The calls to CoFiA for help with wage theft issues continue. On May 11, 2018, our Wage Theft committee chair accompanied two women who had been defrauded by a Bayonne-based janitorial service to a hearing at the Department of Labor in Trenton.
As is often the case the employer did not appear, so the women won default judgments. The only other plaintiff in the room at the hearing was also claiming against this employer, and the referee said she had many other cases against the company.
This situation came to our attention late last year. Our Social Services Coordinator took the information, and the committee contacted the employer who promised to pay–but didn’t. The committee then began working with the women to establish the actual dates worked and not paid–a long process but one which they were eager to complete successfully. So when they arrived at the hearing their stories were well documented, and the referee made the award without question since the employer did not show up.
This business is clearly very badly managed, but if there is money available, the Department of Labor and the Superior Court will do everything they can to help recover it. But without the help of CoFiA, the plaintiffs would have had nowhere to turn to find out how to plead. A lot of work for our committee. Many thanks!
Other news–the Wage Theft Committee collected an additional $200 for one of our friends. This makes $1600 collected on his claim, with only $140 to go! This may be a record!