This is very difficult to share and has taken me months to gain the courage. I’m sharing for a few different reasons: to create a safe place to restart our lives, warn everyone what can happen when a company offers to “reimburse” for anything. (Not every company makes decisions like this. It’s simply a warning to share to consider it may happen) and finally to get my children and mother in a safe comfortable location.
December of last year, I accepted a position with Crown Cork & Seal in Tampa, FL which came with relocation assistance. Before we started packing the truck, the pre employment screening was completed and a clear start timeline was confirmed.
We made decisions for our family in good faith—trusting that this opportunity would provide stability and a fresh start. Instead, a week after my start date, after I completed onboarding and after I received my lap top, office etc. the situation changed unexpectedly due to the employer’s lack of employment practice compliance. Crown had engaged a third party to complete background reports (pretty standard). Whats not standard is the decision to change the hire status once the employee has been hired. This is a wrongful termination. What’s illegal Neither Crown, nor the third party, complied with federal laws that govern collection and/or use of the data obtained during the screening process. Inaccurate information and information belonging to someone else was used to make employment decisions and never allowed me the opportunity to review the information which is strictly against the law. The rights of the employee can not be guaranteed in the absence of compliance. This isn’t a new law and it isn’t optional. It’s to protect individuals from this negligence. Finally, Crown rescinded the relocation assistance, (after) we had incurred the expenses. Crown has annual revenues of $14b and they made this decision knowing we would be out of money two weeks before Christmas. We reached out to them to appeal to their human side and never once received a response. We still have no idea what on the background report crown took issue with.
That sudden pivot and return to West Palm unraveled everything we had just put into place and was a source of significant shame.
At the same time, delays outside of our control—including the timing of our tax refund—left us without the financial cushion we needed to recover quickly. We worked to stay ahead of it—making calls, exploring every option, and trying to stabilize things—but the combination of these events ultimately led to the loss of our housing.
This has been especially difficult because we are not facing this alone. We have children who depend on us, and my 78-year-old mother who relies on me for stability and care. I worry about her night and day. She’s become too fragile to be moved around like this. Right now, our focus is simply keeping everyone safe, supported, and together during an incredibly uncertain time. We’ve already lost my son’s guinea pigs.
We are actively working to rebuild. We are pursuing employment, addressing the relocation situation through the appropriate legal and administrative channels, and taking every step possible to secure housing again. We have not stopped moving forward because in spite of what we lost, we believe the lord has something exciting planned right around the corner.
But we need help to gain traction.
Funds raised will go toward:
- Temporary housing for our family
- Basic necessities during this transition
- Transportation and essential expenses to maintain stability
This is a temporary crisis, not the end of our story. With support, we can stabilize, secure housing, and move forward from this setback.
If you are able to help—whether through a donation or by sharing this page—it would mean more than we can fully express. Every bit of support helps us take one step closer to getting back on our feet.
Thank you for taking the time to read our story and for being part of helping our family through this.
