10.1.3 Lawsuits

10.1.3 Lawsuits aetrahan Mon, 11/21/2022 - 14:30

A suit must be filed within 3 years.1  Venue is appropriate in any of the locations authorized by the Code of Civil Procedure and also in the parish where the work was performed.2  If wages were paid but not paid timely, a suit seeking only penalties and attorney fees still states a cause of action. The employer must pay the employee’s reasonable attorney fees if the suit is “well-founded,” which means that a judgment awarding past due wages has been entered in favor of the employee.

The law allows penalties of 90 days’ wages or full wages from demand until payment, whichever is less, to be assessed against an employer who fails or refuses on demand to pay all undisputed amounts.

  • 1La. C.C. art. 3494.
  • 2La. R.S. 23:639.