I was wrongfully terminated on June 11th without any notice and/or reason. I was punctual, dependable and went above and beyond her expectations yet I have not received any pay from my employer since May 9th.
Lawanna Brittonarroyo hired me as an Assistant Manager in February to help her open a juice bar called Good For Your Body, Inc. (http://www.g4yb.Biz/) in Brooklyn and agreed to pay me the rate of $10.00 an hour. The opening date of the store was pushed back several times. She paid me in cash for 3 months, then claimed that once the store opened she would switch us to payroll/direct deposit using a company called Paychex from Queens.
I started 'clocking in' my hours on May 9th by leaving her voicemails to her cell phone because she said Paychex would retrieve the voicemails to calculate my hours. I filled out a basic information sheet for Paychex and a W-4 form, but after two weeks she said that payroll wasnt ready yet and we would have to wait another two weeks. She gave me a cash advance but it was nowhere near the amount she owed me since i was working 50-70 hours a week for her, and my hours kept adding up.
After another two weeks, she said our papers still werent being processed and we would have to wait longer to get paid. A week later, we had a mandatory staff meeting (with only 5 hours notice prior) and she said that Paychex's fiscal quarter ends on June 30th, we would finally get our first paycheck, but it would only be in the amount of 2 weeks at a time. But since I was already owed for over 6 weeks, I wanted to know why we werent getting paid for the full amount starting from May 9th. She did not have a legitimate reason and was getting very aggravated because I was asking so many questions about payroll.
On June 11th, she asks to speak to me outside and tells me to clock out and go home because she no longer needs my help at the juice bar. When I asked her why she was firing me, she kept saying "I cant work with someone who worries about money" and "the store isnt making any sales, I expected more from you" but she assured me that I would get my pay. I told her to call me the following Monday June 14th if she changed her mind regarding my sudden termination. She did not call me and I still have not heard from her. Three days after letting me go, she then proceeds to fire the rest of the staff for unknown reasons as well. I have never had to deal with anything like this before and I need to know what I should do in this situation. I have calculated my hours starting from May 9th until my termination and its over 250 hours. I have records of my hours, and they will match up with her phone records since that was the method of clocking in.
She also helped me find an apartment conveniently located close to the juice bar. But I live by myself and due to her refusal to pay me, I no longer have enough money to pay my rent on July 1st. On top of that, I feel like I am getting ripped off because I dont have a lease, I'm paying 1000 a month, and there are several issues regarding the building such as no hot water, toilet not flushing sometimes, no screens on my windows... Etc. Basically this woman has damaged my job, and now my living situation. I have 6 days to figure out how I'm gonna afford to live and eat because she is refusing to pay us. Then I heard that she is trying to get a restraining order against us because we keep calling her. RIdiculous. Please let me know where to go from here. Thank you.
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