Help me keep my business and house!

Hello,

My name is Mariah and I started my own Massage Therapy business in 2014. I have worked extremely hard to grow my business over the last 9 years, having survived the Covid shutdown, and I currently employ 15 amazing therapists and staff. Now my business is being jeopardized by a former disgruntled employee who is suing me.

This employee was fired for cause back in May of 2023. She filed for unemployment and lost at the end of June, the government said she was fired for cause and insubordination. She then filed a complaint with the state license board to try and have my professional license revoked and that case was dismissed on 8/25/23. Now she has filed a labor and wages lawsuit against me only after loosing both her unemployment claim and attack on my professional license.

I was informed by my lawyers that I am unable to counter sue for their fees or court costs due to it being a business suit. It is $5000 retainer and will likely cost another $100,000 to defend! Of course she has hired bottom feeding attorneys who will keep pushing the matter just to try and win and take more money from me…which is her purpose.

This woman was a former client who sang my praises and told many many people that if it wasn’t for me and the rest of my staff she wouldn’t be walking or physically able to work! I hired her because of those words of praise, treated her very well, and paid the best I could for a growing business. We expanded into a larger location less than a year ago and all my money is tied up in the buildout of that business and I had to guarantee the loan with my house, meaning if I lose my business not only are 15 others out of jobs but my husband and I will loose everything!

My company is a recovery center where we focus on helping people who have chronic pain issues, surgery and injury rehabilitation, and athletic performance using acupuncture, chiropractic, massage therapy and yoga. My entire staff is here to help the community because each one of them had injuries that brought them into their field and helped them recover. Everyone is passionate about what they do and who they help, this former employee was as well and then that drastically changed. She didn’t complain when working for me but multiple incident lead to her termination. I was then told by staff members that she said she was going to ruin me, destroy my business, and take me down. For someone I helped walk and be able to work again I don’t know how she can do this and tell all these lies and get away with it. So, I am trying to keep my wonderful staff employed, pay my work and my house bills and deal with this horrid, malicious person.

I have everything in line to prove that she is a liar, that she is just doing this to hurt me and doesn’t have a case (because if she actually did she would have filed all this when she was fired and not months later). Funding is where I am short. I have everything I can think of for sale and still need help to retain a lawyer and deal with this. Please help a small, woman owned, veteran supported, business stay open and employing 15 other people and donate. Even a dollar helps, but anything you can spare, to help me fight these viscous lies and pay for the attorneys needed to do so would be forever appreciated.

Thank you so much for your help and my team thanks you too!