To anyone who has read my previous rants, I always end it with a note that I do not aim for any of them to be read or made popular. But I will make a gross exception for this post. I want everyone to read this, I want this to be popular, I want this to be in every single fucking media outlet that University Gateway will be sorry they ever decided to push their money-hungry weight around.
In the middle of the spring semester, University Gateway held an information session on campus attempting to recruit students to apply for the Keystone position, which is similar to being a RA. I know that I am an international student and I know the specific circumstances of employment under my student visa. It states that I am allowed to have a job on-campus and off-campus if the site has an affiliation with USC. So I specifically asked the presenter that these are my visa’s restriction and is University Gateway affiliated with USC so that I can work there. They replied with a resounding yes. I went ahead and applied. My application video, which is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvOfn7wuEGY clearly states that I am an international student. During my interview process, I also made extremely clear that I am an international student. I remember one of the questions being “What is the hardest thing about being a Keystone?” and I said that it would be hard not seeing my family for a year because of the time commitments the job had. I also exchanged emails with the supervisors asking for help on how to fill out the tax forms cause I did not have a social security number at that time.
Training is about to start and I purposely fly 2 months before school starts because Gateway requested that I come in to train and work early. I do not get a salary with the job, they pay me by providing free rent. I arrive on time for training and all the new Keystones were led into a study room. I recognized the girl calling me to be Heather, the one who interviewed me and eventually hired me. She asked for my passport, visa and I-20. She looked over it and said “I’m afraid I’m not allowed to hire you”. They told me that they have no affiliation with USC. 99% of their residents may be students of USC but they are in no way affiliated with USC. So, them employing me would be illegal and I understand that. What I’m extremely frustrated about is that this could have been avoided had they checked with HR before I actually arrived in the US. I would not have been angry if they rejected me during the application process simply because of the legal issues. That is completely understandable but to have them check my documents so late into the process when I already had readily given them everything they have asked for and possibly need is absurd. I was mislead by their own staff that I was eligible to work for them. They could have corrected me; they had 4 months to do so.
Gateway is the most expensive yet convenient off-campus housing option around USC. So, Gateway would not have been an option if I did not get the job because it is simply too expensive for me to live there. So with that sentence, my job and my accommodation for the next 12 months just disappeared. I understand that there is no way they can hire me and I respect the laws of the United States. However, the subsequent events not only increased my resentment towards Gateway but prompted me to finally speak out and do something about their incompetence and greed.
As of today, Gateway refuses to compensate me in any shape or form besides allowing me to break my lease without penalties. They will not allow my roommate to break her lease and so we are going to be separated. We were already so set in living together and now I have to be randomly assigned a roommate in my alternate housing option. Gateway is the only reason why I am in LA for the next two months as school does not start till August 22. They are evicting me tomorrow after only being in this country for less than a week.
Gateway is getting away scot-free, maybe besides a guilty conscience but at this point, I doubt they have one. They are in this business to make money and disregard anyone else in their way. I am just an international student and I cannot fight against a large American company by myself, which is why I’m not looking to sue them or anything. I simply want to put this message out to all you USC students. This is their mistake and I am the one being punished. No one should be screwed over so badly, international student or a US citizen.
No more fear, stop the silence. Everyone has a voice and deserves to be heard. Please spread the word.
*This is not my story, but the story of a friend who asked that everyone who reads this, repost it on their own blog so the truth can come out and be known. She is being treated incredibly unfairly, as you can see, and I wanted to help. Thats all.*
In the middle of the spring semester, University Gateway held an information session on campus attempting to recruit students to apply for the Keystone position, which is similar to being a RA. I know that I am an international student and I know the specific circumstances of employment under my student visa. It states that I am allowed to have a job on-campus and off-campus if the site has an affiliation with USC. So I specifically asked the presenter that these are my visa’s restriction and is University Gateway affiliated with USC so that I can work there. They replied with a resounding yes. I went ahead and applied. My application video, which is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvOfn7wuEGY clearly states that I am an international student. During my interview process, I also made extremely clear that I am an international student. I remember one of the questions being “What is the hardest thing about being a Keystone?” and I said that it would be hard not seeing my family for a year because of the time commitments the job had. I also exchanged emails with the supervisors asking for help on how to fill out the tax forms cause I did not have a social security number at that time.
Training is about to start and I purposely fly 2 months before school starts because Gateway requested that I come in to train and work early. I do not get a salary with the job, they pay me by providing free rent. I arrive on time for training and all the new Keystones were led into a study room. I recognized the girl calling me to be Heather, the one who interviewed me and eventually hired me. She asked for my passport, visa and I-20. She looked over it and said “I’m afraid I’m not allowed to hire you”. They told me that they have no affiliation with USC. 99% of their residents may be students of USC but they are in no way affiliated with USC. So, them employing me would be illegal and I understand that. What I’m extremely frustrated about is that this could have been avoided had they checked with HR before I actually arrived in the US. I would not have been angry if they rejected me during the application process simply because of the legal issues. That is completely understandable but to have them check my documents so late into the process when I already had readily given them everything they have asked for and possibly need is absurd. I was mislead by their own staff that I was eligible to work for them. They could have corrected me; they had 4 months to do so.
Gateway is the most expensive yet convenient off-campus housing option around USC. So, Gateway would not have been an option if I did not get the job because it is simply too expensive for me to live there. So with that sentence, my job and my accommodation for the next 12 months just disappeared. I understand that there is no way they can hire me and I respect the laws of the United States. However, the subsequent events not only increased my resentment towards Gateway but prompted me to finally speak out and do something about their incompetence and greed.
As of today, Gateway refuses to compensate me in any shape or form besides allowing me to break my lease without penalties. They will not allow my roommate to break her lease and so we are going to be separated. We were already so set in living together and now I have to be randomly assigned a roommate in my alternate housing option. Gateway is the only reason why I am in LA for the next two months as school does not start till August 22. They are evicting me tomorrow after only being in this country for less than a week.
Gateway is getting away scot-free, maybe besides a guilty conscience but at this point, I doubt they have one. They are in this business to make money and disregard anyone else in their way. I am just an international student and I cannot fight against a large American company by myself, which is why I’m not looking to sue them or anything. I simply want to put this message out to all you USC students. This is their mistake and I am the one being punished. No one should be screwed over so badly, international student or a US citizen.
No more fear, stop the silence. Everyone has a voice and deserves to be heard. Please spread the word.
*This is not my story, but the story of a friend who asked that everyone who reads this, repost it on their own blog so the truth can come out and be known. She is being treated incredibly unfairly, as you can see, and I wanted to help. Thats all.*
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