This Is So Wrong

[Casey_03]

I'm so angry I can't think straight. I don't know what to do. I posted a thread a few weeks ago about my very bad work situation - specifically that my employer had refused to grant me a work permit due to my pregnancy. They initially promised it, then strung me along for months before telling me "well, since you're pregnant we don't want the liability." After that, I went semi-public and hired a lawyer, and then it seemed like we had resolved the situation - my boss promised to get the work permit. But then the games continued. First he said the permit would be ready "within two weeks." Then two weeks passed and he said "by the end of the month." It is now the end of the month and there is still no permit. Without this permit, I cannot be in Ukraine legally, meaning I cannot give birth here, I cannot use banks to get my salary, I am susceptible to shakedowns if police discover i am not residing here legally. In short, it's a terrible situation for a pregnant woman to be in, and can cause my baby harm. My boss knows that I have no family to take me in, that the father of the baby is abusive and abandoned me and that I simply have nowhere to go. And yet somehow, despite all that, he is able to treat me this way, knowing full well i can end up homeless and lose the baby. Hell, the entire company is treating me this way. And the publisher is a wealthy businessman who runs charity foundations for kids!!! Can you believe that? A philanthropist! And here he is discriminating against a woman for being pregnant, playing games with her and ultimately forcing her to resign so she won't get maternity benefits. That is what this all boils down to, and what one company representative let slip. She accidentally admitted that the company simply didn't want to pay me maternity leave. I was stupid to think the matter was resolved with the lawyer. The company simply fed me more bullshit, promised to have the work permit ready, but they knew full well that if they just stalled and drew the process out long enough, my current visa would expire and i'd be forced to leave the country -- meaning i won't get the maternity leave i was promised, i will lose my job, i will have nowhere to live. All while in the third trimester of pregnancy. I now have 10 days until I'm homeless.

 

[Beelady]

Oh no Casey! WTH

 

[Deleted member 28403]

Thats crazy! I'm really sorryyy :hug:

 

[Friday]

Since the threat of embarrassment moved their asses the first time, I wonder what a full investigative piece would do to them? And how many other journalists they've hung out to dry in war zones & other impossible positions?

 

[Casey_03]

That's my plan, but it's not going to help me get the maternity leave or work permit. They already threatened me and said if I go public I'd simply be fired for "a loss of trust." They know I'm vulnerable and pregnant and they're exploiting that.

 

[Casey_03]

The really devious part of it is that they were very clever to not leave a paper trail or give me anything in writing -- meaning they will just deny all of my accusations. I repeatedly asked them to give me clarification in writing, and they would refuse. And every time I would contact my boss by email (to get him to respond in writing), he would call me back instead. I managed to record only one conversation with him, but it wasn't the one in which all the incriminating stuff was said.

 

[Chimera]

Really sorry you are going thru this...really. I couldn't find the thread you mentioned so this may have all been said..
Can you file for an extensive on visa, that alone might grant you more time?
Regarding those you work with...f*ck them!
Is it possible to go over the heads of the office you are attached to? Like all the way to the top?
I mean what do you have to lose at this point?
Just thinking about how easily we are manipulated and how fear make us ambivalent to protect ourselves...because we fear we'll make it worse.
I say use everything at your disposal....
Write those letters.
I hope I am not making it worse for you with this post..
mho
P

 

[Ronin]

A question - are you in touch with anyone working with people residing in the country illegally / support network in that direction?

Just thinking it might be worth a shot to get in touch if existing and available, if for nothing else so the whole 'I'll be an illegal' is maybe less of a fear inducing thing as there's options from there too / know of them, what they are.

 

[Casey_03]

They don't really have any organizations for that, just the state migration agency, but they don't assist people living here illegally. They usually deport them or simply advise them of the laws. I basically cannot stay here past the visa's expiration, because I can't get medical care and have a baby if I'm here illegally.
i have about a week to find a new job and a new home.

 

[Ronin]

Got it.

How thorough their checks / possible hideouts?

 

[Casey_03]

Well that wouldn't help me, that's the problem. I can't stay and hide out, because how would I give birth? I can't give birth in a proper facility without some form of legal residency.

 

[Ronin]

Yeah, makes sense.

Good luck on the job & home finding, may you succeed.