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Can You Serve Someone with a Collections Lawsuit at Their Work?

Chloe Meltzer | December 07, 2023

Chloe-Meltzer
Legal Expert
Chloe Meltzer, MA

Chloe Meltzer is an experienced content writer specializing in legal content creation. She holds a degree in English Literature from Arizona State University, complemented by a Master’s in Marketing from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Hannah Locklear
Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Summary: Being sued can put you in a stressful situation especially if you are served your papers while at work. Find out how to react when you find out about your lawsuit at your place of employment.

When you are served with a collections lawsuit, it can be ego damaging, let alone if there is someone around to see it happen. This is why there are strict laws in place to protect you as a consumer. Despite this, you can still be served with a collections lawsuit at work. But debt collectors cannot discuss the details of your suit.

You Can Be Served with a Collections Lawsuit at Work

Although embarrassing, you can be served with court papers for a collections lawsuit at work. Most often, they will attempt to serve you at your home first. But if the wrong address is present or you have been avoiding them, the next step is to go to your work.

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The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Protects You

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), is a group of laws that protect you (as a consumer) from debt collection companies. Debt collections agencies are legally banned from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect debts from you. Other violations of the FDCPA include:

  • Continued attempts to collect a debt that is not owed
  • Illegal or unethical communication tactics
  • Failure to announce as a debt collector
  • Threatening violence or other illegal action on the debt
  • False statements or lying of any kind
  • Improper contact
  • Sharing information regarding the debt with anyone other than your spouse (or parent if under the age of 18)
  • Excessive phone calls

If a debt collector breaks any of the laws in this act, you may be able to counterclaim, or essentially sue them back.

Act Fast When You're Served with a Collections Lawsuit at Work

When you are served at work it can feel embarrassing. The bright side is that as long as the debt collector abides by the FDCPA, no one will know why they served you. The next step you should take is to prepare your response and work on your case.

Respond to the Debt Collector

Typically you will have anywhere from 20 to 30 days to file a written response. You may need to pay a filing fee, and if this is unmanageable, you can request a fee waiver. You must respond. If you do not respond, it may lead to a default judgment.

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Avoid a Default Judgment

If you do not respond, or simply do not meet the filing deadline, the creditor will request to enter a default judgment. You want to avoid this because often the court will award the creditor the amount they requested. This essentially means you have lost your case. It is better to respond with hopes to settle instead.

Stop Sulking and Start Working on Your Response

The bottom line is that you can be served at work. Although this is not ideal, you will need to move past it and work on your response. You can also investigate other options such as a counterclaim if they violate the FDCPA, or challenging the statute of limitations. In the end, whatever you do, do not accept responsibility.

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to respond to a debt collection lawsuit.

How it works: SoloSuit is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your answer. Upon completion, you can either print the completed forms and mail in the hard copies to the courts or you can pay SoloSuit to file it for you and to have an attorney review the document.

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