It appears that the company may be trying to reclassify you as an independent contractor rather than an employee.Based on the information provided, it appears that such reclassification (a) would be a violation of applicable law by the employer and (b) potentially could be disadvantageous for you (e.g., depriving you of unemployment compensation if you are fired without cause).The most prudent approach would be to retain a lawyer who represents employees in employment matters.In any event, it appears that you would be justified in refusing to complete and sign the W-9, telling the company that there is no business or legal reason for you to do so.Edit: After the foregoing answer was written, the OP added Q details concerning restricted stock repurchase being the reason for the W-9 request. As a result, the foregoing answer appears to beu00a0 irrelevant. However, I will leave it, for now, in case Q details are changed yet again in a way that reestablishes the answer's relevance.