Employer refuses to pay me - what can I do?

Question

I worked as a freelance Creative Director for a company a little over 2 months totaling approx. 175 hours. I was to be paid per event (either 10%-15%) but as events went by many of them got canceled or I was not informed of the outcome.
Since I had not been paid by any event (for whatever reason) I finally had to resign. I sent the invoice fixed at an hourly rate for a Creative Director and multiplied it by the hours I spent working for them. The invoice outlines all of my work, down to the minute including descriptions and other detailed information. I gave them 7 business days to respond (as I am willing to negotiate) or to send payment and Tuesday June 9th marks the final day of the grace period.
Here's the problem: no one signed any agreements. Some may suggest a verbal agreement is enough. But what can I do at this point to get some kind of compensation? Any suggestions?

Additional Details

I did work for events. I created all of the fliers, collateral, print pieces and promotion material for each and every event given. The fact that they could not follow through on events is not the Creative Directors' responsibility. As a Creative Director I did my job, which did not only include "per event" projects. I also designed the landing page for the web site, business cards, letter heads, MySpace profile and other collateral for the magazine itself.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

You weren't an employee, you were a hired contractor - you didn't resign, you just refused to work with them anymore and demanded settlement for the work you did do.

Your only recourse is to sue them.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Good points I didn't fully realize.

Answer 2

You should threaten them with small claims court. I'm sure you would win anyway.

Answer 3

Reading your question, you agreed to be paid per event you worked and you didn't work any events. If that is correct then they owe you nothing.