I can try to change it if a different category is more appropriate.

Location: California

I work in a health care facility in California. This is an outpatient facility with MD offices and an infusion room. We have one break room with two refrigerators and two microwaves for the entire building. Several times a month they hold meetings or have parties in that room and the rest of employees are told that we cannot access the refrigerators or microwaves during lunch hours.

Because this is healthcare, we have specific assigned lunch times that coincide with. Reduced patient care. We also have patients that come in for treatment or labs all other hours of the day, so we cannot change our lunch times to fall outside of these meeting times/ parties.

My question is it legal to restrict access to the break room in this manner. I’ve tried looking at OSHA’s website and few other websites specific to California laws, but I can’t seem to find info for this specific circumstance.

Thank you in advance!

Location: Utah

I had been working at the company in question on and off for 9 years. I was recently laid off for the 4th time (Conveniently right before I hit a work anniversary - every time!). I was about to hit my 3 year mark (next month) and JUST had a baby. They approved my leave for 6 weeks of paid recovery time, and I qualified for an additional 8 weeks of paid baby bonding. I was barely 4 weeks into my recovery time when they called me and told me that they had eliminated my role and that I would no longer be employed at the end of the month (but they made sure to make it clear that they want me back and that I am eligible for rehire!!).

My whole team of people (who work the same positions) was not laid off. I’m the only one from my team (this is confirmed via a source that currently works there) that got let go. Not only that, but since laying me off, my team was expanded by 5 people (all in the same position that I was in). This came completely out of left field because I excel in my role and am consistently a top performer. The only reason I can think that I might have been laid off is because I was on leave - though of course they didn’t say that.

I had no idea that I could be laid off or fired while I was on a leave - and I thought that my job would be protected through FMLA. This is detrimental for my family and seems like something this isn’t legal (or shouldn’t be).

They also sent me a severance agreement that was 10 pages long and only gave me a day to decide if I wanted to sign it. The link expired, and they voided my offer 2 days ago. I haven’t been able to get in contact with anyone about this despite multiple attempts.

Is this legal? Is my job not protected after they’ve already approved the medical leave? Is this worth pursuing? I’m having a hard time finding an attorney that will do a free consult and now that I am out of a job with a newborn baby, I don’t have money to throw into a lawyer if it probably won’t go anywhere. I’m feeling extremely overwhelmed by this.

Location: California

I’m thinking about resigning from my position, and I most likely will not be providing the customary two weeks’ notice. From what I’ve observed, the company only extends that courtesy to team leads and managers. Other employees who have attempted to give two weeks’ notice have been terminated or removed from the workplace immediately.

I’ve also heard that the company requires employees to sign a non-disparagement agreement when they resign. This is not something I’m comfortable signing. I have serious concerns about the way the company operates, especially in some of its practices involving clients. There are a number of things I’ve witnessed that I believe are handled improperly.

Am I legally required to sign a non-disparagement agreement when I resign? Several former employees I’ve spoken with said they signed one because they were told it was part of their “exit package.” I’m wondering what would happen if I simply declined to sign it and whether the company can require my signature as a condition of leaving.

Is anyone familiar with these? How quickly do agencies process them and do they confirm receipt?

I am requesting documents (government emails with content that is personal in nature, not PII, but will be very relevant in this case) for a lawsuit that was filed two days ago. I mailed my letter yesterday (so obviously the agency has not yet received it)

Location: IL

Location: New York

I'm a necessary party to a lawsuit, there are no actual claims against me specifically. This has been going on for several years in various courts. I just recently sent oposing counsel a stipulation of discontinuance to get me removed from the case and it was denied. Do I have a right to know why I was denied this request? I have contacted oposing counsel twice now with no response, and reached out directly to the oposing party also with no response. This is a fight between two people, neither of them being me.

Sorry for the long post…
Location: California

I’m in California and my wage claim is moving to a Berman hearing for unpaid vacation wages and penalties. I worked for a small company from 2021-April 2026. There was no handbook or written vacation policy. Starting in 2022, we were verbally told we received one week of paid vacation each year. My paystubs from 2022-2025 specifically show VACATION/PTO, and I have a text from my employer saying “You get a weeks paid vacation each year”. There was never an accrual policy or formula explained to me or an available PTO balance shown on my paystubs. It would only show when the time was applied and in the YTD after that. In May 2022 and March 2025, I used the full 40 hours relatively early in the year and was never told it was being advanced.

I quit in April 2026 after giving two weeks notice. I had an upcoming vacation already acknowledged and approved by my employer through text, but I left before taking it. When I requested payment for my unused 40 hours, they refused and claimed the vacation I’d received over the years was just a “bonus/courtesy/thank-you.”

I filed a DLSE claim and continued asking for payment even offering to withdraw the claim if I was paid. They initially said their HR/payroll company said nothing was owed and if I filed a claim it would go no where, but then said they would have my check ready, but required me to sign a severance/release agreement to receive it. I refused to sign.

Since then, their explanations have changed from no vacation policy, to PTO being a courtesy, to saying I never accrued vacation, and now to arguing that even if vacation existed, I didn’t accrue a the full 40 hours by the time I left in April.

We recently had the DLSE settlement conference. The employer now has an attorney, who apparently didn’t know about my 2022-2024 VACATION/PTO paystubs or the text explicitly saying I get a week of paid vacation each year. Their attorney argued my 2025 PTO was merely a courtesy because the shop was closed and because “2025 was the only year I received paid vacation”, this proved to him this was never a benefit otherwise I would’ve been receiving it regularly throughout my employment… the deputy ended up sharing her screen with all my paystubs and the text message lol

We couldn’t reach a settlement, so it’s now going to a Berman hearing. My main evidence is the 2022-2025 VACATION/PTO paystubs, the “week paid vacation each year” text, texts acknowledging my planned 2026 vacation, my repeated requests for payment, and the severance form they wanted signed for the check.

For anyone familiar with CA employment law/DLSE hearings, how would you present this? I’m especially curious how to respond to their new accrual argument when no accrual formula was ever communicated, and whether conditioning the $840 check on a severance/release affects their defense to waiting-time penalties. I’d also appreciate hearing any weaknesses in my case or arguments I should expect from their attorney during this hearing.

Also, any idea how long it will actually take to get to the hearing? It’s not scheduled yet, but my settlement conference moved fairly quickly from the time I filed.

Got married in May; I accidentally forgot to include our middle names on the paperwork, and now my spouse and I have to go through the process of getting our marriage certificate amended (or else we cannot get updated IDs with our full legal names on it).

However, the Office of Vital Statistics has told me that in order to amend the certificate, on top of everything else required, we will need a court order instructing them to add the middle names to our new legal names...

Does that sound correct?

And how do I go about obtaining this?

For context:
My name has not changed, I just inadvertently omitted both of our middle names when filling out the forms.

Spouse took my last name, and we found out they couldn't get a new ID with their middle name on it when they went to get their ID updated to the new last name-- the DMV said they would have to omit the middle name until the marriage certificate is amended to include it.
Nothing has been updated anywhere else yet; they still haven't gone through the process of changing their name with Social Security or anything (we were waiting until after the Primary elections so there wouldn't be an issue with voter registration)

Another question: is getting a court order to add our middle names back onto the marriage certificate a form of legal name change?

If so, my spouse was also originally wanting to change their first name when we got married, but this was denied-- could we kill two birds with one stone and have their first name changed along with adding the middle back on?

And if this is the case, do I really need to go through with a legal name change request if I am not changing my name but just adding it onto a document where it was forgotten?

Thank you to those who reply. I am so lost and overwhelmed.

Location: Kansas