Employer broke oral contract then slendered and took police action against me

The original post was deleted by the poster.

Go talk to a lawyer with all documentation you have been sent by the institution. Sounds like they are taking advantage of you and changing agreements without cause. Schools are in a crunch these days too, but this sounds more like fraud. You should start looking for another job rather than spending your time at this institution trying to regain 20 days of pay. You need to ask the department for a letter of recommendation in writing... so you don't have to risk what they might say otherwise. Make THAT your 20 days of pay as equal value. Better to negotiate when they know they have done you wrong... hence the job offer.

On what grounds were you banned? Were you charged with disorderly conduct or threats or any other such thing? They don't routinely BAN people for no reason. What did you to do make thing believe you were "unstable"?

Job offers are of limited duration. Best case is for you to negotiate with the university to allow you to take other jobs that are available. You don't need the twenty days as much as you need permanent or potentially better employement. Take this up with the institution human resources department and suggest that if the offer was made in good faith as you thought your previous offer that you completed was, that you would rather be allowed access to other more important job openings rather than being banned for objecting that your last campus job which you completed but found the further 20 days pay withdrawn even though you had taken the job in good faith... and that it was based on an agreement prior to that job where you gave up six weeks of vacation pay to take and work a job for 38 days plus 20 further days of pay. Either of your good faith jobs would have allowed you to look for employment when they ended, but the department withdrew the promises. Ask that they allow you now to proceed looking for employment in areas that suit your talents rather than continuing to alternately make offers of employment and then ban you from campus for rightfully objecting to a change in terms only after you had fulfilled your part of the agreement.

It is important that you ask them in your conversation with them what THEY would have considered fair. Get some interaction, not just, "you should fix this".

Good luck to you.

Thank you donallie for your advice.

I am pondering about the 20 day offer more for its implications in either direction on a potential law suit, and its promise of removing the ban, than it as a job. I appreciate your insight about the ban issue. Any advice on the implications part (as in the question 2 in my initial post)?

Or any advice from anyone else on that?

Realistically, if things don't go your way, you could sue at any time... including after the next job offer and possible withdrawal of benefits. The continuation of offers and the continuation of their withdrawal of the follow on benefit of pay for vacation time... smaller each time... do not make this institution appear to be working with you in good faith... especially that one department head. Others will find themselves in trouble if they cross a department head, but other departments can offer you a job and you might find them less or more trustworthy as an employer. Negotiating another job only to find them withdrawing the benefits would be the straw that broke the proverbial camels back... that is when suing would make more sense.

But mind this ... if you sue an institution, you may never work in one again. Is it worth 20 days of vacation to have another job?... probably. Would it be worth it to sue? Probably not. It would cost you. And you can only recover lost wages that were promised... nothing more. So what gain would there REALLY BE? NONE... a BIG loss though.

Thanks donallie.

The potential suit would be much more about the mistreatments (slandering, defamation, etc., than about the loss of 20-day salary). But I am concerned that even accepting, or not accepting, the 20-day rehire as the financial/removing ban remedy might affect my grounds of suing for anything else in the same case.

It's a great point you brought up, one that I concern heavily also, that once I sued an institution, I might never be able to working in it again, which would be a critical loss to me given the opportunities and suitability of jobs there. Also, I was even told that employers in general could have bias against one who has sued a former employer. Is that true? If it is, does that mean that I'd better swallow it?

No wonder the department seemed having this attitude that "We could do whatever to you, you'll just have to take it!"

That is actually just about the way the university world IS. You have to have political connections higher than department before you can do or say anything that could be construed as negative. They don't call it ivory towers for nothing. They are isolated, job tenured for some, but never to be tenured for others... like you... who must continually pay homage to the powers above them.

Actually, if you think about it, it is pretty much like that everywhere... except when you own your own business without partners. I know it is pretty much like that in most law firms that have lots of partners... or even a very few. The owners are king.

Original poster--I received your email and replied. Hope that helps.

Let me know if I can offer any more suggestions.

Good luck and let me know what you decide.

Also, one thing I did not address via email is the slander and defamation of character. In order to prevail in one of these suits, you must prove that 1. something untrue was said about you with evil or wrong intent and 2. that it damaged you in some tangible way. Given this situation, I am not sure how you would prevail in that sort of suit.