john.mcconnell
Junior Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? I live in Germany (American Citizen) and I am on TDY orders (Temporary Duty) to Kuwait. The company I work for is based out of TX.
I am working as a sub-contractor for the US government. I joined this contract with the intentions of going to Kuwait for a year to make some good tax free money. I Started in Jan 05 going to the states for one month of training. Just before I was to return to Germany I was told (along with a colleague of mine) that we were to stay in Germany and work out of Stuttgart because we both had family that live in Germany. We had inquired about using USB external media such as memory sticks and were told that it was not allowable because we worked in a classified area. About 5 weeks ago an email was sent to the entire organization which basically said that due to higher file sizes and the portability and ease of use of USB devices to store data, that these such devices would now be allowed. We asked the immediate supervisor in regards to the email and he said that it must be ok then. So for 4 weeks or so we had been using our USB devices to carry documents and such that we were working on in the meantime. One 3 May we were given suspension notices stating that we had violated security policies by plugging USB devices into the computers and that there would be a security investigation to follow. We would be on suspension without pay until the security investigation was completed. There was no date set for completion of the investigation and for the last 2 weeks I have been calling every other day to find out what is going on and no on will give me any information. On top of all that my final pay check (prior to suspension) was also withheld on ground that I only worked 24 hours of the 2 week pay period and the rest was taken as "overdrawn" leave because it was more than what I had accumulated for the YTD balance (leave that was approved previously and was taken so that I could see my daughter being born). Now I am stuck waiting for an answer and having no income at the moment. I would like to just quit and find a new job but that is not so easy, besides the fact that I would like some closure in this matter and I want, at a minimum, my final paycheck. I have talked to many lawyers and have not gotten very far. I would like to know if this is completely legal that I get put on suspension (guilty before proven innocent) indefinitely? How can I recoup my last paycheck? What counteractions do I have available?
I am working as a sub-contractor for the US government. I joined this contract with the intentions of going to Kuwait for a year to make some good tax free money. I Started in Jan 05 going to the states for one month of training. Just before I was to return to Germany I was told (along with a colleague of mine) that we were to stay in Germany and work out of Stuttgart because we both had family that live in Germany. We had inquired about using USB external media such as memory sticks and were told that it was not allowable because we worked in a classified area. About 5 weeks ago an email was sent to the entire organization which basically said that due to higher file sizes and the portability and ease of use of USB devices to store data, that these such devices would now be allowed. We asked the immediate supervisor in regards to the email and he said that it must be ok then. So for 4 weeks or so we had been using our USB devices to carry documents and such that we were working on in the meantime. One 3 May we were given suspension notices stating that we had violated security policies by plugging USB devices into the computers and that there would be a security investigation to follow. We would be on suspension without pay until the security investigation was completed. There was no date set for completion of the investigation and for the last 2 weeks I have been calling every other day to find out what is going on and no on will give me any information. On top of all that my final pay check (prior to suspension) was also withheld on ground that I only worked 24 hours of the 2 week pay period and the rest was taken as "overdrawn" leave because it was more than what I had accumulated for the YTD balance (leave that was approved previously and was taken so that I could see my daughter being born). Now I am stuck waiting for an answer and having no income at the moment. I would like to just quit and find a new job but that is not so easy, besides the fact that I would like some closure in this matter and I want, at a minimum, my final paycheck. I have talked to many lawyers and have not gotten very far. I would like to know if this is completely legal that I get put on suspension (guilty before proven innocent) indefinitely? How can I recoup my last paycheck? What counteractions do I have available?