Originally Posted by Pestle:
You're in your legal right, but most of us would say--spare yourself the grief, spare yourself the time off work to go to court, spare yourself the increased chance that she'll libel you online or in other ways that could damage your reputation.
You have to think about cost-benefit. What do you stand to benefit? In the grand scheme, very little cash and no other benefit. What do you stand to lose? Your time, reputation, and sanity.
So this becomes a learning experience, and while it's painful, it could have been worse. You learned: The worse the sob story, the LESS you need to offer. No pay, no stay. This woman could have borrowed money from a relative or had somebody else watch her kids until the first paycheck came in. People in desperate situations can still be responsible and respect the dignity of the folks providing child care.
Definitely stop texting her. Again, you stand to gain nothing from it.
Thanks for the advice. My gf said that we should chalk it up as a loss and to know to never do that again. She's had her doubts about this woman from day 1 & I see I definitely should've listened. Hearing about her separating from the kids dad which I forgot to mention , he picks them up in the afternoon, had me feeling bad and wanting to help but never again ! It just irks my nerves that there's no consequences for her actions but I'm wrong for wanting my payment and I'm "harassing" her.