I received a letter from my ex-employer today trying to collect on relocation expenses that they paid to move me from Seattle, WA to Princeton, NJ at the end of last year. My employment agreement stated that I would have to reimburse the company if I left within one year (pretty standard); however, I was scrambling to find a job outside of the company to remove myself from the severe work enviornment. My direct manager made several racist, homophobic, and inappropriate religious comments to me (at one point she told me I needed to go to church). On another occasion, I attended a retirement party for a colleague in NYC that turned out to not only put myself, but an entire group of employees, in danger. Senior leadership hired a driver and rented a van for the event and the group became overly intoxicated at dinner (I am not a big drinker and remained sober). On the way back to the office, we stopped to drop off an employee at her home. The group got out of the van to use the restroom and I stayed in the van and fell asleep. Long story short, I woke up almost an hour later to screaming and yelling inside the house, the van still running, and the driver inside the house with my colleagues, who continued to drink. I finally persuaded them to take me back to the office, where they let everyone drive their own cars home.

I reported all of this to HR (and I work in HR!), who told me they needed to escalate the issues to the head of HR. After a few months, no response from HR, and the behavior of my direct manager continuing, I accepted an offer back in Seattle and left the company. All of the knowledge that I have about HR administration says that this situation is not right. My question to you is if you think it would be worth my time talk to an employment lawyer to escalate this issue/draft a reponse to the letter I received today. I honestly want nothing from ex-employer and just want to forget I ever worked there, but would rather not pay back relocation expenses for a wasted year of my life.

Any advice you can provide would be much appreciated.

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State/Country relating to question: New Jersey

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