01x102 - Vandalism Therapy

[bunniefuu]

- You are a driver?
- Yes.

How come you vandalized her car?

Just aggravated with the day.

Well, we have a camera system.

He actually ripped it off.

- You cut the wires?
- Yes.

I can't argue about that.

[Judge Judy laughs] I would believe that.

[announcer] This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Sherry Ary is suing
independent contractor James Furtado

for car damages, breach of contract,
and tow fees.

[Kevin] Court come to order.

Be seated, please.

- Hello, Judge.
- How are you?

Case 1093, Ary versus Furtado.

Thank you.

Ms. Ary, you have a business.

And let me see if I can summarize

what I understand your business model is.

You own a fleet of cars.

- Uh-hmm.
- Not uh-hmm.

- That's a yes?
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] How many?

Uh, how many currently?

Six.

[Judge Judy] And what you do
is you lease those cars or rent them,

either by the day,
by the month, by the week

to drivers, who you do not employ,

they're their own independent contractors.

They pay for the rental of the car,

they do trips for you,

from your client list,

and they get to keep a portion
of whatever the trip is.

Is that the business model?

- Yes.
- Correct?

Yes.

[Judge Judy] So let me understand
the dynamics of it.

Do you rent the cars
by the day, week, month?

Daily.

[Judge Judy] How much
do you charge for a day

to the driver, you are a driver?

- [Sherry] Okay.
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] How much do you charge a day?

- There's different fees.
- [Judge Judy] Why?

It all boils down to about 45%,

is what the company actually receives.

[Judge Judy] So they don't actually lease
the car from you,

you take a percentage

of whatever the fares are?

- Yes. What the fares are, exactly.
- [Judge Judy] Okay.

So they don't, say, pay you

a hundred dollars plus a percentage.

They work in your car

and what they pay you is 45%

of whatever they collect that day.

Yes.

- [Judge Judy] Is that the way it works?
- No.

[Judge Judy] Okay. How does it work?

Depending on how she sees
that the money is going in

for that driver that day,

she either pay 65%,



or she decides to do it 50/50,

- whatever she wants to do.
- [Judge Judy] Okay.

- Okay. So...
- And we are just... sorry.

But what you don't do
is pay her for the car?

[James] Yes, we do.

- [Judge Judy] You do? How?
- Yeah.

It's either depending on
if the car was one of the Dodges,

seven dollars, maybe five dollars a day.

If it was one of the Mitsubishis,

$10 a day.

So in addition to whatever percentage,

you pay for the car per day?

Plus two dollars for each dispatched call.

Plus a dollar for a deductible a day

and a dollar for escrow.

- Per day?
- Per day.

Does that sound right?

Not all of it.

[Judge Judy] What part is not right?

Okay. Um, the fee of two dollars
is actually $1.85.

That does fluctuate.

I know, it's nothing.

But if you look at it towards
a long period, it is.

- But everything else
- Keep going.

- [Sherry] And
- Everything else is correct?

Everything else is...yes, it's close.

[Judge Judy] So you do in fact
charge per day to rent the car.

Uh-hmm.

- [Judge Judy] That's a yes?
- Yes.

- [Judge Judy] And that's a yes?
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] Even though
it's a minimal amount of money.

- [James] Yes.
- But you do charge them.

Okay. And you, Mr. Furtado

Yes.

[Judge Judy] Mr. Furtado
had driven your cars

for a period of time,

for how long, Ms. Ary?

Since April of 2020

until July 18th of 2021.

[Judge Judy] Had he driven every day?

Seven days a week, five days a week,

- four days a week, how do
- Usually five shifts.

- [Judge Judy] Five shifts?
- Yes.

- [Judge Judy] Which is five days.
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] Correct?

Sometimes.

[Judge Judy] Okay. Sometimes more...

[James] Sometimes more. Sometimes less.

Depending if there was
a situation with me.

- [Judge Judy] Okay.
- And I couldn't drive.

[Judge Judy] In July of 2021

when there was an incident.

And according to you the incident,

which will be described to me later,

resulted in you calling in Mr. Furtado

when telling him that you were
placing him on suspension.

That's what you say in your complaint.

You then say Mr. Furtado says,
"Then I quit."

And you asked him to return the car,

he said "If you want the car,
come get it, it's in my driveway."

When you went to get the car,
the car wasn't there,

Mr. Furtado told you
that it had been towed,

that he had called a towing company.

He says he called the towing company
to pick up the car

because he was afraid that you would...

I'm telling you what you wrote,
that you called a towing company

because you were afraid

that the plaintiff would call the police

and report the car stolen,

and she said she'd be there in an hour,

she wasn't there in an hour,

so you called the towing company.

So what you're suing for

is damage to the car

that you say that the defendant
did to the car,

breach of contract,
I don't know what that is,

loss of business, tow fees,

and harassment of clients.

The harassment of clients, the only thing
that you alleged in your complaint

is that he passed out his business cards

to drive independently
of your company to your clients.

That's the only allegation in here,
is that correct?

I have a couple more.

It's the only allegation
that's in the complaint.

- Okay.
- [Judge Judy] With regard to your clients

and harassment,

unless I'm missing something.

[Sherry] Oh, well,
also the harassment could be

to another coworker
that he worked with. And...

- Oh, no. Not the...
- [Sherry] Okay.

That's not pled in your complaints,
so I'm not paying any attention to it.

So the harassment of clients,

I'm deleting that.

[theme music playing]

How come you vandalized her car,
Mr. Furtado?

- Just aggravated with the day. And...
- [Judge Judy] Got it.

Okay. Honest, aggravated,

cost money to be honest
and aggravated sometimes.

Okay. I got it.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Sherry Ary claims
independent contractor James Furtado

owes for car damages, breach of contracts,
and tow fees.

James is countersuing,

claiming he was wrongfully terminated
by Sherry.

[Judge Judy] Now I am taking a statement

that he did in fact give out
his business cards to your clients.

I'm taking that as a fact.

- Yes, but there's also...
- [Judge Judy] Just a second.

a text stating from one of the clients
that he harassed them.

- Harassed her.
- [Judge Judy] Just a second.

I'm not taking a text from a client.

- Okay.
- [Judge Judy] That's hearsay.

- Okay.
- [Judge Judy] What I'm saying

is if a person has a claim
against the defendant

for harassment that person
can file a complaint

and that complaint
will be heard by a court.

But handing out business cards

is not harassment.

It may be a violation

of a written contract
that you have with him

- and that I'll of course see.
- [Sherry] Understood.

Because you do have
money owed for breach of contract.

But harassment of clients is out.

Now damages to the car.

On what date did you pick up the car
from the towing company?

[Sherry] I think the 18th,
the same...the same evening.

And what damage do you allege
was done to the car?

Well, we have a camera system
and it also is connected to a gateway

and he actually ripped it off, cut it off,

and the way he ripped it off ruined
both equipment to the vehicle.

- And also...
- [Judge Judy] Was it left in the car?

Yes, it was.

It was left in the car
but it was taken apart?

[Sherry] It was cut and pulled.

May I see it, please?

See a photograph of it.

Here's pictures of the vehicle.

[Judge Judy] How long had Mr. Furtado

had the car, that particular car?

[Sherry] He's had it
a pretty long time, actually,

when he started to help out...

- [Judge Judy] Did he have it July 16th?
- [Sherry] Yes.

- July 14th?
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] Okay. Is that correct, sir?

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] And this unit

that you are referring to

was operable on July 14th and 15th?

I have pictures of him
actually in the car that same day.

- [Judge Judy] May I see that?
- Yes.

And also the GPS which shows that too.

[Judge Judy] Do you have
an estimate to fix these?

- [Sherry] Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] May I see them, please?

[Sherry] So repairs of receipts...
I have receipts.

[Judge Judy] I just want the receipts
so far for those two things

where the wires were cut.

[James] I have copies
of the so-called receipts.

[Sherry] Just the...
for the wires that were cut.

Okay. Got you.

Just for the wires that were cut.

[James] Would it be faster for me
to get them out?

[Judge Judy] Sure.

Yeah, it would. Definitely. Thank you.

[James] This is the only receipt...

or receipts that I received

that has anything to do with the camera.

- [Judge Judy] Okay.
- [Sherry] I have more here.

I just have to find them.

[Judge Judy] It is $85, is that correct?

No. No, $85 was just to check,

if it was operable any longer.

Labor of installing or servicing.
Eighty dollars.

Okay. What I have here
is the cost of the equipment itself.

Just a second.
Did you install this yourself, sir?

- No, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] She did?

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] Yeah,

- but you cut the wires.
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] There's no question
that you cut the wires?

I can't argue about that.

I know.

[audience laughs]

I got it.

Then just show me

the paid bill

to reinstall,

if they had to reinstall...

[Sherry] It has not been reinstalled yet.

I have not received the equipment yet.

- From whom?
- [Sherry] A company that actually...

[Judge Judy] Well,
how do I know what it costs?

[Sherry] Right here, ma'am.

- Okay.
- [Sherry] I have the bill and it...

I also have some other stuff here too.

- Don't give me a lot of other stuff.
- [Sherry] Okay.

Stuff I gave up about 15 years ago.

Just give me the bill.

[Sherry] Got you.

I do have the rate of five here,
at a thousand eight hundred

and some odd dollars if you need that.

[Judge Judy] How come
you vandalized her car, Mr. Furtado?

The wires itself,

just aggravated with the day and...

[Judge Judy] Got it.

Okay.

Honest, aggravated,
cost money to be honest

and aggravated sometimes.

Okay. Now what other damage
do you allege to the car?

[Sherry] Also he used superglue
in the vehicle

that damaged a lot of the interior.

Can I see photographs of that?

May I say something about that?

- [Judge Judy] Absolutely.
- Your Honor, I had her permission

to put up signs

because it made it easier
for the customers.

[Judge Judy] I'm not talking about signs.

- She said you superglued purposefully.
- The sign.

The signs. I superglued the signs.

She's gonna show me
if it's where signs would ordinarily go.

- [James] Yup. No problem.
- No problem.

No. No.

This isn't act of vandalism.

This is where clearly signs were.

Next.

Clearly signs were?

Where signs were.

They have Velcro for signs.

He was not given permission
to put those up there.

There were not signs
up there to begin with.

Show me...show me a picture of signs

- that you have in that car.
- [Judge Judy] Five hundred

and forty seven dollars.

Breach of contract.

What contract did he breach?

Independent contractor agreement
that we had

that he does not solicit to our...

May I see the contract

- that you signed with him?
- [Sherry] Yes, ma'am.

Contract.

[Judge Judy] You have
a signed agreement with him?

Yes, it's the very back one.

[Judge Judy] Did you sign this agreement?

- Is that the way you sign your name?
- I had...

[Sherry] It's on the back of that,
for the electronically...

- just the...
- [Judge Judy] Just a second.

Yes, ma'am.

Second to the back one.

[Judge Judy] Yeah,
that's the way he signs his name.

That's the way he signs it here.

- Okay.
- [James] Your Honor,

I'd like to say something
about that though.

- I'm gonna read it first.
- [James] Okay, it's...

Just a sec. Don't say anything.

No problem.

- [Judge Judy] What state do you live in?
- Florida.

[Judge Judy] Sarah, see if you can find
anything, in the state of Florida.

For the duration of non-compete clauses

in an employment contract.

I see in your agreement that he signed,

you've put in a four-year period

where he can't go to another company

or drive for anyone else.

I downloaded that from Swift Forms.

Oh, well, that's a problem.

[theme music playing]

Well, it gives your personal
information in the event

that they wanna contact you
independently of her,

which means that if they contact
you independently,

you would charge them less
than if they went through the company.

Okay. So that's gonna cost you 10 bucks.

- Oh.
- That's gonna cost you 10 bucks.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Sherry Ary is accusing
independent contractor James Furtado

of vandalizing her car
after he was suspended.

James claims he was wrongfully
terminated by Sherry.

[Judge Judy] I see
in your agreement that he signed,

you've put in a four-year period

where he can't go to another company

or drive for anyone else.

That's usually...I thought that...um.

I downloaded that from Swift Forms.

- Oh, well, that's a problem.
- [Sherry] Okay.

I actually find that four-year
non-compete clause

in this kind of situation
unconstitutional.

I can understand that if you're a driver

and you get fired, or discharged,

or you quit one company,

I can absolutely understand
the provision in this contract

that I guarantee you he didn't read

that says he's not allowed to solicit
business by handing out business cards.

You're not allowed to do that in here.

- I understand that.
- [Judge Judy] Okay.

- That's not harassment.
- No.

[Judge Judy]
It says that you're not allowed

to solicit business from any
of her clients for yourself.

- That's what it says.
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] Okay. So you can't do that.

And for that I'm gonna add

probably another 10 bucks
to the damage to the car.

Did you find anything?

[Sarah] Yes,
so it's a reasonable standard, so...

[Judge Judy] Yeah. Well, I find

if in the state of Florida, the standard
is a reasonable period of time.

I find four years totally unreasonable.

- Okay.
- [Judge Judy] But most contracts,

if you can eliminate one clause

that makes otherwise the contract legal,

you don't necessarily have
to void the entire contract.

And there are other provisions in here

that clearly lay out the responsibilities

of both parties to the contract.

So I am deleting

because it's an unreasonable period

and therefore unconscionable,

and therefore depriving
the defendant the ability

to work and earn a living,

the four years that you've placed in here.

So that part I'm absolutely eliminating.

And is that the breach of contract
that you were talking about?

[Sherry] Soliciting to the clients
that we have in our contact list.

Well, he's not allowed to do that.

You're not allowed to use
her contact list.

I don't know what contact list
she's talking about.

But the only kind of soliciting
I did was...

- [Judge Judy] Hand out cards?
- The cards.

- [Judge Judy] Okay.
- But if you look on that card...

can I give you this?

Doesn't say nothing
about a business on that card.

It just has my personal information.

Well, it gives your personal information

in the event that they want to contact you
independently of her,

which means that if they contact
you independently,

you would charge them less
than if they went through the company.

- That's what it means.
- Okay.

- [Judge Judy] Right?
- Yup.

Yup. Okay. So that's...
it's gonna cost you 10 bucks.

- [James] May I say something about this?
- That's gonna cost you 10 bucks.

Oh.

[Judge Judy] That's gonna cost you


[James] May I say something
about this now?

- [Judge Judy] No, not yet.
- Okay.

[Judge Judy] How much did you pay
in tow fees to get the car from...

- One twenty-five.
- [Judge Judy] Hmm?

One twenty-five.

So far he owes you $682.

That's for the damage to the car
from cutting the wires

at the maximum price that you gave me,

$129 for some other gizmo,

$10 for passing out his business cards

which is a no, no, and a $125 for towing.

Because you shouldn't have had
the car towed, sir.

You had the car towed
because you were angry.

And she had to spend money
to get the car out of towing.

Now you have counterclaim
for wrongful termination.

Explain that to me.

[James] I believe that once Ms. Sherry

says, "You're suspended."

She gets the car back, you're really fired

cause she don't like to fire people.

[Judge Judy] Well,
do you know the reason why

she was suspending you?

Just because I made a comment
to another driver.

Okay.

What was the comment?

And what was it about?

[James] It was about how the driver

did not put the pictures

and condition of the cars
at the beginning of the shift

like everybody else did

and I just asked her why

and she came back and said,

"Well, it's really none of your business."

And then I had another c*ck remark
I can't say.

- But it's still...
- [Judge Judy chuckles]

- I would believe that.
- [James] It's still kind of clean though,

it's not really bad, but...

[Judge Judy] Then she said,
"Then you're suspended."

- Something very minor, yeah.
- [Judge Judy] Okay.

And then you said, "I quit?"

[James] I'd been telling her for months,

I don't play the suspension game

if you're gonna work me, work me.

If not, that'll be the day I quit.

She knew that.

[Judge Judy] Okay.
Well, don't tell me what she knew.

Did you say, "I quit?"

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] Oh, okay.

Fine. Good.

Then you have no claim
for wrongful termination. You quit.

Okay. So Ms. Ary.

The amount of money
you were requesting on this claim

is $8,000.

Actually stretching your damages

to as far as I can stretch them.

Your total damage is $682

and that's what I'm awarding you
on your claim.

The counterclaim is dismissed, we're done.
Thank you.

[Kevin] Court is adjourned.

[theme music playing]

Judge Judy always judges fair and just.

I think it was fair.

What he did was injust to the company.

Lies and nothing but lies.

He constantly disrespected other people.

About me being a bad driver,
me giving an attitude.

Constantly going off on dispatchers

and just leaving so much stress
within the work environment

with everyone that worked with him.

I've got so many reviews.

If you was to go on that website
and Google,

maybe about 30 of the reviews
is all about me

with a good attitude and everything else.

I mean, Velcro and superglue
all over the car.

I don't know what she's talking about.

He did not have permission to do that.

Got on your nerves,
so I guess I was just over the limit

that day that, you know,
all this happened, and...

[laughs] I couldn't believe it.

Yeah, just watch out for who you work for.

[Sarah] So although Florida
does have a reasonable standard

for non-compete clauses
and how long they can last for,

just the quick research
I was able to do courts in Florida

seem to deem anything under six months

as reasonable.

And anything over two years

to be unreasonable
or in need of more information

of why you need your non-complete clause

to last for that long, so...

- Yeah, it just didn't sound right to me.
- [Sarah] Yeah.

I mean, he didn't have
any real intellectual property

that had to be protected
for a long period of time.

And he earned his living by driving cars.

[chuckles] What was he supposed to do
for four years?

- Yeah.
- [Judge Judy] You know, as I always say,

I may take a different job
but I'm not gonna be a ballet dancer.

I'm always gonna stay in my lane.

So to prevent him from staying in his lane

for four years was outrageous.

Anyway, people should take that
as a lesson.

When you download forms,
they're not always right.

Uh-hmm.

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[theme music playing]