brainstorming for creative solutions to a buisiness problem of my father: My dad started a digital photo lab early last year, contributing over $200,000 and his co-partner, lets call her V, contributed $40,000, and they each own 50% of the company. There are 2 other main employees, each one sides with one of the owners. Now...one thing to be done is retouching. This is an important source of revenue for the company, as it requires no expensive paper/machinery, just pure skill. Every image retouched was a pure $6 profit for the company, although only during company hours. V's husband B has now picked up a very hefty load of the retouching work, and makes an extra $1000 a month doing it. Even though he has a full time job, and V leaves early, etc...and my dad thinks that V is taking the retouching home and doing it in her spare time, therefore taking the profits for herself through her husband's name, instead of putting the profits into the company if she did the retouching at work. My dad has no way to prove his theory, but is sure this is the senario, for there is other theivery being done...stolen expensive software from my dads file cabinets, V's husband "mistakenly" charging expensive computer parts and photographic equipment to the company that my dad only found because he caught the numbers on his brief look through the finances. V and her husband suddenly came into a bunch of money and are putting in parquet wooden floors in her kitchen and for all my dad got paid last year 2005 for his hours amounts to $1.40/hour. At this rate he would never make back his initial investment and might give up on the company and lose a lot more. He could sue her and take the whole company, but in the end he would lose even if he won, and even if he confronts her about it, theres no one else who can do her job and the whole atmosphere would go to hell and the company would lose all of the customers she brings in. Basic failure. my dad turned the security cameras to see if anyone was going through his desk, and V and her friend turn off the security camera when they get there, so who knows what they do. My dad has developed insomnia, barely sleeps at all, and his health is getting worse from all the stress, and It would be wonderful to think of a creative way to help him out somehow. Does anyone have any ideas at all?
There's no question about the first thing he should do - get a lawyer quick. Then I suggest he get in touch with a head-hunter and have them find someone else with her skills. The lawyer can give him some good advice about what to do next. There are ways to quitely put a lock on her her interest in the business while the new employee does what was her work. And the lawyer may very well advise your dad to get a private investigator to help. In the end, if it can be proven that she's done as he suspects, he can sue her for MUCH more than just getting control of the company. She could wind up paying him for the rest of her life.
