State DOL determined that my former employer owes me $25K, then two days later decided they can’t pursue it

Not a throwaway because why bother. I’m also not sure why I’m posting this—I think I just need to vent to others who have gotten screwed over by employers.

I was a professor at a small college for two years. About 10 days before the Fall semester began last year, I was informed that my contract was not being renewed (hooray for being non-TT). This was after I had been told several times (by the person with the authority to say so) that I was secure in my position. I had even been told that they were interested enough in my long-term prospects as a teacher and as an active scholar in my field that they wanted to move me to the tenure track in the future.

There’s a clause in the faculty handbook/contract that says if faculty are not going to be reappointed, there are deadlines to let us know in writing. The deadline I should have been notified by was over 8 months before they actually did. Because of this, the contract says they owe a “compensatory extension” for the amount of time it was late (the DOL determined this to be about $25K). I asked the school about this and was just shut down and told that it didn’t apply to me because I wasn’t tenure track, which directly contradicts what the contract says.

I guess this clause is in there because in academia, if you need to find a new job, you have to start looking like a year in advance. I was let go mere weeks before Fall semesters were beginning so I’m still unemployed and just picking up freelance work where I can get it.

I’ve spoken to a few lawyers who all agree I have a legit claim but basically got ghosted. I now have a consult with a nonprofit legal aid so fingers crossed.

I filed a claim with the state DOL three months ago and they, just last week, determined that I’m owed a lot of money. Then two days later, followed up and said that they are “no longer permitted to investigate claims that are contractual.”

My point is: I’m so tired of having so little accessible recourse because I’m a member of the working class. What good are contracts if they’re unenforceable?