Do you think that I should sue this person?

My wife is Taiwanese. She was hired in Taiwan to work at a branch in Austin, Texas. When we arrived in Austin, Texas, the woman who ran the office there refused to let my wife work, saying that she couldn't work without a Social Security Number. My wife tried to explain to her that her SSN would be arriving within 10 days, but she had legal approval from the Department of Homeland Security to begin work. The office manager refused to accept this, and told my wife that she didn't want her to work there because she didn't like her "attitude." My wife didn't have an attitude, she just tried to explain that she could, indeed, work until she received her SSN. (She now has the number.) Can I sue this woman for our travel expenses to Austin, Texas? Also, if I sue, do I sue her personally, or the whole company? The head boss in Taiwan no longer takes calls from my wife so he is useless. I really need help on this one.

My wife has a letter from the Department of Homeland Security which says "Employment is Authorized." So she CAN work, even without an SSN. The employer only needs to write "Applied For" on the W-2's, and then when the employee finally gets their SSN, they file a W2-C form. The woman was Taiwanese and didn't understand American law.

Please check my blog entry on this for the WHOLE story: http://kenberglund.blogspot.com/2008/06/...

Did your wife get the job offer in writing before you relocated? This is critical. If you don't have anything in writing, I'm not sure you have a case.

But most state counties have lawyer services where you can get advice for $35-50 for 1/2 hour of consultation. My family has used them 3x, and have always gotten useful information. It's worth the $50, just to know you did the best you could.

Try that--and if you can't reach anyone (the service is sometimes hard to find) contact me, magicbird, through Yahoo. My family hails from Austin, I might at least be able to track down the service for you.

Nope. Texas is an "at will" state.

Also, the office manager was correct in not allowing your wife to work without a SSN. Especially in the State of Texas. Illegal aliens work using false identification or use stories of "My SSN is in the mail."

You may think your wife did not have an attitude, but if she was not understanding of the other woman's point of view, that may in itself, be considered attitude. You don't have to necessarily have a bad attitude, but not being empathetic to another can be a bad trait in an employee.

There probably is not much legal precedent for this kind of situation, so that makes it hard to give an answer with certainty.

If you have documentation or letters from the company in Austin offering her the position then you probably have grounds for a suit,

Search the internet for more answers. Start here: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=...

BTW you might try asking a university law school professor about this. They could probably head you in the right direction.

You probably could sue her, but you will lose. If somone in Taiwan hired her to work in the U.S., it was their responsibility to make sure that she was legal to work.The woman who refused to let your wife work was correct. You cannot work here without a SSN. Whoever told your wife to come here was wrong, but your wife was not allowed to work in this country. She should have made sure that all her paperwork was done before she got here.

This situation here is very sticky. You probably could not sue unless the woman who ran the office was not hiring her over race. Otherwise there are no grounds for a lawsuit, the woman working the desk did not do anything wrong. She was just following protocol for the company. The only thing you could do is try your best to get calls from the boss.

No, just let it go, you will put more effort, time, and money into it than is worthwhile. It might be a blessing in disguise too. And nobody can work without a SSN as far as I'm aware. You have to fill out papers on day one for tax purposes and that would be impossible without it. The person in Taiwan set you up badly IMO.

Not unless your wife signed a contract for the job she accepted, in which case you could sue for the breach of that contract.

I don't see how a lawsuit helps anything in this case.

i wouldn't sue at all as it would cost more than the travel expenses... often someone like this is low on the food chain in the company and all you have to do is talk to someone else. just make sure you mention that the person you talked to was very rude.
as long as you wife was offered the position and has government approval to work legally, then your wife should have the job!

also, sue the company and i guarantee that your wife will NEVER work there and will have a hard time getting another job. my friend sued his company and after that it was VERY hard for him to get another because nobody wants to hire a potential risk.