Legal Question in Business Law in Michigan

I have many questions to ask but first I will start at the begining. I am currently employed with a 501 (c)(3) organization. I have been employed with them since mid-late july. I have not received a full paycheck since Aug 28th of this year. The President of the organization is telling all of his employees that he will give us a check the following week and 10 weeks later, many of us have not been paid. Some of the men that work there have been getting regular pay checks and the IT guy is over $100 what his payroll should be. He has given each of us a few checks of $100 here, or $70 there but nothing close to what he actually owes us. I am currently on the verge of losing my truck, my bank account is hundreds in the negative, I have to open credit cards just to make it through day-to-day life like getting food and gas and i am getting further and further in debt because I can not pay my bills because I am not getting paid. I know that some of my co-workers have been evicted from their homes and others are on the verge of being evicted. Instead of giving us the money that is owed to us, he is insisting that we take our collectors to court and that he will find a way for us to keep our homes and cars. I am not by any means a law student nor a lawyer but I do know that this is illegal. He has told us in the past couple weeks that the money is not their to pay us and is insisting that since he told us about it, we cannot take legal action against him. Is that true?... Also, I beleive that the organization is a scam. For the longest time he has been telling us that the money we have been getting donated has been going to help individuals, but lately, I have been second guessing that. I have not seen or heard anything to show that its happening. I am afraid that I am taking part in something illegal and not knowing it. If I am, or my co-workers are, are we going to be convicted of a crime if it is a scam?... Another thing that he is doing is not contacting employees that are coming up to their 90 day mark. He said that after 90 days, the employees are able to file for unemployment and by them not contacting him, if they file then they will get denied for unemployment because they left on their own. He insistes that if we are laid off or fired is the only way we can get unemployment but he is not letting people go. He is just ignoring them untill he classifies them as quiting. Is this legal to do and is the information he giving us legit?... Another thing that he is doing is making sexual remarks to the female employees. Many of them have complained to me about comments that he has made about their bra sizes or their bodies in some way. I am afraid that if I file a lawsuit against him, he is going to file the organization for bankruptcy and I am not going to get the money that is owed to me or my co-workers. If he files for bankrupcty, will we still get the money that is owed to us?... What steps do I need to take to get the ball rolling to get the money that is owed to us?... And do you think that I have a solid case against him to take him to court?


Asked on 11/07/09, 10:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Patrick Tracy Patrick J. Tracy, Esq, P.E.,

I don't know in which county you are located, but I would recommend that you go to the prosecuter in your county or to the office of the Attorney General of the state of Michigan. The act of not paying employees is a serious offense in and of itself. If this individual does have true non-profit status, he can lose that status because of his current actions. If none of these things happen, depending on the amount of money owed, I would first find myself another job and pursue litigation to recover the money.

Good luck!!

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Answered on 11/13/09, 6:14 am


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