Charter School "Stole" My Earned Wages

[ataheri]

I would like some advice on the following:

From 2013-2016 I worked at a Charter School in Pinellas County. Recently, the management company that operated the charter school has had charges of grand theft, aggravated white collar crime, and money laundering in another county. Pinellas County got wind of this and they decided to investigate. In the end, the management company pulled out of Florida all together. We turned to our governing board of volunteers to run the daily operations of the school. Pinellas County decided that due to financial issue the middle school charter (we are high school and middle school) would have 90 days to submit a corrective action plan or they would pull the charter.

Long story short, I haven't received any paychecks for the month of July which are (supposed) to be payment for days worked during the year. Teachers break up their checks over 24 checks so that there is a continuous pay throughout the summer months. I received a letter in the middle of August (which apparently was sent to me in the beginning of August).

I got a letter in the middle of July stating that I was terminated due to downsizing and that I would be given a severance of one half of my monthly salary. I still have not received this money and it was supposed to be direct deposit on July 31st.

My question is, do I have any case to get my earned wages from this school? If you need more information, I can give it, I didn't want to make the post too long. Any help anyone can provide is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[cbg]

Your state does not have a state department of labor, and the US DOL will only support minimum wage plus overtime. So your best bet is probably civil court - small claims, if the amount fits within the limit.

 

[Chyvan]

I was terminated due to downsizing

I hope you applied for unemployment.

 

[commentator]

Ah....unemployment, school wages...non reimbursing employers....what a honey pot of wage issues that is all going to be in the u.i. system of FL! Charter schools are frequently the pits of hell, IMHO. But yes, do apply for unemployment benefits. It will take forever to get it all together and get wage records and decisions. But it is worth the time to do the filing. You are out of work through no fault of your own and there should be eventual benefits for you when and if this whole wage issue is resolved.

In the meantime, quickly file a complaint with the federal Wage and Hour division in your area. You may want to talk to your fellow employees who are in the same boat, see if they all would like to combine resources to combat the fracturing of your employment situation. Even if a company, such as the charter school goes bankrupt, wages are considered a priority in the restructuring of the debt incurred. You want to make sure you have a claim in place for reimbursement of these wages when they start distributing the assets.