Expert: Mark J. Markus- California Bankruptcy Attorney - 5/27/2009

Question
I got laid off on May 7th with a few other employees and were told that the company filed Chpt. 11 and were restructuring the company. A few days later, I found out that the courts didn't pass the company's request for Chpt. 11. In the course of all this, I still have not received my last paycheck (for the two weeks prior to being laid off) or the paycheck for the last week I was there, plus 4 days vacation time I still had. Now I have heard they are filing Chpt 7 (liquidation).. is there ANY chance that I will get the money owed to me? What steps do I need to take to ensure I will get paid??

Answer
I have no idea what assets the corporation has or the amount of creditors who have priority over you, so there's no way I can tell you if you'll get paid or not, but you should file a proof of claim with the court so that if and when the assets are liquidated, you will get paid if there's any money left at that point.  You would have a priority claim up to $10,950 for wages earned within 180 days of the filing of the bankruptcy.