Company refuses to pay all money owed ..also stated that if we sought legal action we would be terminated and never work again in field

Employees who have not been paid wages may file a complaint with the Texas Workforce Commission - Labor Law Department, which will collect them for you.  While free, the process does take a couple of months.  Further, the TWC cannot collect wages that were due to be paid more than 180 days before the date a complaint is filed, so if you are going to use this system, don't delay if there are wages due that are that old or nearing that old. This statute (the Texas Payday Act) does not have any protections against retaliation.  So the Company could fire you for making the complaint.  They will still have to pay you for all time worked. If you choose not to use the TWC process (or if some of the wages due are over 6 mos old) you can sue your employer in court, but you'll have to hire a lawyer or find one who will take a case on a contingent fee.  Getting a lawyer to take such a case might be easier if a large group of the affected employees hired him or her together.  Again, no retalition protection if you go this route either.  But is getting fired from a job that won't pay you such a big deal? A company would have to have a lot of market power to freeze an employee out of the industry for filing a legal claim.  Though you haven't mentioned the name of your employer, I doubt they could carry out that threat unless you are really high up in managment.  There is a little used statute in Texas that prevents an employer from "Blacklisting" an employee.  I don't know the ins and outs of it, because I haven't used it.  But its there. Good luck