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Two agencies I worked for are refusing to pay me, and government office telling them it's okay.

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sdaker

Active Member
Do you have any evidence at all that you were told to come into work at that time (not evidence that you were there but that you were supposed to be there)?

What led to your ban from the other property?
The only evidence I have is that the onsite manager insisted that I show up for the over/double time graveyard shift, because I was what is known as a "Snag Clerk", and there were very few of us, and even fewer willing to do the election night over/double time shift, and they needed as many of us to fill those duties as possible. The banning occurred at the other location, one hour before I went to the location that wanted me to do the graveyard shift, which I was never banned from.

Why I was banned from the other location:

This location was in an outdoor area surrounded by concrete. There were a few guys standing across from me, smoking weed onsite in front of everyone and not hiding it at all. I had to take a drug test just to get hired, along with a background check, but these guys were smoking pot and creating large clouds (enhanced by the foggy weather) out in the open where everyone could see them. I saw one of them throw away a roach into the trash can while it was still lit.

I and a few other workers were at that moment assigned to go to one of the voting sites, so we had to wait in line for over an hour for things to get ready, and we had nothing to do but watch some coworkers get high in the distance. While standing in line, I saw a dried wilted flower on the floor, I picked it up, lit it with my lighter, and got a cheap thrill out of it, as did a few ladies who were waiting in line next to me who told me how cool it looked. Out of complete nowhere comes this angry middle aged female who started shouting at me in front of everybody, demanding that I leave the premises or she would bring the police. I told her that there were some guys smoking weed right across from where she was yelling at me, but she didn't care. I asked for her name and she showed me her LA County badge. Later on I found out that she was the HR manager for the LA County election jobs. After I left, I called the county office, and asked to speak with whomever was in charge of her. I got the phone number of her boss, but her boss's secretary wouldn't let me speak to her boss. Instead she gave me the number of some other guy who was onsite from where I just got banned, and said that he was one level above the HR lady, but one level below her boss whom I was trying to speak with. After speaking to that guy, it was clear to me that he was going to take the HR lady's side, and didn't care that she humiliated me in front of a whole bunch of other people, and fired me for doing less than what some other guys were doing. I emailed her boss, and her boss at first gave me this response
"Thx u

Yesterday I ask (name of the onsite guy) to contact you".

Her response had bad grammar, as bad as what you would expect to see in a text message. I emailed her back and wrote
"I talked to him yesterday, and I mentioned that to you in my email. Please read the email when you get a chance. Thank you."

I asked her to please read my first email, because it didn't seem like she read it at all. She responded with more poor grammar:
"I reread the email. I understand that you regret your actions, but the County has a zero tolerance policy for your actions. We will look further into the actions of others you mentioned.

Lessons learned. You have the right attitude and have been honest with us. I am sure you will continue to find work. Stick to those values you expressed with us. Good luck."

A few days after both assignments had ended (the one I got banned from and the one with the election overnight graveyard shift), I found out that I wasn't going to be paid for the overtime that I did at the location that I was banned from. I contacted the HR lady's boss again and told her that my agencies weren't paying me, and this time she told me off on the phone, threatened me with a restraining order, and said that I had to deal with the agency in regards to receiving payment, and to not contact her again or she would call the police. She told me that I had a restraining order placed on me the day I was banned anyway, which I wasn't aware of at all. Then later on, the other agency decided they didn't want to pay me for the overtime hours I worked either, in fact they don't want to pay me at all. They removed an entire week from my time sheet, and I suspect that the banning incident is the reason why both of these agencies are refusing to pay me and why they and the county are threatening me with legal action just for inquiring about my money.
 
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sdaker

Active Member
Do you have witnesses willing to support your story?
No. I have video footage of me entering the job that I didn't get banned from, and I recognize some of the people in the video, but I don't have their names. Except for my onsite manager, I have her name, but I don't know that she'll vouch for me. None of these people seem very ethical to me.
 

quincy

Senior Member
No. I have video footage of me entering the job that I didn't get banned from, and I recognize some of the people in the video, but I don't have their names. Except for my onsite manager, I have her name, but I don't know that she'll vouch for me. None of these people seem very ethical to me.
It is going to be your word against your employers’ words then - and they appear to have better evidence to support their words than you have to support yours. All you can do is attempt to make your case and hope for the best.
 

sdaker

Active Member
It is going to be your word against your employers’ words then - and they appear to have better evidence to support their words than you have to support yours. All you can do is attempt to make your case and hope for the best.
Why do you say that their evidence is better? They lied, and I caught them in their lie.
 

sdaker

Active Member
A third, uninterested party's word would be better.
I have the first name of one guy I worked with at the location that I was banned from, and I have footage but don't remember the name of another guy I worked with at the location I wasn't banned from. I don't know of any other way to identify and contact them though.
 

quincy

Senior Member
All I see that you can do is file a complaint with the Labor Commission and see what happens. Use an estimate for your hours.

Good luck.
 

sdaker

Active Member
All I see that you can do is file a complaint with the Labor Commission and see what happens. Use an estimate for your hours.

Good luck.
I have 6 pages written so far. There's more details to the story that I would like some advice on. For one, I and the other workers were told by the ladies who handled the sign in sheets at the location I was banned from that we could add additional hours. These two ladies were workers for my employment agency, and the lady who handled the payroll at that employment agency called me a liar, and said that these ladies would never say something like that, that one of them had been working heir for 20 years and would never advise anybody to "falsify" documents, but she did. I put down the exact hours on the online timesheet that she said to put. Then the payroll lady calls me a liar, and says that I'm putting words in the other lady's mouth.
 

quincy

Senior Member
You can hope that the woman who handled the sign-in sheet will say that in a sworn statement. And you can hope that one of the other workers will support your story.
 

Shadowbunny

Queen of the Not-Rights
I have 6 pages written so far. There's more details to the story that I would like some advice on. For one, I and the other workers were told by the ladies who handled the sign in sheets at the location I was banned from that we could add additional hours. These two ladies were workers for my employment agency, and the lady who handled the payroll at that employment agency called me a liar, and said that these ladies would never say something like that, that one of them had been working heir for 20 years and would never advise anybody to "falsify" documents, but she did. I put down the exact hours on the online timesheet that she said to put. Then the payroll lady calls me a liar, and says that I'm putting words in the other lady's mouth.
So you falsified your time sheet?
 

sdaker

Active Member
So you falsified your time sheet?
For one of the locations, yes. I was told to do that. The ladies from the agency who handled the sign-in sheets told me and a bunch of other people to add hours on our online timesheet. In the other location where I did the election night shift, nothing like that took place. I admit 100% that I was told to write extra hours on the online timesheet, and that's what I did. I did what I was told to do.
 

Shadowbunny

Queen of the Not-Rights
For one of the locations, yes. I was told to do that. The ladies from the agency who handled the sign-in sheets told me and a bunch of other people to add hours on our online timesheet. In the other location where I did the election night shift, nothing like that took place. I admit 100% that I was told to write extra hours on the online timesheet, and that's what I did. I did what I was told to do.
I have ZERO doubt that falsifying your time sheet at one location is going to make it difficult for you to prove your case that they are somehow the ones who can't be trusted.
 

sdaker

Active Member
You can hope that the woman who handled the sign-in sheet will say that in a sworn statement. And you can hope that one of the other workers will support your story.
How will I be able to contact one of the other workers?
 
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