employer claiming my side project IP — what are my options?

Quick background on my situation — any input appreciated.

employer claiming my side project IP. I've been dealing with this for about 16 months now and the situation isn't improving.

This involves software/code I developed over the past 22 months. I do have documentation proving my ownership and timeline.

Do I have a strong case? What should my next steps be?

This happened to me too. Have you tried filing a complaint with the relevant agency? In my case they investigated and it got resolved without needing a lawyer.

Have you tried reaching out to your state's consumer protection office? They sometimes have free resources or mediation services.

I went through almost the exact same thing.

In my case, it took about 4-8 months to resolve. The key was filing with the appropriate government agency.