Any advice on what action can we do to that freelancer?

Nov 15 '20 maud_gleichner 2308 clicks ask

What should we do with the VA that just been terminated by Client because of her inefficient work result.

After she received her last payment she deleted all the files that I worked on in Canva. I just forgot to change the password on that platform and unfortunately all the IG content graphics for 1 month and the 43 pager ebook is now all gone 😭. It's a shame that she's also a Filipino and our Client said that she's saying a lot of negative things to me. She also deleted 4 gmail accounts under the client's gsuite and also deleted my google voice. Luckily I recovered it. She did all that after she received her last pay.

Any advice on what action can we do to that freelancer?

7 Replies

Always keep copies of your own filed!

When I hire freelancers, i get all copies of id for proper identification.

You can sue her. An agreement has many forms, written contract is just one. A verbal agreement will still hold too, depending on the given circumstances. I'm sure your company has communication logs (chat conversations, emails, voice recordings, etc.) that can corroborate your statements. A contract to be considered legally binding only has 3 requirements, and "writing" is not necessarily part of that. This however will be tedious, but if you could find a lawyer that has experience on this, much better.

Another option would be to report the person to the immediate platform where the hiring process took place. The same requirements - provide evidences of your statements and claims against her (communication logs as mentioned above).

Last, would be to broadcast what happened on all your networks and known online platform for freelancing.

Actually, you can do all of that, but if you are taking up the legal proceedings, your lawyer would advise you on what to do, especially if you're planning to keep posting because your lawyer would also want to protect you from any criminal liabilities such as libel. But there are ways to circumvent libel online without compromising how you want to divulge the entire mishap.

Good luck!

P.S. The first thing your company should do now is to run a security check on all your accounts. Make sure that 2FA protocols are in placed and access to such protocols are limited to essential personnel only.

When contracting freelancers, always have them sign a contract or NDA and don't give them access to sensitive data and G Suite, especially if account ng client. You can just share credentials via LastPass para if nag end na yung contract just remove them from accounts, you won't need to change your passwords. And sa Canva naman you can download everything the contractor worked on for backup. Kasi if you didn't take security measures, the client has the right to put the blame on you. Also, not a good idea to namedrop the freelancer as this will just backfire on you if you didn't practice due diligence. Unless you have exchanges with the freelancer showing hints or threats that he'll do what he did.

try consulting a lawyer. I believe you can still file for damages. pwede ka rin magrequest sa service providers like google kung pwede irestore yung files/accounts baka pwede pa.

What a shame! What was the method of payment? If it's paypal then maybe you can contact paypal to probably get the money back?

Unprofessional behavior..

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