[MI] Do I need a lawyer for an age discrimination lawsuit? : legaladvice

Authored by reddit.com and submitted by missjeanlouise12

I met up with a guy from Plenty of Fish. He seemed normal when we were talking. So I meet him at the restaurant and there is an obviously much older man than the 30 year old that he claimed to be. I sat down and I told him I was under the assumption he was younger and he had told me he was younger. He claimed they were older pictures and that it must have been a typo (although his profile also said 30) and that he was actually 45 years old. I told him I was not interested in someone almost 20 years older than me and I wished him well. He began to raise his voice a little saying he had already ordered a dish and wine for me and I needed to sit down and eat with him. I went to the bartender and gave a brief explanation of what had happened and the manager walked me to my car while the bartender stayed with the guy to make sure he didn’t follow me.

I went about my merry way for a couple of months before I was served at work with papers stating I was being sued. I called the attorney listed to verify and he confirmed that they were real, he was a client and I was being sued the cost of the entire dinner and his travel expenses because I used his age as discrimination, which was also illegal. I made the mistake of giving him my last name, which is not common and he found my employer on Facebook. Everything has since been locked down or deleted.

Now, again, hear me out. I know this will get thrown out. I’m fully aware he’s crazy. Do I need to get a lawyer for this? Money has been tight and I’m paying off student loans galore. Is it possible to walk in the court room and represent myself and not be completely murdered by their attorney? Any and all advice is so completely welcome!

resilientroses on November 13rd, 2018 at 15:25 UTC »

I’m inclined to question how ethical this attorney is for taking on such a ridiculous claim. From the limited knowledge I have, age discrimination applies in the workplace. I don’t see how that applies here. It’s questionable how an attorney would connect those dots (based on what I know). I can’t imagine a judge not throwing this out because imagine all of the crazies who would sue bad dates.

Can any lawyers comment on the ethics of an attorney taking on a fishy claim?

zaffiro_in_giro on November 13rd, 2018 at 15:00 UTC »

He began to raise his voice a little saying he had already ordered a dish and wine for me

That alone is a great big beautiful red flag that should make anyone nope out right there. Someone who feels they have the right to make your choices for you (and gets annoyed when you don't agree) is not someone you want to be spending any time with.

sarahlizzy on November 13rd, 2018 at 14:56 UTC »

Surprised a lawyer took this case, but then again a lawyer once told some eejit he had an “arguable case” for suing me for libel because I blocked him on Twitter.