[abfunders]

i would tread lightly on the 1099 vs w2 as well. if you gave them promises of income, email addresses, and it appears he/she was a employee, some states have challenged 1099's to be deemed employees and than all the benefits of an employee apply. there are some class actions (i.e. UBER) on this subject matter. most employment is at will , however, so, unless there is an employment contract overriding at will, not much they can do once you terminate.

Excellent point! Of course, there were no promises of income (commission only) and no hours he had to work. But of course there were some servicing that I expected him to do, and when he got a "real" job elsewhere, he stopped logging into the email entirely. But yeah, I did tell him up-front that I get to decide...