I was wondering if it is legal to deduct from a 1099 employee's paycheck without receiving permission first?

My wife was working as a 1099 sales representative for a medical device supplier. She recently stopped working for the company and there was a significant deduction in her last paycheck and she had no idea why. After talking to her employer, they said that a piece was missing from one of the medical device kits so they charged her for it. They never told her it was missing or brought it to her attention and she never agreed to this deduction.

She still believes if this piece went missing, it was not her fault and it occurred after she returned the kit to the company. However, they have no proof that she lost it and she can't prove that someone else lost it.

We are stuck since they are already took the money away. It seems like our only recourse is taking them to court.

Can anyone comment on which of the actions her company took were or were not legal? Does the fact that she is a 1099 employee change her rights regarding paycheck deductions?

thanks in advance

If she receives a 1099, she isn't an employee. There is no such thing as a 1099 employee.

If she is a contractor, (1099) then what deductions can be made should be spelled out in the agreement. The laws governing employees are not the same as those for contractors. Your recourse would be in small claims court.

i understand the employee/1099 contradiction, i just didn't know how to refer to her, should i just have said contractor?

thanks.

Technically the phrase is independant contractor (IC). Assuming of course that the worker really is legally IC.

http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs16.pdf