So to make sure people understand the context and get caught up, here are the original two posts regarding this issue:
- My job REFUSES to pay me my last paycheck because I quit for a less abusive job without prior notice. : antiwork (reddit.com)
- Urgently trying to find solution for showers before starting my new job, lack of funds due to previous employer refusing to pay me my last paycheck. (Homeless) : antiwork (reddit.com)
I'll also do a summary here. Basically, my previous job was trying to cancel-out my wages because I quit without giving a two-week notice due to the toxic and abusive work environment, so they claimed I forfeited my check and they could refuse to pay me. They have continued refused to issue the money for that last pay period (and the bonus on top but that's not as important), and up until recently no legal help has amounted to anything.
This created a problem with a lack of funds, and the falling dominoes of debt caused me to end up in even more poverty than I was before, and eventually, homelessness, in the interim. Because of this, and a completely broken social service system that does nothing to uplift homeless people, I had nowhere to get a shower for my first day for the NEW job. But luckily, I was fortunate enough to resolve that problem thanks to the help of caring folks here at the last second.
FAST FORWARD to present, I was recently contacted some time ago by an attorney that says that I can sue my original company for not just the held wages, but the impact, the distress, and other things. He was the only lawyer who responded to my requests from long ago. He told me he managed to obtain even more information that would prove they were involved in even more wage theft than I even knew about, and that there were more violations he discovered, effectively making this an open and shut case saying that a low six-figure lawsuit was possible, and that he expected that the company would likely settle quickly. The attorney is legitimate with a good public record.
I almost had tears in my eyes, I lost much during that time, debt defaulted and went to collections, no home, etc, and now I could strike back and be compensated and extra. It looked like a complete life turn around was on the cards.
But this is where things get inconvenient and troublesome.
The attorney told me that due to the information he has that he can't mention over the phone or through the internet, as well as needing me to verify some important information related to the case, I was told the only way we can get this done is if I come to his office in-person. Which is located in a different state, the same state as the main HQ of my previous job in New Jersey.
I only have to show up once I'm told, but the problem is how would I get there? I'm still only just recently starting to crawl out the hole I was thrown in and I have a poor paying service job, well it's better than I was getting but that only shows I was getting peanuts before (and nothing in between) so we are talking traveling several states east to New Jersey to meet with an attroney.
I don't want to let such an opportunity to get back at these elite incompetent managers, and to be compensated for the struggling they helped escalate. It would also be a success story against immoral employers, but how could I even begin to do that?
I also have to do it within the next week, I've already been holding this off for a while looking for solutions but haven't had much luck, which is why I'm making this post. So I'm also running low on time and ideas. He's waiting for me to give him a day I can get there and I have no clue what to do.
I don't drive so the only way I can think of to get there is via interstate public transportation. However, that would cost $202 for a roundtrip.
I can't even save now, I'm barely saving a few bucks for a rainy day with my current job. I couldn't even do half of that in a month, but we are talking something I have to have in less than a week.
I've looked as much as I could, but can't find a solution. My credit was destroyed a while ago so no credit/loan will accept me, though that would probably make things worse long-term. I Saw posts on various social media about plasma donations, but my health prevents that from being an option, and I'm on my own out here.
I have a chance to be compensated and to bring consequences to a shady company, and I can't even figure out how to get to the location where my Attorney is. Poverty is probably the worse curse in this country only matched by poor wages. I can't afford $202 roundtrip ticket, and the Attorney isn't willing to foot the bill so how do I get to New Jersey?
It's crazy because if I can figure this out, I can have closure, be compensated, and move on with my life and turn it around, but poverty itself is preventing me from doing so.
It's just a lot of pressure and stress to deal with.