Legal Question in Employment Law in California
We are a group of American and Canadian teachers in China. We worked for a school owned by a very well-to-do American. With no prior notice, she closed the school down and left. She did not pay any of us our final months salary. She has numerous assets in California: houses and busnesses. Can we sue her in an American court to recover our wages?
2 Answers from Attorneys
The U.S. courts cannot exercise jurisdiction over her just because she is a citizen and has assets in the U.S. She must be "domiciled" in the U.S. If she has returned to the U.S. and you know where to find her, then, yes, we can sue her here for your wages.
Your employment is there, as is your legal remedy, unless you have a written contract specifically granting US courts jurisdiction of such dispute.