Long story short. I worked for a Dispensary for almost 2 years. When I was first hired in the employer said it might be a bit before I got my first pay stubs. Then 3 months went by and it became more and more apparent he was never going to put me officially on the books, the rest of my time there was me arguing to be put on the books and him abusing the fact I wasn't on the books.
He would pay me very poorly ($10/hr, expected to wear “many hats”. No overtime past 40hrs, no sick/vacation days, the works) When I finally pushed really hard about getting treated well including once again “we're done talking unless you can put me on the books official” he fired me in a text conversation full of incriminating things like admitting he was not paying me overtime amongst others.
My question here is do I have legal recourse here especially with the texts. Or am going to get in as much trouble as he would if I were to pursue this? I am in Michigan if that helps with navigating the legality. I am just not very good with knowing all my legal avenues here.