restaurant paycheck taken out of deposit

[marvelguy68]

when i woke up tues morning, 8/7/08, i noticed my check was deposited overnight with my bonus on it. then, on thurs morning, 2 days later, 8/9/08 the check deposit was reversed. when i contacted my hr department, they said it was at the request of my district manager, they had no other details. i was then later in the day, told by him they were letting me go for fraudlent numbers in my work. It was due to a fact we have no way of invoicing certain products from which we get from a certain purveyor, so we invoice it under a different name. still pay the bills, still taking the hit, etc. well, the bonus is based off of turnerover and profit, both of which are not affected one bit by the renaming/reclassing of the invoices. furthermore, i was instructed to by my general manager to do so. i was told by the district manager that i should had known better though i had never been told not to do it. no prior doccumentation nor do i have any prior history of bad conduct.

now, i know i work at a work at will state, so getting my job back is not going to happen, but can i fight the fact they took my check out from underneath me? the rule bonus program states, an employee under good standing and employement under date which bonus is paid will recieve it. i got fired 2 days later, after it got stripped, not before. i know there are probably more legal and needs to be more clarification on this, but id really need to be able to get an idea and whether or not i should pursue this. i have already started mounting late fees and overdrafts from my bank, and im not sure what to do. please help me save this......i dont have much at this moment.

 

[cbg]

You must be paid for all the time you actually worked. Whether or not you are due the bonus or not depends on the terms of the bonus agreement; this is not addressed by law.

 

[marvelguy68]

more

i was also informed today i could contest the automatic withdrawal from my bank, which should save me the overdraft fees. i dont exactly how long i have to do it, ive been told 5 days and 90days. was also told if i reported it to the department of labor i would have it reversed, but they could sue me for my money? carlson is a huge corp with deep pockets. im not sure if this would be something they would pursue or not. anyone have any thoughts?

 

[cbg]

If the amount of the deposit was incorrect, the employer may legally reverse it; however they have to make a new deposit or provide you with a check in the correct amount.

 

[marvelguy68]

"File your complaint with the DOL. This will not bar your former employer from suing you if they believe you owe them money, but they can't deduct from your pay without your express prior written consent. So they'll have to pay you what they deducted, but again can turn around and sue to make you pay it back."

thats what was told to me. is this true?