Green Card Bond Issue..Need urgent help

[Babu71]

Hi,

I worked for my old employer for more than 6 years & they had filed for my GC processing. They had taken a bond from me that if I leave the company before the GC comes or within 1 year of my GC approval, I'll need to pay $8000 for that. My GC was filed in early 2001. By the way since couple of years my old employer exploited me..he employed me in a place where I had to commute 120 miles a day, spend 12 hours shift & work on weekends.

I requested the old employer to find a job near to my home locally as this job was very taxing on me & also I started developing some serious medical problems. My family started having mental problems as well due to this. My old employer never bothered to do anything for me. Hence I quit. Also my 485 has been filed & I have my EAD thru them. Now the old employer is asking me to pay $8000 for this bond. He has already earned enough money from me during these 6 years, never increased my salary. Please let me know if this is legal. He has also send a summon to me to pay the amount. Can anyone please advise how do we proceed on this?? I just signed 1 page for this green card bond. Also it mentions in the bond that if you resign voluntarily, then you have to pay this amount. But in my case I didnt resign voluntarily..I was forced to quit due to the nature of the job. They were just expoliting me!! Any help will be highly appreciated !!

Thx,
Babu71

 

[ari4u]

Hi,

I worked for my old employer for more than 6 years & they had filed for my GC processing. They had taken a bond from me that if I leave the company before the GC comes or within 1 year of my GC approval, I'll need to pay $8000 for that. My GC was filed in early 2001. By the way since couple of years my old employer exploited me..he employed me in a place where I had to commute 120 miles a day, spend 12 hours shift & work on weekends.

I requested the old employer to find a job near to my home locally as this job was very taxing on me & also I started developing some serious medical problems. My family started having mental problems as well due to this. My old employer never bothered to do anything for me. Hence I quit. Also my 485 has been filed & I have my EAD thru them. Now the old employer is asking me to pay $8000 for this bond. He has already earned enough money from me during these 6 years, never increased my salary. Please let me know if this is legal. He has also send a summon to me to pay the amount. Can anyone please advise how do we proceed on this??

Thx,
Babu71

You can actually sue the employer and win (but this depends on which state your employer is based off from and also how your contract agreement is worded). As far as i know, bonds are invalid in US, departure penalties are also invalid. You need to talk to an employment and labor lawyer and get this resolved. You will be able to find pro-bono lawyers in your area who can give you a 20 min consultation for free. Search online.

This might interest you http://www.murthy.com//news/UDh1suit.html

Good luck!

 

[my_gc_pain]

If you are the only one who signed the contract, that means your wife does not sign the contract together with you, and if it is a monetary contract, and you have all the bank accounts and properties in both yours and your wifes name (joint account), then your employer will not be able to touch the money in joint accounts. He will only be able to touch the money only in your account not the joint account. This is just my opnion and what I learned in my recent discussion with a knowledgebale person in a similar situation.

You should consult this matter with a Lawyer specialised in this area ASAP. You can get the referral for a lawyer through your local bar association.

These are just my opinions please consult with your lawyer to make a final decision. Good luck

 

[Babu71]

Thanks much ari4u for your prompt reply !!

I actually live in CT & my old employer is in NY. So can you please suggest if I should look for the pro bono lawyers in the CT area or NY area??

Thx,
Babu71.

 

[e3umcd]

Bonds - What the hell

Do not worry much about the bond. Contact any litigation lawyer and be ready to fight this f****** employer tooth and nail. As mentioned earlier most of the things are based on your contract wordings. At the most there will be the compromise with you paying nothing to employer. You still need to pay the lawyer. Should not be much as compared to the bond amount and how far it goes.

My bond costed me $1200 in lawyers fee.

Also how many pages did the bond constitute and did you sign all the pages or just the last page.

 

[e3umcd]

Lawyer

Lawyer should be from New York. As the bond signed was the new york company and if you have seen the contract it might have mentioned all the litigation process will be held in New York.

If you sue your old company I am not sure if you can do it from CT. If you sue sue at fedral level as the process is much faster. Also if you feel emplyer has done anything against the law you can alway file a complaint in labor department

 

[Babu71]

Bond Issue

Thans e3umcd for your reply !!

I just signed 1 page for this green card bond. Also it mentions in the bond that if you resign voluntarily, then you have to pay this amount. But in my case I didnt resign voluntarily..I was forced to quit due to the nature of the job. They were just expoliting me. I approached them initially to move me but they never bothered to move me. Also, I live in CT & my old employer is in NY. So should I contact a CT lawyer or a NY lawyer for this?? Any suggestions how can I get a good lawyer for this??

Thx,
Babu71.

 

[Babu71]

Thanks e3umcd

The old company has done lot of things against law..like not paying employees during bench, transferring technical approved labor to marketing people etc etc. !!

Thx,
Babu71.

 

[ari4u]

Thanks much ari4u for your prompt reply !!

I actually live in CT & my old employer is in NY. So can you please suggest if I should look for the pro bono lawyers in the CT area or NY area??

Thx,
Babu71.

Filing a lawsuit is not an easy thing as most tend to think. There are so many complications involved. Am i correct in assuming that the summons sent to you to pay up were either on your employer's company letterhead or from the company lawyer?

Talk to a lawyer right away and have your contract agreement read thoroughly. This way, you know what your exposure is and where you stand. NY, like CA is employee friendly and your employer cannot stand a chance to win in the court if at all he decides to go that route (but again, this depends on what you agreed and signed in the contract)

Your lawyer most probably will ask you to ignore the summons as the company is using pressure tactics in forcing you to pay up. Most of the times, the contract agreements drafted by such body shopping companies and consultants are very vague, ambiguous and have lots of loopholes (I wont be surprised if your lawyer tells you the same regarding yours). In case the contract is ambiguous, the court will rule in favor of the employee.

Employment Bonds are mostly invalid in the US (unless the companies have a very valid reason for the bond) and you should have known better before you signed it. Your employer would be wasting time and money if he decides to go to court. Even if he decides to go further, the most logical ending to this problem would not be the court, but would be in the arbitrator's office as im sure the arbitration clause is mentioned in your contract. Your lawyer would negotiate the $8000, bring it down to $2000 or maybe to $0, but i doubt it would go even that far.

If you ask my opinion, your employer will not do anything stupid like going to court as he knows the implications of getting into a lawsuit. I am 100% sure he wouldnt want to spend $50,000 to go to court in order to get just $8000 out from you. I even doubt that he would follow up this summon if you dont pay up.

Search here first... http://www.myemploymentlawyer.com/index2.php, and ask your question.

Whatever i wrote above is my opinion based on my exprience in dealing with lawyers regarding non-compete issues with my previous company. You should talk to a good lawyer and decide what is the next best thing for your case

 

[Babu71]

Valid defending points

Thanks ari4u for the detailed reply..really appreciate it !! The company has sent the summons thru the company lawyer & it was delivered personally to me at my home.

In case they try to enforce the bond I have very valid reasons :

1) I had serious health issue involved with the long working hours there & my doctor advised me not to work for long hours. Due to that long work hours I got the medical problem. Hence I can counter-sue them that because of them I got this health issue. The doctor is ready to provide me a letter on this.

2) They just exploited me for 6 years paying very less, no hikes rather they reduced my salary..I got married, had baby, but salary became less. They just wanted me 2 work wherever they get the maximum profit. During
these 6 years they have made more that $200,000 from me.

3) There is also no security with that job as there r so many layoffs going on & once anyone is laid off the company dont pay salary to employees on bench which is against law. I have concrete proof of people who were not paid during bench. Hence if the lay me off, bring me to bench, I cant survive as they wont pay me. I have a family to support. Hence I shuld play safe.

Those r some of my defending points. Do let me know ur thoughts as well. I have also consulted a lawyer for this !!

Thanks,
Babu71.

 

[GC_SEP2005]

Thans e3umcd for your reply !!

I just signed 1 page for this green card bond. Also it mentions in the bond that if you resign voluntarily, then you have to pay this amount. But in my case I didnt resign voluntarily..I was forced to quit due to the nature of the job. They were just expoliting me. I approached them initially to move me but they never bothered to move me. Also, I live in CT & my old employer is in NY. So should I contact a CT lawyer or a NY lawyer for this?? Any suggestions how can I get a good lawyer for this??

Thx,
Babu71.

Babu,

DO you have any kind of documentations in regarding that you were approached them for change of job and explained to them about your medical problems as these kind of documentation could be handy if you go to the court. Best of luck!!!!! May be there should be a list of these companies so that new people could be aware of these companies before they sign any kind of bonds.....

 

[Babu71]

Hi GCSEP2005,

I do have some chats saved with me about our discussions asking them to move me as I have medical issues.

Thx,
Babu71.

 

[e3umcd]

I filed the case against them And---

we compromised by me not giving them a single penny. Ofcourse I hired a lawyer. Also for class Action you need to have I guess 3 or more (not sure) to file a complaint....

I guess just go through the lawyer and reply them. Also do not ignore these summons as they are issued by the court and presented to you on the direction of the court. You have to reply them within the specified time as described in the summon..

Not a big deal, but finding a lawyer and then going through it takes money, time and energy. But in the end its worth all these efforts. I know from my personal exp.

Filing a lawsuit is not an easy thing as most tend to think. There are so many complications involved. Am i correct in assuming that the summons sent to you to pay up were either on your employer's company letterhead or from the company lawyer?

Talk to a lawyer right away and have your contract agreement read thoroughly. This way, you know what your exposure is and where you stand. NY, like CA is employee friendly and your employer cannot stand a chance to win in the court if at all he decides to go that route (but again, this depends on what you agreed and signed in the contract)

Your lawyer most probably will ask you to ignore the summons as the company is using pressure tactics in forcing you to pay up. Most of the times, the contract agreements drafted by such body shopping companies and consultants are very vague, ambiguous and have lots of loopholes (I wont be surprised if your lawyer tells you the same regarding yours). In case the contract is ambiguous, the court will rule in favor of the employee.

Employment Bonds are mostly invalid in the US (unless the companies have a very valid reason for the bond) and you should have known better before you signed it. Your employer would be wasting time and money if he decides to go to court. Even if he decides to go further, the most logical ending to this problem would not be the court, but would be in the arbitrator's office as im sure the arbitration clause is mentioned in your contract. Your lawyer would negotiate the $8000, bring it down to $2000 or maybe to $0, but i doubt it would go even that far.

If you ask my opinion, your employer will not do anything stupid like going to court as he knows the implications of getting into a lawsuit. I am 100% sure he wouldnt want to spend $50,000 to go to court in order to get just $8000 out from you. I even doubt that he would follow up this summon if you dont pay up.

Search here first... http://www.myemploymentlawyer.com/index2.php, and ask your question.

Whatever i wrote above is my opinion based on my exprience in dealing with lawyers regarding non-compete issues with my previous company. You should talk to a good lawyer and decide what is the next best thing for your case