Question about funds being withheld and billed by a company

[donor64]

I'm a former SOC employee, looking for other people that have worked for SOC and had their last paycheck withheld or been assesed "transportation fees"
The goal is to get back whatever can be documented as being owed to you or any money that you were forced to pay them.

[leopardprey]

Transportation fees, as in Mobilization or demob, whether you have been in Iraq for 1 month or 12 months - if under the USACE contract are a direct reimberseble expense through the prime contractor. SOC should not be charging personnel for their travel, unless they are not charging TTEC/USACE for it.

Now if SOC has internal transportation cost and expenses they aquire for training at HDSOC, then if you do not fulfill your contract obligations they may have grounds to withhold some of your last paycheck.

My opinion, for what amount you lost on your last paycheck is probably a lot less than what you would pay in legal fees to a lawyer to retreive, and that is even if you win.

Also, I can say that in my past, as I did 2 contracts with SOC before, one in Iraq and one in Cambodia, SOC always treated me fair, honored all that was in the contract, paid me all the money I was owned and was ethical with my finances. I never had an issue working for them. Hell, they even flew me home Bussiness Class and gave me a bonus at the end of one of the contracts.

[KS11]

Edit: Nevermind.

[donor64]

A little more info. Myself and a few other guys were hired back in December of 2006 for the USACE CMC project at an ASP in Anbar Province. We did not attend any training at Minden. We were transported to Iraq. Without going into a lot of detail, there has been a really high turnover in people at that site. So about 5 of us did not get our final pay and were given a bill by SOC for being sent to Iraq and some of us got a bill for leaving Iraq.
Having no other experience with SOC outside of that site and that contract, can't say much. But this was all new to me. Something MPRI, EODT and Dyncorp did not do.
I figure if they did it to 5 of us in 6 weeks, there must be a few more folks out there with this issue.
I do have a law firm that is interested, but my $6500 is not enough to warrant going forward. That's why I'm looking for more people that want to be involved.
I actually was not pleased to have my last pay withheld, but was intent to chalk it up as a "learning experience" until they then sent me a bill and threatened me with a collection agency for my trip to and from Iraq.

I would be more than happy to drop the whole matter. All they need to do is say no more bill, and pay the other guys their pay.
And here we are.

[leopardprey]

If you were one of the personnel who was initially sent to the site and then quit on us after only have had worked a couple of weeks, then you will not get much help. As I remember, several walked off the job with no notice and left us shorthanded in a very bad environment. For someone who signs a 6 month contract and then leaves with no notice only after a couple of weeks, I can understand why SOC would keep your last paycheck as it was needed to pay off expenses. What does your contract say?

[Silverbullet]

donor,
I'm not sure how much longer this thread will stay up.

You state you worked for 3 other companies prior to this gig, yet you are willing to chalk it up to a learning experience....

Just so I'm clear, you appear to have signed a contract to work for X amount of time in Iraq doing X duties. It then appears that you walked off the job and went home before the the amount of time you signed on for had been completed. The reasons for your leaving appear to be due to a "very high turnover" of which you were part of this turnover.

SOC then withheld your last paycheck and sent you a bill for transportation costs.

Does your contract state that you could do all of the above and still expect to get paid as well as get paid transportation home early due to you walking off the job? I doubt it but if it does then you have a case. If not then you don't no matter what the legal eagles tell you.

I expect you to respond with the info from your contract so we know what the real deal is. Otherwise I'll take actions to ensure that you don't get to use this site to fish for others who got funds withheld after walking off the job.

BTW, I changed the thread title since there is no class action in progress and it was misleading.

[SOTB]

From a spectator's POV, I sure hope you don't go into lame detail whining about how the company was fucked up, didn't treat you right, everything was unsafe and you thought your life was in danger, blah, blah, blah. If you quit, I think you should simply state that. If you got fired, then state that.

Mis dos centavos from seeing lots of guys throw out unsupported accusations and then having people -- even if only for a moment -- begin a slamthread on the company who may not even know to defend itself....

[leopardprey]

Since I was running the project at the time, I have absolutely no respect for the low life scum who walked off my site and the job with no notice after only a couple of weeks. "Oh my gosh, living conditions suck and we are being shot at!" Well, what the hell did you expect it was going to be like in Iraq?! Left your fellow team members short handed and put the clients at further risk. Now that is un-exusable! Yeah, the COE sucked on getting assets, so you bail?! Well, welcome to the war and the USACE.

[Silverbullet]

I'm waiting for his response.

[iraqgunz]

There is more to the whole story and unfortunately we cannot talk about certain things due to recent developments.

[donor64]

Sorry for the delay.
My contract does state that if I work for less than 180 days the company can recover up to $6500 from me. That equals 2 weeks pay prior to taxes. Simple enough. I left prior to 180 days.
I was willing to walk away from the issue of the last paycheck being withheld as long as SOC and I never came into contact again. Let's just say if I ever consented to work for anybody else I would have to know somebody on that team who would swear that they were squared away.

To reply to Leopardprey, I gave notice to my site boss around 2/2/2007 that I needed to be home by 3/5/2007. I left the site around 2/26/2007. I continued to work my shift, pull my weight until the moment I got on the plane. BTW, my call sign was XXXXXXXXX
I was told that I had to outprocess through Baghdad and was kept in Baghdad until 3/1/2007. On my last pay stub was not given credit for time traveling from Al Asad to Baghdad and for time held in Baghdad by SOC. Was told that I was still on the clock as I had given them the 2 weeks notice they asked for.
I don't go into character assasination. So you won't get me into a name calling contest. I will say that the problems with SOC are in it's leadership. Everything seems to be spur of the moment with no prior planning. I don't think embarrassing leadership by detailing the shortcomings encountered will be productive.


If you(leopardprey) want me to continue in another post, and to detail shortcomings,let me know.

I actually anticipated catching heat for doing this and expected some sharpshooting from the sidelines. You do what you have to do. I can state that every contract I worked on always had a few problems. Soc was..more interesting than any other. I had worked for EODT on Buckmaster and at Taji on the same type of contract. So this type of work was nothing new. The comfort level was not great as far as support goes, but the water, chow, vehicle situation was workable.

I have never resorted to any kind of legal action before. I may be mistaken about how to go about this.

I am looking to contact other people that have been in a similar situation.

[Silverbullet]

Fair enough.

There won't be another thread about this. I make those decisions, not the members.

My advice is to stop where you are in regards to the info out in the open. I deleted your CS as well.

If what you say is accurate you need to do what you state you are doing without posting on the internet. Guys can read what you wrote and make a decision about contacting you.

[team5medic]

this needs to be locked before it turns in to ......uhhhh one of those monkey shit fights at the zoo..
i know the poster and understand. but i feel that it will only get worse if we (you) don't lock the thread. there is a debate on the issue, however SOTB presents a good point about the company not being able to defend itself. i dont feel it is our place to assist in sharpening the blade. again i know Donor and have worked with him he is a stand up guy. that being said i request to have the thread locked and allow them to sort out in PM. (saves induviduals face and the comapny)..
only a request sir.
with respect
chuck

ps. i have no dog in this fight.