So last year, 2022, I worked for this company (we'll call it Company A) as a tech writer. It was a six month contract, I went above and beyond expectations–I finished three months early. Rather than pay me out the rest of the contract, as would have been professional and respectful, I was let go so they could save money, right at Christmas, when no one was hiring. I spent the next five months on unemployment, desperately searching for a job when none were available. I then got a new job as a content writer at Company B for quite a bit less money than I was making at Company A, but with the understanding that if I did well after six months I would be made permanent. Well, two months in, Company A comes back and seeks me out for a technical writer role again, this time for two years, for even more money than they were paying me originally. I expressed reservations due to their unprofessionalism the first time around, but they waved me off, saying it was a different team. I was hired on as a contract temp for two years, signed forms, quit Company B…
Only to find out that Company A hadn't ratified the contracts yet. Procurement at Company B hadn't figured out how to draft a two year contract they liked, so they strung me along all summer, giving me a grand total of three potential start dates, but never actually onboarding me.
All summer, I was calling my temp agency for updates, and none were forthcoming. My savings ran out. I had to cash out my 401k. I have been living on my retirement since May. And three weeks ago, Company A tells me that they got a new CFO, and the CFO wants to go over the budget, so she put down a hiring freeze. Long story short, I'm not getting the job I was hired for. I'm out thousands of dollars, and I'm now having to take a $19 an hour job at a local company, in person, which is vastly not okay with me–I have serious anxiety and working from home is the only way I can manage it–so basically, I've been screwed and then some.
And I've sought legal help, but no lawyer will take my case. Does anyone know a good lawyer in Washington state who could help with a situation like this? Preferably for little money? If I had money, I wouldn't have needed the job at PSE in the first place, and also, this whole experience completely tapped me out financially.