Legal Question in Business Law in Missouri

Missouri is a right to work state. Your employer does nto have to keep employing you, and you are not required to give any notice of your intention to quit. As that, each employee is basically a free agent. You do the work and they pay you based upon your mutual agreement. As part of that, employers are not required to pay all employees the same for the same work. However, there are exceptions. Employers cannot base differences in pay upon race, religion, gender, etc. If you feel that you are being paid differently because you differ from teh other folks in one of those criteria, you may have adiscrimination claim. Those must be raised in short amount of time, after discovering the disparity. If you think yours might be one of those cases, you need to make a claim with the appropriate admistrative agency very soon. Those are usually the Missouri Human Rights Commission or the federal EEOC office.

There is one other exception to the right to work assumption. That is where a contract for employment has been made. Based upon the facts you described, you might be able to claim that you relied upon the promise of the raise in deciding to keep on working there. The evidence to prove such an agreement, can be tough to prove.

Making a succesful employment case can be very technically challenging. I suggest that you consult direclty with an employment lawyer in your area, as soon as possible. Many offer a free or low cost initial consultation. Be prepared to provide all the relevant documents, names and dates.

Good luck