Guitarmonster
Member
What is the name of your state?
NJ
I posted another post on this forum a while back about my previous employer. They did not pay me all the wages owed to me and I reported them to the wage and hour dept. The auditor did his audit and made a determination that they did in fact owe me the money. He also stumbled among other violations like employees working off the books, underage employees, people being paid under minimum wage, and even someone who was currently collecting unemployment from a previous job while working off the books.
I was let go from the job when I had brought up a legitimate complaint about another employee that was harassing me. This harassment got to a point where it was hindering my job duties and needed to be addressed. The manager was very evasive and did not want to hear what I had to say, at the end of the conversation he stated "ok Tom, your done" and I was told to leave. I collected unemployment for a short period of time before starting my new job. Weeks after the determination was made about my underpaid paycheck, I received a letter from the dept of labor stating that my old employer said I quit my job without good cause and that I now owe the total amount back to the state or they will take legal action against me. I am filing for an appeal.
Here are my questions:
1. Even though the appeal is not in a court of law, it's before what they call the appeals tribunal, is there a "presumption of innocence" on my part
the reason why I ask this is, first of all they have no solid evidence, and neither do I, it's simply my word against theirs.
2. In the appeal, am I given the opportunity to cross examine the manager and other employees that were present.
the reason why I ask this is first of all, if they bring witnesses i'm sure they will be biased, in which I will easily be able to reveal by cross examining due to the fact that these same employees were busted by the state, and are being made to pay back taxes.
3. I have files OPRA requests with the unemployment insurance division, and wage and hour to release information pertaining to any investigations against this company pertaining to this matter, I want to use these records to destroy the credibility of the company, basically to show that they are generally dishonest.
One thing I know about this manager is he is a very vengeful person, and he does not like to lose. He likes to have the last laugh even if it costs him everything, he will cut off his nose to spite his face. I have to fight this thing because there is a lot of money at stake (at least it's a lot of money to me), and if I lose they said they will issue a certificate of debt against me, and that my bank account may be seized, or my wages garnished and I just can't afford that, and unfortunately even though I really wish I could, no matter how much I would love to see a lawyer rip them to shreds, I just cant afford one.
NJ
I posted another post on this forum a while back about my previous employer. They did not pay me all the wages owed to me and I reported them to the wage and hour dept. The auditor did his audit and made a determination that they did in fact owe me the money. He also stumbled among other violations like employees working off the books, underage employees, people being paid under minimum wage, and even someone who was currently collecting unemployment from a previous job while working off the books.
I was let go from the job when I had brought up a legitimate complaint about another employee that was harassing me. This harassment got to a point where it was hindering my job duties and needed to be addressed. The manager was very evasive and did not want to hear what I had to say, at the end of the conversation he stated "ok Tom, your done" and I was told to leave. I collected unemployment for a short period of time before starting my new job. Weeks after the determination was made about my underpaid paycheck, I received a letter from the dept of labor stating that my old employer said I quit my job without good cause and that I now owe the total amount back to the state or they will take legal action against me. I am filing for an appeal.
Here are my questions:
1. Even though the appeal is not in a court of law, it's before what they call the appeals tribunal, is there a "presumption of innocence" on my part
the reason why I ask this is, first of all they have no solid evidence, and neither do I, it's simply my word against theirs.
2. In the appeal, am I given the opportunity to cross examine the manager and other employees that were present.
the reason why I ask this is first of all, if they bring witnesses i'm sure they will be biased, in which I will easily be able to reveal by cross examining due to the fact that these same employees were busted by the state, and are being made to pay back taxes.
3. I have files OPRA requests with the unemployment insurance division, and wage and hour to release information pertaining to any investigations against this company pertaining to this matter, I want to use these records to destroy the credibility of the company, basically to show that they are generally dishonest.
One thing I know about this manager is he is a very vengeful person, and he does not like to lose. He likes to have the last laugh even if it costs him everything, he will cut off his nose to spite his face. I have to fight this thing because there is a lot of money at stake (at least it's a lot of money to me), and if I lose they said they will issue a certificate of debt against me, and that my bank account may be seized, or my wages garnished and I just can't afford that, and unfortunately even though I really wish I could, no matter how much I would love to see a lawyer rip them to shreds, I just cant afford one.