Expert: Robin Sexton - 9/25/2009

Question
my husband has been working for this company for 16 years left the job for 2 years due to a law suite he had against them in the 2 year time frame they called him ask him to come back to the company he did so and it has been five years he has been back he just found out from employee that the boss was bragging that when he came back 5 years ago that him an his brother ( witch is the owner of the company) put metal shavings in the engine of his car to blow it because he had sued him to pay him back now my husband just found out about this is it to late to do anything about this beings he just found out about it WE DO HAVE 2 WITNESS AND THE OWNER'S BROTHER  PRETTY MUCH TOLD HIM HE DID IT

Answer
Susan,

Criminally depending on your state the statute of limitations may have passed.  From your question it appears that there was no engine damage, modern filtering usually prevents this anyway.  In our society we have two directions of going with this.  First is criminally, the standard of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt.  In this situation with the time frame and the lack of physical evidence it is unlikely it would be proved in court.  The mere fact that the person admitted to it is not enough. You can call your local police and discuss it with the.  I would probably make an appointment with a supervisor or detective and go and talk with them as compared to patrol officer. The next level is civil which is preponderance of proof. There may be a case here but again the time frame is the issue.  For an answer to that question you need to talk with a local attorney and review the case facts.

Hope this helps


robin