In November I was hired to do a video shoot for Bristol Scribb by Lori Rosas of the C. Taylor Agency. After 90 days of not receiving payment I contacted Mrs. Rosas and was informed that she had since disassociated herself with the C. Taylor Agency. She had recently found out that the owner, Theresa Cantanese was cashing the checks for all modeling/actor jobs and not paying the talent for their work as agreed per contract.
I contacted Mrs. Cantanese myself and was given lies after lies from Feb. May via email and phone. She frequently told me that the check was "in the mail" or that the client had not paid yet and she would have to invoice them again. With the help of Mrs. Rosas who was also a victim of Mrs. Cantanese, I tracked down the receipts of the cashed checks that had been deposited back in January! She was lying for 5 months!
I proceeded to file against her in small claims court for everything I was owed, plus interest, mileage, etc. Of course Mrs. Cantanese did not show at the court date in July. However, the judge awarded me the claim since she failed to appear and I had to now re-file for payment. I filed again and was set to go to court again in August when Mrs. Cantanese received her second summons and would be in contempt of court if she failed to show a second time and would have a warrant issued for her arrest.
So I suppose she decided it was in her best interest to pay the judgment against her and I received payment for my court judgment the same week I filed against her again. I considered the matter at rest until I have recently found out that she continues to do unethical business practices and withhold wages to talent. She is telling the same lies and cashing money from clients that is to be paid to the talent.
She owes thousands of dollars in unpaid wages to talent all over the country. Do not get involved with this agency because you will never receive payment unless you take legal action against her. She frequently threatens people who speak out against her with slander lawsuits, however we have yet to see her take anyone to court because she knows she will have to answer why she has not paid her talent.
I also spoke with Robert Vega of the U. S Dept. Of Wages and Labor and he told me not to worry about such idle threats. Slander is considered FALSE words spoken to damage someone's good name. You can consider these charges to be true because I have documented proof from a court of law that Mrs. Cantanese does not pay for work done for the C. Taylor Agency!
I also have emails from Mrs. Cantanese herself trying to lie to me about my wages when I had a cashed check receipt in hand proving otherwise. I thought that my lawsuit would teach her a lesson but I guess not because I am starting to her about people all over the country who are victims of Mrs. Cantanese and her agency.
The only action I would recommend is to take the agency to court for your unpaid wages and try to warn others about doing business with this agency. This agency needs to be put out of business for good!
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