Legal Question in Employment Law in Georgia

I began working at a company in Chicago, Illinois in 2009 as an employee. I was paid $32.00 to visit patients in their homes and do skilled patient care ( dressing changes, assessments, etc) and $18.00 an hour for office work and also mileage pay. I selected a high benefits package because I was making good money with the company plus I had another parttime job in Chicago.

But I became homesick and wanted to move back to Georgia to be with family and friends. I applied for a transfered to another office in College Park, Georgia with the same company a few months later. The district manager and operating manager in Chicago arranged for the transfer into the College Park office because I was a good employee. So I transfered to the exact same position just in a different office. But the operating manager in College Park Georgia was not happy with being forced to give me a job in her office. She told me I could not keep my pay from the previous office because they had other nurses that were making less money. Since the transfer was done by the Chicago Office and I had already left the former position, I accepted the decrease in pay. But then she refused to allow me to decrease my benefits package to match the decrease in pay, even though they were treating me like a new employee. I began to struggle financially and didn't even get a first paycheck because benefits took it all.

When I realized that my pay check was not correct and I wasn't paid for office work I talked to the operating manager, but she refused to pay me for office work.( Which I was paid for in the Chicago office when I did the same type of work) I was suppose to be paid $14.00 an hour for office/administrative work and $25.00 to visit patients at the College Park office. They refused to pay me the $14.00 an hour even though I was at the office doing work for the company. I would spend 11-12 hours a day, 5 days a week doing work for this company. Going into the office at 8am doing office work such as calling doctors, charting, calling patients, getting supplies for patients, faxing doctors etc. Then leaving the office at about 12pm and driving to visit 5-7 patients each day in the field, not getting done until around 6 or 7 in the evening and then still having to take all the computer work home to complete because there was too much computer work to do in the patient's home and still do patient care in the alloted time. Sometimes I would not get finished until 11:00pm at night. The operating manager refused to pay me saying that the visit pay covered all work done and that the office pay was only for training and meetings. ( But I was paid for the exact same type of office work in the Chicago office.) I was taking home $600 paychecks every two weeks after benefits and taxes. All of the nurses in the office were complaining about not getting paid office pay.

Due to stress caused by lack of pay and overdue bills I became ill November 13, 2009 and was admitted into the hospital. I only recieved one short term disability check and had no other income, which made me get behind on my bills even more. When I came off sick leave on December 13th the human resource worker told me I could not return to work for lack of car insurance. ( I couldn't see patients in the field without car insurance. They had postings out side the human resource office asking employees to sign up for extra work in the office to work on patient files. When I asked if I could work in the office to get the money I needed to fix my car, get it registered in Georgia ,and get car insurance, so that I could return to the field the human resource manager said she didn't see a problem because she needed help but she needed to speak with my supervisior. My supervisior said she didn't see a problem but she had to speak to the operating manager( the same one who decreased my pay and refused to allow me to adjust my benefits) She said I couldn't even work in the office without car insurance. Human resources said that since I was no longer covered under sick leave that they were going to place me on leave of absence. I agreed to the leave of absence because I wanted to keep the job. First they said I had until Feb 17th to return to work. Then they changed it to FEB 5th without consulting me in advance.

Due to a lack of fincome my car was repossessed and I had to get on public asisstance. I kept my supervisor informed of what was going on and told her I would return to work when my taxes came in Feb. My car was repossessed on Jan 21st. They fired me on Jan 29th but my leave of absence wasn't up until Feb 5th. Then they told the unemployment office that I quit. I filed for unemployment and was denied because they said I quit which was a lie. I appealed and had a recorded phone hearing in which the manager admitted that I didn't quit, admitted that they didn't pay for office work, and admitted that she fired me on 29th. Lied and said I never contacted them about my situation, but then at the end of the hearing said I called and told them my car was repossessed. They did alot of lying, they have caused me alot of stress leading to illiness and hospitalization, I am also facing eviction. I want to file a civil law suit against my company for discrimination, loss wages, unpaid wages, unfair treatment, pain and suffering. Due I have a case?

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