Valid case for small claims court, or waste of time?
He refunded your money...case closed. You can't sue him for loss of use of your car or for a % of your registration or for your 3 months of car insurance. Even if he 100% screwed you over and you can prove, you're still responsible for keeping your car registered and insured for the whole year regardless of any other facts, so he would not be liable for paying you back those fees. You also don't get to sue him to pay back your family for them letting you borrow their car for free. So, yes you're wasting your time because small claims court is to recoup *actual* losses you incurred, not perceived losses or losses they aren't liable for like your yearly registration fee.
In texas how many times can a court date be reset?
There is no set number of times a court case can be changed. If it continues without valid reason, you may be able to argue a violation of the Sixth Amendment, which provides for a speedy trial. If the continuances are valid, you probably don't have an arguement.
Do employees who take legal action against employers have valid claims or are they looking for quick money?
If any employee thinks that they can get quick money out of an employer nowadays they are sorely mistaken. Since the late 1990s employers have gotten wise to the less than honest employee that wants a quick buck and employers fight hard through the entire legal system. The days of an employer slipping an employee a fat settlement so that no charge / complaint is filed in court are long gone. It is almost impossible to get employers to provide a reasonable settlement for a legitimate violation. We file complaints with the EEOC and the state's human rights department. Those complaints can take a year or more just to get an investigation. The employer fights all the way. The employer stalls, sends bogus documents, refuses to mediate, refuses to negotiate, and makes the employee go through a long process. If the employee goes on into court the employer's attorney stalls, enters into huge discovery proceedings, fights each and every response the employee makes, accuses the employee of every imaginable nasty they can come up, and drags on the process for years and years. Quick money -- not in employment law, it is not possible. 99.9% of the employees who decide to take on the employer in this very difficult area have valid claims and just want justice for themselves and those who come after them.