UPDATE Nov. 24, 2023: I recently had a 1.5hr conversation with IRS about Jed’s theft of my wages, his failure to pay me overtime, his failure to pay taxes on my wages, and how his actions impact my tax liability and filing requirements. Because Jed considered me to be an independent contractor under IRS-1099, I don’t have a W-2 to file and didn’t know if I should file with my 1099 or another way.
After the IRS woman read IRS rules and hearing my details, she told me I need to file a 4-page questionnaire about my employment with Jed’s office, attach every supportive document regarding my employment including my DOL complaint and their response, and send it all to the IRS office for their investigation. They will take about 6mths to investigate my employment type and give me their decision if I was a 1099 independent contractor or W-2 staff member. If they decide I was W-2 staff who is required to be paid overtime and holiday wages, I can then use that report as irrefutable evidence from the IRS that Jed misclassified my employment and stole my wages for 4.5yrs.
When I file the IRS report and DOL decision as evidence in my case against Jed, only corrupt judges will find in his favor (which is very likely to happen given Jed’s 55+ yr reputation and relationship with those judges…)
I first need to take the time to file that questionnaire and send it to the IRS to start their investigation. In the meantime, I need to file my 2022 tax returns as if I was a W-2 staff member while using the $$$ reported on the 1099 I was given and just indicate that $0.00 in taxes were taken out with a note referencing the 4-pg questionnaire I had to complete.
Once the IRS starts sniffing up Jed’s tree, there won’t be a tree high enough for him to climb to escape from the target they will put on his back.
All in due time. First, I need to survive while I find another job.
***
I never imagined I would have to sue one of my employers for wage theft. And I certainly never expected that employer to be a constitutional, civil rights attorney with more than 50yrs of legal practice.
Since I began working with Jed Davis, Esq. of Jim Mitchell and Jed Davis, P.A. of Augusta Maine on Jan. 1, 2019 as his litigation paralegal, I always spoke very highly of Jed because he appeared to be a decent, honorable and HONEST man and attorney.
Boy, how wrong I was! I’ll elaborate on that in a different, much longer post - another day.
In August 2023, after Jed stole my wages on at least 3 different occasions, and he demanded that I work for free, I resigned from my job on August 21, 2023 citing their unfair and illegal payroll practices and theft of my wages as the reason for my leaving.
See that email below:
After contemplating my options for several days, I decided to file a wage theft complaint with Maine Dept. of Labor to ask them to investigate and determine if Jed did indeed steal my wages. I spent several hours reviewing my emails with Jed and his office, as well as my prior paychecks and invoices, and wrote this 10pg complaint to Dept. of Labor. Pasted below:
***
STATEMENT OF CLAIM FOR WAGES
DETAILS
September 6, 2023
I have never worked, or held myself out, as a paralegal before January 2019. In addition to working for Jed and M&D, I did some brief legal work for a pro se (self-represented) inmate at Warren Maine prison under supervision by his stand-by attorney. My wages were paid directly by Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services after Attorney Jennifer Cohen reviewed and approved my time, and she submitted my invoices to MCILS on my behalf. That job lasted only from March 2023 until August 31, 2023. I do not plan to get another job as a paralegal, or to work in the legal industry again. I recently switched my occupation to web design.
On or about December 26, 2018, I answered an employment post on Craigslist for a fulltime job as a remote Litigation Paralegal with the law firm of Jim Mitchell and Jed Davis, P.A. at 86 Winthrop Street, Suite One, Augusta, Maine.
I personally met with and was hired by Jed Davis himself on December 29, and started working on January 1, 2019 as Jed’s litigation paralegal. I worked from my home office 100% of the time due to my physical health problems related to my chronic back pain.
During the first 1.5yrs, I occasionally traveled to M&D office to cover the switchboard or work on a client case. I was given keys to the office doors and was given permission to enter the office after hours to do client or administrative work, which I did occasionally for the first 1.5yrs.
I worked Monday – Friday, 8a – 6p, every week without paid vacations, sick time, holiday pay or other paid leaves of absence. I routinely worked holidays, nights and weekends with no over-time or holiday pay. I routinely worked 8a – 6p, took a short evening nap and then worked through that night into the early morning hours every week. I routinely worked 7 days a week.
Beginning in 2020, I normally billed 50 – 100hrs each week. Rough estimate of the average weekly hours I billed is in the 60-80hrs/week range. A few times I billed more than 100hrs in a week, and many times 70-90/hrs in a week.
I was told in January 2019 that I was required to bill my time directly to Jed’s office in 6-minute increments for each client case I completed any work; I was prohibited from discussing client financial matters, my invoices or billable time with the clients.
I submitted individual weekly invoices to Jed’s office for each client case I worked that week, which were computed individually and numbered sequentially. I have copies of 2000 or more invoices dating back to Jan. 1, 2019, as well as dozens of emails I sent with my final invoices.
Jed’s office did not calculate or deduct any state, federal, Medicare or SS taxes, or take any tax-related deductions from my weekly paychecks. I computed, filed and paid self-employment federal and state taxes every year beginning for tax year 2019.
I am currently working on my 2nd Amended tax returns for years 2019 – 2021, and my original 2022 filing due end of October 2023. If my labor law situation with Jed is going to alter my tax situation, I may want to delay filing my 2nd Amended tax returns for 2019 – 2021 until DOL determines what my actual income was during that time, and if I am owed, and will be paid (through a lawsuit I will file) for wages.
I did not receive detailed paystubs outlining total hours I was paid. Jed’s office did not pay Workers Compensation or Unemployment insurances for me, nor did he add me to any group insurance policies he offered and paid for his in-office staff. I did not receive holiday pay, vacation time or sick leave at any time.
I was prohibited from having personal possession of confidential client files, so a laptop was assigned to me by M&D’s computer support team which they controlled and prevented me from making changes. I used M&D’s laptop to connect via secure connection to M&D office server to view and work on client files. All client files were stored on Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage attached to my M&D email account on M&D’s laptop so I had 24/7/365 access to my client files.
I was assigned an email address with M&D email account and communicated through that email account for all business related messages. Every message I sent to anyone regarding any part of a client’s case was also sent directly to Jed and M&D’s in-office paralegal, Christina Swatton, at the time the original messages and replies were sent. All work I completed was also sent directly to Jed and Christina, and other M&D staff members at the same time.
All “notes” I took regarding clients’ cases were transcribed and sent in email messages to Jed and other relevant individuals, with all related attachments and research documents. Any attachments that were too large to email I saved directly to M&D office server via the laptop.
The only work I did that was signed in my name by me were email messages to clients and other people regarding client cases, and only with Jed’s approval and direct involvement in every one of those messages. I was Jed’s “ghost writer” for most of his communications with clients, opposing counsel, courts and other relevant people, as well as “ghost writing” motions, complaints, notices and other legal documents.
All of my legal writings were signed by Jed Davis after he presumably read them, agreed with my writings and made his own edits. My name never appeared as the author or responsible party on any legal or official documents in any of my client cases. When Jed asked me to send email messages on his behalf, I prefaced my messages to the recipient with “Jed said…” or something similar. I was not allowed to speak on behalf of Jed and/or M&D without prior approval.
I was required to attend monthly staff meetings, case-related telephone calls and meetings, conduct new client intakes and consultations, and work on pro bono and administrative cases for a lesser hourly rate than I was paid for my work for paying clients.
When I was first hired in Jan. 2019, my hourly wage was $20/hr for billable time to clients, and $15/hr for pro bono and administrative work, plus reimbursement for mileage and out-of-pocket expenses (copies, etc). I did not receive any insurances, compensatory paid time off, vacation time, sick time, overtime pay, holiday pay, weekend pay, case-related bonuses (I received Christmas bonuses unrelated to any client case), profit sharing or any other financial benefit for or from my work.
I have not received any money as profit sharing or case-related bonuses from the hundreds of thousands of dollars that my work has brought Jed and his clients. My Christmas bonuses have totaled no more than $300.
During 2019, I worked as much as I was able, depending on the amount and type of work I was assigned. My weekly hours quickly increased to more than 50-60hrs every week, and I routinely worked holidays, nights and weekends every week. I love my work as a paralegal and wanted to work as much as I was able.
In July 2019, I was assigned the task of doing intensive research for our client, Peter Redman, regarding his $30M +/- legal malpractice complaint against his former lawyer related to the closure of his business, Northern Mattress Company, in 2007. We filed his complaint in court in 2022 which is currently pending a hearing before the judge regarding the statute of limitations and the defendants’ motion for summary judgment.
Preparing to file the Redman lawsuit required me to spend thousands of hours from July 2019 through July 2022 just reviewing and analyzing his thousands of legal and other documents that were directly relevant and critical to building a legal complaint and filing a lawsuit against his prior attorney.
Jed benefited from my work just for the Redman case in the amount of more than $100,000 from July 2019 through November 2022. Jed now has at least a 50% chance or better of winning $10M or more from the Redman case due to my work for which I would not receive any profit sharing or case-related bonuses.
There have been numerous times since I began working for Jed in 2019 that he questioned my total hours billed and required me to “adjust” my invoices to reflect a total hours billed that he was agreeable to pay and for which he could charge the clients directly.
I have at times refused to adjust my time billed and invoices, but I don’t have control over the amount M&D’s bookkeeper writes on my paychecks regardless what my invoices have for totals.
In early 2021, I demanded a pay increase to $25/hr, but Jed refused. He agreed to increase my pay to $22/hr for client billable time and $17/hr for admin/pro bono time.
In early 2022, I demanded another pay increase to at least $27/hr, but Jed again refused. He agreed to pay $25/hr for client billable time and $20/hr for admin/pro bono time.
In early 2023, I demanded a third pay increase to at least $30/hr, but Jed again refused. He agreed to pay $27/hr for client billable time, and $22/hr for admin/pro bono time.
Each time I received a pay increase, either before or shortly after, Jed increased his billing rate for my time that is billed directly to clients. Because I did not work in the office, and was considered an independent contractor, Jed and M&D did not pay income taxes or insurance on my wages. M&D essentially had no overhead or business expenses related to my billable work.
In 2019-2020, M&D paid me $20/hr and charged clients $85-95/hr.
In 2021, M&D paid me $22/hr and charged clients $95/hr.
In 2022, M&D paid me $25/hr and charged clients $115/hr.
In 2023, M&D paid me $27/hr and charged clients between $115/hr - $150/hr depending on type of work completed and who completed it.
I repeatedly complained at carefully selected times thru my employment that I was being grossly underpaid, was not given the same standard benefits or equal pay as in-office staff, I was working twice as much as they were, and I was basically “on call” and available 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year without fail.
I worked a lot because I love the work – not because Jed demanded it. Once it became clear to Jed and M&D staff that I was available and willing to work 24/7/365, Jed and staff did not hesitate to assign tasks for me to complete during a holiday, at night or on weekends. I never took a real vacation or sick time.
Jed regularly benefited from, and expected me to work after the office closed at 5p, including holidays and weekends. Jed would assign tasks for me to complete at night, and I commonly had email conversations with Jed about client work during all hours of the day and night, and especially between 12am and 8am any given day of the week.
I almost never declined or refused to do work assigned to me, and I almost always completed my work immediately upon Jed’s request, and most often sooner than it was due with very few, if any, errors. At least 50% of my documents and various legal writings were approved, signed by Jed and filed accordingly without making any of his own edits.
For my entire employment until early 2023, I was required to use my personal phone to make business-related phone calls to and receive calls from clients, opposing counsel, courts and other relevant people.
In early 2023, I requested and was assigned a physical desk phone that was connected to M&D’s new office phone system via the internet, and I was given my own direct telephone extension on M&D’s phone system which had a “sidecar” that showed other M&D internal office extensions.
Before I was given M&D’s office phone, I was asked on multiple occasions to travel to M&D’s office to answer the main switchboard for administrative rate of pay and no mileage for traveling. I agreed to cover the switchboard several times until the COVID pandemic began, but have almost never entered M&D’s office space after the very first mask mandates were effective in 2020 or early 2021.
After I was given M&D’s desk phone earlier this year, I was expected – and required – to answer the phone throughout the day from 8:30a – 5p M-F when it was needed. Two days in a row in mid-August, 2023, I was required to spend my entire days answering client and other office calls because M&D’s receptionist and other in-office staff were out sick.
During those two days, if I was able to do any work that was billable to a client, I was not allowed to bill for my admin time answering the phone during that same period of time.
In late 2021 or early 2022, I changed my bank to the same bank that M&D uses so M&D’s bookkeeper could directly deposit my paychecks into my bank account to prevent me from having to travel to M&D’s office and enter their office space only to retrieve my paycheck.
Since my paychecks have been directly deposited, I have not received weekly paper document showing amount paid to me, except for an electronic image of the physical check on my bank’s website showing the check that was deposited on my behalf.
I was never given any type of detailed paystub showing the # of hours I worked each week, rate of pay, or other standard calculations and income tax deductions. Before I asked for direct deposit into my new bank account, I received a paper check with attached remittance showing check # and amount, but not any of the standard information typically required on a paystub.
At the end of each year, I received a 1099 as an independent contractor, and I filed accordingly.
M&D clients complained about their legal bills even when it’s clear the work was necessary, and Jed gave reductions or discounts to clients who complained loudly and often enough. I was told on multiple occasions by M&D’s bookkeeper and office manager that M&D clients complained about everyone’s billable time – not just mine. And M&D had to give discounts for time billed by other M&D staff – not just for mine.
From April – July 2023, I worked very closely with Jed and his attorney daughter on our legal filing in the Redman case which required hundreds of hours to research, draft, edit and finalize by me, Jed and Jed’s daughter. During those months, I was billing 80-100 hrs a week, with invoices totaling between $2500 - $3000 per week to M&D for my work.
Because Jed agreed to take the Redman case on a contingent fee contract beginning in Nov. 2022, M&D was no longer getting paid cash for my work starting Nov. 2022 for that case. Because my work from April – July 2023 was focused on the Redman case, I was not available to work on hourly billing cases with my time comprising a very large part of those clients’ billing statements.
Due to the cash crunch caused by my unavailability to work on hourly cases because of my need to work on the Redman contingent fee case, M&D started having serious financial difficulties which included numerous clients complaining about their billing statements, with some clients filing formal fee arbitration complaints with the Board of Overseers of the Bar.
On August 4, 2023, after I successfully completed a critical portion of very detail-intense work for the Redman case, and after it was filed with the court in late July or early August, I was told that M&D was changing their billing rules related to my work. Those rules are pasted below:
Billing Rules 2023
1. Do not bill for internal office communications that are not SUBSTANTIVE in nature (e.g., administrative; assignment of duties);
2. Do not bill for “carbon copy” emails or “FYI” email forwards to you;
3. Client phone calls must be kept to under 1 hour . Any time exceeding that cannot be billed without pre-approval;
4. Emails to client emails that are unsolicited and/or unnecessary cannot be billed for;
5. Email chains involving short answers (i.e., Yes, No, Thank you, You’re Welcome, etc.) cannot be billed for anew (if the original email was billed for);
6. For extensive file reviews (lasting more than 4 hours), outlines must be made of the file and important documents separated;
7. No billing for “learning curve” time, including emails or calls about how to prepare or do something;
8. No billing for brainstorming emails that are not solicited by or among the staff;
9. No billing for the time it takes to construct a bill;
10. All billable matters must have descriptions that can be billed to clients—e.g., “email” must be specified as “email regarding ——"
11. For matters that will require more than 4 hours of work per project (e.g., file review), pre-approval should be obtained;
12. Work not necessary on a case (e.g., internet research that has not been discussed) will not be billed for unless previously discussed and approved;
13. Any amounts of time or activity that cannot be billed to the client—or to which the client legitimately objects—shall go unpaid by the Firm unless otherwise approved of.
Many days my work consisted only of emails only with Jed and other office staff without any involvement by or with clients. Given M&D new billing rules #1 and #13, none of my time doing work that does not directly involve the client is compensable, and when I billed for that time, they refused to pay.
From August 4 – 21, 2023, my tasks, hours and invoices were substantially reduced, I was only given work that was directly billable to clients, my work on contingent fee cases was taken away and given to in-office paralegals, and I was given a maximum number of minutes that I was allowed to bill for every task I was given. Most of those tasks were administrative in nature, or not billable at all under M&D new billing rules.
In essence, M&D’s new billing rules required me to work several hours every day without pay.
For the last few weeks of my working for Jed, he refused to pay what my invoices indicated, and he arbitrarily deducted hundreds, if not more than a thousand dollars, from 3 or 4 checks without proper justification. Each time M&D deducted money from my paycheck without proper justification, I objected in writing to Jed, and other M&D staff.
On August 21, I submitted my weekly invoices according to M&D new billing rules, and spent the entire morning exchanging emails with Jed and office staff about administrative tasks and client cases that did not involve the client. Under M&D’s new billing rules, none of my work the morning of August 21 was compensable.
Later in the day of August 21, after Jed’s daughter reviewed and again reduced my invoice totals, I received her email saying M&D was once again taking money out of my paycheck without proper justification, and that they were going to continue to do so until I followed their billing rules and stopped billing for tasks they didn’t want to pay me for.
Later that afternoon on August 21, Jed was required to attend a formal hearing with the Board of Overseers of the Bar regarding a fee arbitration complaint filed against him by one of his clients whose case I worked on. Jed required me to attend the Board hearing at 3:30p that day, as well as other M&D staff, for me to send him a summary of details surrounding my work and billing for that client’s case, and for me to be prepared to testify if required.
After I sent Jed a detailed summary of time I worked on that case, which was better articulated than I could have said orally during the hearing, I told Jed and other M&D staff around 2:30p that I was done working for the day and was not going to be available for the rest of the day.
I was immediately contacted by M&D’s bookkeeper about attending the Board hearing an hour later which I refused to attend. During my phone call with M&D’s bookkeeper about attending the Board hearing, I quit my job as Jed’s litigation paralegal citing their unfair, unprofessional and very questionable payment practices, their decision to take money away from me that I rightfully earned, and preventing me from working enough to pay my bills. I explained if I continued to work for M&D under their new billing rules, I would almost never be able to pay my bills because they continue to take money away from me. I told M&D’s bookkeeper that the last thing I should be doing that day is talking with the Board of Overseers of the Bar about Jed’s billing practices.
On Tuesday August 22, when M&D’s bookkeeper deposited my final paycheck – which did not include any time I worked on August 21 – that paycheck was grossly inadequate and incorrect. M&D again deducted money from my wages without providing proper legal justification. They said they disagreed with how many hours I billed, and they simply refuse to pay for it.
As of this writing, Jed Davis still has not said good bye – or anything else – to me since I quit my job at 2:45p on August 21. I did not submit any invoice for my work on August 21.
I contacted DOL to ask about laws surrounding my employment type and billing for my nature of work, as well as laws regarding overtime and holiday pay for my employment type.
Because legal billing is computed in 6-minute increments, I still billed for 6 minutes even if it only took 30sec – 5min to complete a task. Same is true in the opposite direction – it’s very possible, and likely, that it took me an entire 30min to complete a task that I billed 30min for despite 6-min increments.
Given the nature of legal billing that I was required to use, computing my actual hours worked and any overtime and/or holiday pay that is due to me will be difficult to calculate.
I have copies of over 2000 individual invoices since January 2019, as well as dozens of emails with my final invoices attached, that I can upload to online storage for your retrieval and review. I have not attached them to this summary because of the voluminous nature of those attachments. I can also provide bank spreadsheets of my paycheck deposits dating back to January 2019.
I look forward to your assistance to resolve this situation with my former employer.
Pasted below is a copy of my resignation email sent to Jed and M&D’s bookkeeper at 9pm, August 21:
I officially cancel my freelance employment contract as a paralegal with M&D effective today at 2:30p.
I first need to say that this is not the way I planned or wanted to leave M&D. I was planning to work with Jed until he retired but it became clear to me today that this job is no longer working for me for multiple reasons, personally, professionally and financially.
After Jed and Aglaia finished the Redman MSJ paperwork and filed it without including me in any way, I knew the end was near for me as a paralegal at M&D. I spent over 4yrs of my life literally reviving that case from a cold pile of legal ashes into a nice fire, so I was highly offended that I was excluded from the final paperwork - at the very least to proofread them (which I see they needed).
After the Redman response was filed, M&D's new billing rules were implemented, my paychecks were repeatedly reduced and I was told they will continue to be reduced, I knew I cannot continue working for M&D under these conditions. I cannot spend hours every day doing M&D work without any compensation as I did this morning working on Gisele Murphy's case which consisted only of internal emails and a telecon with Gisele about the next steps.
All of my time today is not be billable under the new billing rules, but I was expected to be attentive to M&D internal office emails all day from 8:30a - 5p without any promise of payment. And I was also expected to spend 1 - 1.5hrs of my time on the BOOB call as well. Given how I was feeling and thinking at 3:30p, it was best that I was not on a phone call with BOOB about Jed's billing habits.
Given the way M&D has taken hundreds of dollars away that I earned and need so I can pay my rent, internet and electricity so I can work for M&D (or anyone else), I had no other choice but to resign as your paralegal today. If I continued to work under these conditions, and neglect my other money-making projects, I will surely be homeless on the street in just a few short weeks. And before I get evicted, my internet and electricity will surely be disconnected when I cannot pay those bills.
I cannot and will not allow myself to be homeless again, so I had no other choice but to resign from M&D today so I can focus on taking care of myself and working on my other money-making projects that will pay my bills as winter quickly rolls in.
I have appreciated the opportunity to work with Jed and to learn what I've learned from him, and I have grown and succeeded in many ways because of my working with Jed. I have accomplished many things during the past 4.5yrs that I would not have been able to accomplish otherwise and never thought I would accomplish.
Now, it's time for me to move on to bigger projects where there is no ceiling or limit to my progress and advancement as there is now with my being a paralegal for M&D. I have clearly hit my glass ceiling with M&D as a paralegal.
I will not be submitting a timesheet for today because all of that time would have been taken away from me if I had billed for it.
Thank you, Jed, for the last 4.5yrs. Now that you have the Redman case under control, I hope you are able to get a decent settlement for Peter.
As I’ve said repeatedly, I knew you and I were brought together for a reason - and, as I've suspected, it was just for the Redman case.
It has been a privilege and honor to be the person to revive that case and restore Peter’s hope and definite possibility that he will have a happy and prosperous future.
Take good care of yourselves.
***
On Oct. 6, I had a very long and pleasant phone conversation with the Chief Labor Inspector of Maine DOL who told me the DOL did not have the resources to help me file a claim against Jed Davis and that I should go directly to court and sue Jed for wage theft. DOL said that - based on my written complaint to them - I did not qualify as an “independent contractor” under IRS rules and that Jed should have paid me overtime and holiday pay, as well paying federal and state taxes and WC/UE insurance on my wages - NONE of which he paid.
After laughing with the DOL inspector about how BIG A MISTAKE Jed Davis just made by fucking with me - OF ALL PEOPLE - I started scouring through my 2000+ weekly invoices and calculating wages owed to me for overtime and regular time that he stole from me sine Jan. 1, 2019.
My rough calculation so far shows Jed Davis owes me about $30,000 in regular and overtime wages; and, when I file my legal complaint I will be demanding TRIPLE DAMAGES under Maine law (< $100,000) for his intentional theft of my wages plus punitive damages and any/all legal fees I may incur during the lawsuit.
Instead of immediately filing a lawsuit with the court, I decided to give Jed a chance to rectify his “mistake” by hiring me back and paying me fair wages. I sent him this email on Sept. 27 asking exactly that:
On Sept. 30, Jed replied and declined to rehire me, as stated in his email message below:
So, as I told him, I will now have to sue him for unpaid wages and overtime.
That lawsuit will have to wait awhile because I don’t have the $140 to file the complaint because Jed stole my wages, didn’t hire me back and I can’t find another job that accommodates my physical restrictions.
While I wait for the Universe to puke a bunch of money into my life so I can proceed with that lawsuit, I am working diligently every day on my website hoping someday I will be blessed with paying members and advertising revenue so I can pay my bills again.
Jed Davis made the biggest mistake of his 55yr career by fucking with GinA. But, he already knows that - I know he’s just waiting for the fallout and hoping he dies before I come after him because his death will be better than huge public embarassment that I have planned for him.
When I have that legal complaint written, I will post it here.