Hello Every1,
Please advice me regarding my case against my previous employer who has given me a real hard time . A summary of my situations is as below
I graduated in June 2007. My previous employer(software consulting firm) filed for a H1 work visa for me in April 2007 and it got approved. During my initial interactions in March, with the owner of the company, he said that since I was still to graduate and he was not sure if I will join him, he made pay all the H1 filing fees and attorney fees(totalling to $2500). There was no written agreement between us whatsoever. After graduation I got in touch with a few of his current employees and did not get a good picture his work environment. He was holding back employees paystubs on various pretexts and his overall lack of concern about his employee welfare made me wary about joining him. So after I graduated, when I found a position that was more suitable to my qualifications than the one he was offering. I decided to join a different company.
Me bieng a non-US citizen I had to get my H1 visa transferred to my new employer for which I needed the old I-797 (H1 -approval letter) and I-94 departure card, both of which should legally be with me as far as my understanding goes. But my previous employer just refused to surrender my documents inspite of me almost begging him . He would not receive my calls or answer my emails. I had to call him from different phones each time to make sure that i can speak to him.He finally agreed to surrender the documents if I pay him $3000. Financially I am broke with huge student loans to pay off and other commitments. But he refused to reduce even a dollar from the final amount saying that he incurred those expenses for my visa, which is totally untrue. I had already paid him $2500 at the time of the application and now he demands an additional $3000. Since I needed the dosuments urgently I wired to his account $1500 through my bank and also gave him two post dated checks for $750 each(memo for each check says 'for I797 and I94 documents).
I would like to know my case against him to recover my money which he sucked out of my already bleak finances, cos I am almost bankrupt and would like to recover my money from him.
I truly appreciate your time and patience for reading my letter.
Regards,
ImmigrantSong

