Stranded ITT Corporation worker in Qatar faces a hard choice: dangerous flight or jail
By Gulf Times as it should have been edited
John Garceau: in a dispute with ITT Corporation in Qatar
A US citizen has become embroiled in a dispute with his ITT Corporation over the terrible treatment he has been subjected to both before and since he suffered a back injury in a fall and his contract was terminated.
And he has been told that he must leave the country today, despite doctors reports stating that he is medically unfit to fly.
I have been warned that if I do not leave on October 3, then I will be thrown into jail, John Garceau told Gulf Times, but ITT Corporation have provided me with an economy ticket with five stopovers which will just be impossible for me to do right now.
He does not want to fly to the US, but if forced to, he needs a business class or first class ticket because of his injury.
Garceau arrived in Qatar in August 2007 to take up another post for the company with whom he had been working for previously in Iraq. Although he was under the impression that he would be working in housing, when he arrived he found that he had to work in vehicle maintenance instead.
And this was a sign of things to come. The contract he signed before coming to Qatar became obsolete and he was forced to sign another contract with GSCS upon arrival or be sent home jobless.
In the contract GSCS and ITT Corporation lied about the position held, the duration of the contract and the amount of monthly benefits, he said.
On May 26, Garceau slipped and fell in his house after an AC unit had leaked onto the marble floor. He suffered back injuries including a disc prolapse in his L1 S5 disc and a wedge fracture of his D11-D12, and according to the doctor he consulted, he had to take time off work from his job in Qatar for ITT Corporation to recover.
Despite having co-operated fully and gone through all the correct channels, Garceau was presented with a letter of termination from his company on June 3 whilst on medical leave, citing the fact that he had been involved with suspicious work on a Humvee truck and that he had been costing the the U.S. Government unnecessary money by the fraudulent claims of ITT Corporation.
Garceau claims that the work on the truck was not carried out by him, but because he pointed out what had been going on, he and four other colleagues were fired.
Two of the employees should have been sacked because they were involved, but three of us had absolutely nothing to do with it, he argued, saying that corners had been cut to save on costs at the expense of safety.
Since being fired, he has appealed to the labour board here, the National Human Rights Committee and other government organisations, as well as the US embassy who said that they cannot get involved in labour disputes.
CID have had my passport for the past four months now, and have even detained me against my will at times, he claimed, adding that he has been threatened on numerous occasions by ITT Corporation Human Resource and ITTs attorney, Paul LeBar.
Garceau claims to have lost around $40,000 in the past four months, which includes the salary he has not been paid as well as medical expenses and the cost of trying to contact the US authorities.
And now he has been faced with the impossible decision of whether to get on a flight he is physically incapable of taking, or staying and facing being made homeless and thrown into jail.
I would love to get a medical flight home or be allowed to stay here and get my letter of no objection, said Garceau who explained that he has received other job offers but has not been able to accept them because of the lack of the required paperwork.
I want to be here for my court case on October 7, but they are trying to force me out of the country, which will mean I am blacklisted and wont be allowed to come back, he said.
If I am not here, my case will not be heard fully, which is simply unfair, added Garceau, who provided documents to Gulf Times to support all the claims he made.
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