What is the name of your state? Michigan
I apologize if this is lengthy...but... I am asking for information for my 24 yr old son. He had taken a truck driving job at a local business and went to work for this company in the Hurricane Katrina project in January of this yr. He and about 3-4 other drivers were given notice the friday before Memorial Day that the owner wanted as many trucks and drivers to head out and back to Michigan. The trucks were basic dump trucks....no sleeper cabs. A total of 2 trucks and 2 drivers did as told...they drove straight through with no rest periods because the boss wanted the trucks home ASAP. When my son returned home here in Michigan, he told me he did not want to return to work for this guy. I asked him why because he had been getting pretty good pay. My son then told me that he and a few other workers still down in Louisianna had not gotten paid for 4 straight weeks. I asked what the reason for that was, because the company was receiving government funds for the work. My son said the boss told them all....when he got paid by the government....they would get paid. I live aprox 1 hour from where the company is. They returned to Michigan in the middle of the night....no one had any cars in the business parking lot. I have a 4 and 8 yr old and my son didn't want to call me in the middle of the night, so he slept in the dump truck till a supervisor came to work that morning. He was given the OK by that person to take a regular pick up truck home, which he did. He then had his girlfriend follow him back to the business to return the pick-up. When he got there, the owner was in the parking lot waiting. He got out of his car and began cursing and making fists at my son. Accused him of stealing from the company.....said he should be arrested for auto theft and said he would never work for him again. My son told him that his own supervisor told him to drive home with a company pick up truck but that didn't matter. The owner again started flailing his fists and told my son that he was lucky that he ( owner) didn't "kick his a**" right there and then. The owner then looked up and saw my sons girlfriend and her 10 yr old daughter in her car and asked "who the fu** is that" and my son told him it was his girlfriend and that she followed him there when he brought the pick up back. The owner then said he was gonna go over there and tell her what an idiot and piece of shi* my son was and he did just that. But, he had no idea her 10 yr old daughter was in the backseat......terrified. The little girl thought the man was coming after her mom.
Long story short....he fired my son, accused him of embezzelment, auto theft and damage to a pickup truck and another piece of equip in Louisianna...which his own mechanic down there was responsibile....and was witnessed by other drivers...but that didn't mean anything because he still accuses my son of it all. My son filed for unemployment benefits which were awarded because the agency said that the owner failed to provide proof for legal grounds for firing him. We then filed a complaint with the Michigan Wage and Hour division and the company is being investigated. During all this, the owners wife happens to run things from the office aspect. My son, because of no pay, became delinquent in his car loan and the finance company ( after my son called there and explained the situation to the collections officer), took it upon themselves without my sons permission, to call the trucking compnay to ask about his employment. While chatting with the owners wife, she proceded to tell the finance company person all about the embezzelment accusations and everything else. My son learned of this because that finance person called him back and repeated wht she was told by the company owners wife. We filed a complaint with the financial institution and they to our knowledge have done nothing, except to have their lawyer send my son a letter demanding that he voluntarily turn his auto back into the financial institution. No apology for breach of confidential information, no apology for the financial person taking it upon herself with out permission and calling his former employer....nothing. The wage and hour division made some demands of the company and it seems that what they are getting is stall tactics....needing more time for this and that...but we believe they have been given a final deadline to send to the wage and hour person what he has asked for. From the time my son was fired up until today, the owner called twice and left very nasty phone messages....threatening to "get" my son one way or another. We took a chance, found a website with forms and sent a cease and desist letter to the company and owner. Everything stopped until this evening. My sons phone rang at 9:45 pm and he answered it as usual. On the other end of the phone was his former boss who my son sounded very drunk....he has now accused my son of "rolling over" this pickup truck that was damaged by his own mechanic and witnessed and then said " and you got shi* in the internet too.....and then he said....your a dick hea*....and hung up. In the cease and desist letter, it was clearly stated that the company stop all phone calls or we would have no recourse but to seek further legal action. We don't have a lot of money to spend on lawyer fees. Is there anything we can now do because of all this? My son is going to call the wage and hour division contact person he has and report this. In addition, all the other drivers that had not been paid as was my son, have received their back pay in the last 6 weeks or so. If there is something that can hold this man accountable for harassment or whatever, what category does this fall under? This man is very powerful, mean and nasty and I myself have a hidden fear he may just show up at my house to follow through with the verbalization he had said earlier this summer.
I apologize if this is lengthy...but... I am asking for information for my 24 yr old son. He had taken a truck driving job at a local business and went to work for this company in the Hurricane Katrina project in January of this yr. He and about 3-4 other drivers were given notice the friday before Memorial Day that the owner wanted as many trucks and drivers to head out and back to Michigan. The trucks were basic dump trucks....no sleeper cabs. A total of 2 trucks and 2 drivers did as told...they drove straight through with no rest periods because the boss wanted the trucks home ASAP. When my son returned home here in Michigan, he told me he did not want to return to work for this guy. I asked him why because he had been getting pretty good pay. My son then told me that he and a few other workers still down in Louisianna had not gotten paid for 4 straight weeks. I asked what the reason for that was, because the company was receiving government funds for the work. My son said the boss told them all....when he got paid by the government....they would get paid. I live aprox 1 hour from where the company is. They returned to Michigan in the middle of the night....no one had any cars in the business parking lot. I have a 4 and 8 yr old and my son didn't want to call me in the middle of the night, so he slept in the dump truck till a supervisor came to work that morning. He was given the OK by that person to take a regular pick up truck home, which he did. He then had his girlfriend follow him back to the business to return the pick-up. When he got there, the owner was in the parking lot waiting. He got out of his car and began cursing and making fists at my son. Accused him of stealing from the company.....said he should be arrested for auto theft and said he would never work for him again. My son told him that his own supervisor told him to drive home with a company pick up truck but that didn't matter. The owner again started flailing his fists and told my son that he was lucky that he ( owner) didn't "kick his a**" right there and then. The owner then looked up and saw my sons girlfriend and her 10 yr old daughter in her car and asked "who the fu** is that" and my son told him it was his girlfriend and that she followed him there when he brought the pick up back. The owner then said he was gonna go over there and tell her what an idiot and piece of shi* my son was and he did just that. But, he had no idea her 10 yr old daughter was in the backseat......terrified. The little girl thought the man was coming after her mom.
Long story short....he fired my son, accused him of embezzelment, auto theft and damage to a pickup truck and another piece of equip in Louisianna...which his own mechanic down there was responsibile....and was witnessed by other drivers...but that didn't mean anything because he still accuses my son of it all. My son filed for unemployment benefits which were awarded because the agency said that the owner failed to provide proof for legal grounds for firing him. We then filed a complaint with the Michigan Wage and Hour division and the company is being investigated. During all this, the owners wife happens to run things from the office aspect. My son, because of no pay, became delinquent in his car loan and the finance company ( after my son called there and explained the situation to the collections officer), took it upon themselves without my sons permission, to call the trucking compnay to ask about his employment. While chatting with the owners wife, she proceded to tell the finance company person all about the embezzelment accusations and everything else. My son learned of this because that finance person called him back and repeated wht she was told by the company owners wife. We filed a complaint with the financial institution and they to our knowledge have done nothing, except to have their lawyer send my son a letter demanding that he voluntarily turn his auto back into the financial institution. No apology for breach of confidential information, no apology for the financial person taking it upon herself with out permission and calling his former employer....nothing. The wage and hour division made some demands of the company and it seems that what they are getting is stall tactics....needing more time for this and that...but we believe they have been given a final deadline to send to the wage and hour person what he has asked for. From the time my son was fired up until today, the owner called twice and left very nasty phone messages....threatening to "get" my son one way or another. We took a chance, found a website with forms and sent a cease and desist letter to the company and owner. Everything stopped until this evening. My sons phone rang at 9:45 pm and he answered it as usual. On the other end of the phone was his former boss who my son sounded very drunk....he has now accused my son of "rolling over" this pickup truck that was damaged by his own mechanic and witnessed and then said " and you got shi* in the internet too.....and then he said....your a dick hea*....and hung up. In the cease and desist letter, it was clearly stated that the company stop all phone calls or we would have no recourse but to seek further legal action. We don't have a lot of money to spend on lawyer fees. Is there anything we can now do because of all this? My son is going to call the wage and hour division contact person he has and report this. In addition, all the other drivers that had not been paid as was my son, have received their back pay in the last 6 weeks or so. If there is something that can hold this man accountable for harassment or whatever, what category does this fall under? This man is very powerful, mean and nasty and I myself have a hidden fear he may just show up at my house to follow through with the verbalization he had said earlier this summer.