The story is this…I worked for a landscaping company. They were never able to get my paycheck correct. I still haven’t figured it all out yet. When I quit, they refused to pay me the final paycheck. The paycheck before that was NSF the first time and a month later my bank sent it in and was able to cash it. In that time…three weeks to a month after I had left and 1 and ½ weeks after the official payday I received a check to cover the one that we thought bounced and my final check (which was still incorrect). I didn’t notice the extra money and in all that time I had submitted 3 demands for payment by fax, regular mail and certified mail (which was never picked up). So here I am 2 months after my last day there and they call and say they want to be repaid within a week. Do I have to pay them? We were going to small claims when they threatened not to pay me. The guy kept saying the check was in the mail and eventually I got it from him directly and never received anything in the mail. We vacated the court date since it was paid and the only thing I sent him was a letter stating that I believe I was paid in full on the date the checks were cashed. With all this time in between and all this drama and the fact that he would have paid more if we had gone to court what should I do? I don’t want to do anything illegal, but I am not an accountant and should not have to figure all this out before paying him back. Am I entitled to the fees I paid for court, having him served and all that? Please help me understand EXACTLY what I should do so this doesn’t come back to bite me.

Yes, you can be required to repay an overpayment of wages. He can take you to court to get the overpayment. I would suggest that you ask him to outline in writing how much he thinks you own and how he arrived at that sum before repaying him.

If your case against him had proceeded to trial, you could have requested repayment of your court costs then. You could have requested repayment before dropping the case. I don't think you have any legal grounds to get them back now.

Should I respond in writing when he simply called and left a message or should he be submitting this in writing to me? Also, is there a statute of limitations for him to make this request like there is for me as an employee to ask for money owed to me?

Don't do anything. If he wants the money, let him persue it.

Treat it like the out of court settlement it is.

That is how I feel too. I want to make sure that I am within my legal rights at this moment and it sounds like I am by waiting for him to ACTUALLY do something. It wasn't a formal request, it was a demand left on a cell phone. The guy is a real piece of work.