he will definitely not be paying us the summer pay or 2 months' salary that we're owed from the start of the year.

Fay, get a pack of lawyers and KICK HIS ASS. That is absolutely a breach of a contract that you have been fulfilling in good faith. Particularly the part about not paying you for WORK YOU ALREADY COMPLETED.

Sue him back to the Dark Ages.

yeah, letters and conversation is not going to do it Fay- lawyers and courts and ass kicking.

But you see, Tep, I have very little money. And laws are murky things here - basically backhanders are what get you anywhere. Everyone wants their baksheesh.

I can't see myself suing him. I just want to be 100% crysal clear that he can't sue me. I mean, I cannot begin to see how he could, but I want to really know that for sure.

My word, Fay.

If/when you send a version of your letter Fay, I'd think about including language indicating that your understanding of any oral agreement between the two of you contains the same terms as in the written contract he provided to you, which you signed, but he failed to sign.

...

Nora, and everyone, thanks. I made 6 calls (3 for me, 3 for Scott) in total, to the Credit Bureaus, put the fraud alert on, and we'll request copies of our credit reports tonight. I think I could get them online, now. I'm too shook up to do it, because if there's a problem, I don't think I have the emotional reserves not to freak, while I'm here without him.

...

vw bug, congratulations you brilliant human, you! Good job!

the fraud alert should automatically generate the credit reports, you don't need to do anything else, they'll arrive in the mail in the next few days.

Fay, my Dad has apparently been working with the American University (which I should have known, but apparently forgot). And I'm so sorry about the piece of shit employer.

the fraud alert should automatically generate the credit reports, you don't need to do anything else, they'll arrive in the mail in the next few days.

That's what I thought, but the instructions on the phone were kind of ambiguous about that, and made it sound like we had to get one. I didn't get a human at any of the agencies, so I couldn't ask questions.

Is he still here, love? I feel I should go and find him and say "Hey! Here's stuff for Emily!" 'Cause that would be cool.

Incidentally, Cindy - SO sorry about your situation wrt the bank thing. Best of luck with this, love.

Why is the 'verse suddenly out for our asses? Damn it!

It looks pretty damned defiite now that we'll be walking out as soon as we get our pay for this month - assuming that we DO get the salary for this month. I'm now penning a letter of explanation to the parents. Will run it by lawyers (we're seeing another lawyer tomorrow), but here's my first draft. Thoughts appreciated. (NB - I plan to get a friend to translate it into Arabic & type out an Arabic version to go on the back.)

Dear Parents,

I am very sad to tell you that this is my last day as a teacher at The Evil School.

Unlike the 6 other teachers who have left The Evil School this year mid-contract with little or no warning, I have honoured the 2-year contract that I signed with The Evil School. The contract I signed did not contain any clause to stop me from working at a different school in [city] after completing this contract.

I have decided not to return to The Evil School next year, but I love [city] and I would like to continue working in [country]. I have told Mr Evil this. He considers it unacceptable. I now discover that he never signed the contract himself, and he is refusing to sign it.

Mr Evil has told me that he has no written contract with me.

According to the contract I signed, I am still owed four months’ pay and a return ticket to the UK. Since Mr Evil never signed it, he does not consider himself bound by this contract. He has also said that I may not be paid for June, and that he wants to charge me for the cost of recruiting another teacher next year.

He has told me verbally and in writing that he has no problem with my teaching or my professionalism – indeed, he has told me that he considers me to be “a very nice young woman” and that he would be more than happy to sign a contract with me for next year. (I enclose a copy of his memo.)

As I do not wish to work for The Evil School next year, he has decided that he will not sign or honour my written contract.

This puts me in an impossible position. I need to secure paid work in order to continue to honour my financial commitments over the next few months. This is the last month of term, when we write reports, have parents’ meetings and prepare handover packs for next year’s teachers to tell them about your child’s progress this year. I do not want to leave my class, but Mr Evil has left me no choice. I am a trained and highly qualified professional, and I cannot afford to work for free.

I have enjoyed teaching your child enormously, and I feel confident that they will continue to make progress next year. [Name of class] has been a pleasure to work with. I am very sorry that I shall not be able to see them through to the end of this term. I shall miss them all. I wish you and your child all the very best in the future.

Yours sincerely

FayJay MA (Hons) AIEC

t leaps to end of thread

Sheesh. Scanning back, Fay and Cindy need a lot of sanity ~ma. I'm so sorry you're dealing with all of this.

Also, P-C was kind enough to link me to this, which I would otherwise have missed since I've been way behind in all but the F2F thread lately:

A small woot is in order. I just got back from seeing Katie Melua in concert. It was a most enjoyable show. Is Kristin around? She's the artist I was playing in your car while visiting. The show closed (with the exception of encores) with my fave song.

Yay, billytea! I loved that CD. I'm so glad you had a good time.

Okay, must do a metric fckload of laundry and more stressful other things than I can really count.

He thinks we owe him money because he has to recruit our replacements.

Fay, that is complete and utter bullshit. His cost for recruiting teachers is the cost of doing business. What a scum-sucking asshole.

Teppy, Owen and I met DH for lunch at Skyline. It was gooooood.