What recourse do I have to collect the money owed from my previous employer? Could I possibly make a fraud claim against him?

The claim based on the bounced pay checks would be the way to go vis-a-vis this situation.

What should I do, I never gave anything in writing or gave my two weeks notice. Should I get a lawyer?

It appears to me that you have a pretty good retaliation claim.

What can I do legally? Can I sue?

While not impossible, these sorts of claims are very difficult to prove as the legal standards for these sorts of tort claims are very high.

Am I and the other women on the panel are being discriminated against and/or defamed?

If what you describe/suspect is what actually happened, then you would have a claim. That being said, proving it may be very difficult to do. In...

I don't think you should worry about it until the deadline has actually passed. It is probably in the mail.

At this main building I'm at where I spend 20 hours a week they expect me to be on call 24/7. Is that legal for part time?

I need more facts before answering this question. In particular, did you have some sort of written contract and are you getting paid any sort of...

Can my old boss legally take my right to work away if I signed an agreement?

This is a complicated situation that is very fact intensive. They may have a claim against you but, on the other hand, you may have a claim...

What should I do?

Your colleagues and you may be in a position to sue for unpaid wages and see triple damages if you can show this was willful.

They said in writing they would oppose my unemployment benefits if I didn't resign and instead chose to be fired. Is this legal?

If you resign you may not be entitled to unemployment benefits anyhow. You may be better off getting fired.

Should I sue?

While the IRS determination is certainly helpful, it is not dispositive as to whether you were an employee or not (but it is certainly a good...