Building The Case
Lawyer Marshaling Evidence For Possible Transprint Litigation
Posted: February 2, 2013
HARRISONBURG — A lawyer appointed by the U.S. Department of Labor to investigate Transprint USA employees’ wage claims is collecting pay stubs in advance of possible litigation.
Melvin Williams of Roanoke has not been formally retained by any employees, but he has initiated the process that could result in legal action against the company.
“It’s going on as we speak,” Williams said late Thursday afternoon. “It could be a dozen or two dozen employees we are reaching out to talk to.”
Employees of the Harrisonburg heat transfer paper printing facility and corporate executives in New York City are at odds over pay. Workers say they have not been fully paid for every week of work since Thanksgiving.
While the company admits it is behind on pay, officials last week disputed employees’ claims that they went weeks without pay or have been reduced to minimum wage earnings at times.
Transprint is on Pleasant Valley Road in the city. Employees estimate that about 75 people work there, though company officials say it’s slightly more than 100.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division appointed Williams to investigate. Employees will have to show him proof that pay has been withheld before he files suit against Transprint.
Williams said he is seeking any documentation they can provide, from pay stubs to time sheets.
“It helps me establish rate of pay,” he said.
If victorious in court, employees would be entitled to back pay plus an additional one-third of that amount to cover attorney fees, Williams said. That means an employee who wins a $3,000 judgment, for example, would get $4,000.
Williams is on the case because the General Assembly cut funds for the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry’s wage claim investigative unit last year.
To address the hole that left, the state Senate unanimously passed legislation this week that would award three times the amount an employee is owed, plus reimbursement for attorney fees, in cases where an employer withholds pay.
However, an amendment to the bill — for which former Transprint employee Robbie Roadcap testified last month — stipulates that the legislation will not take effect if funding for six state wage investigator positions is restored in a budget amendment this year.
The amount needed is about $400,000 a year, according to the bill sponsored by Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico.
The measure is now in a House of Delegates committee awaiting review.
Roadcap recently quit the company and is now trying to collect unemployment. That’s easier said than done for Transprint employees, though, as Virginia law requires those who quit their jobs to prove they were justified in doing so.
But even if they’re receiving only partial paychecks, employees may be better off financially by working than seeking unemployment. Some jobs at Transprint pay around $20 an hour, employees say.
Williams said Transprint CEO Larry Levy informed him Wednesday that the company continues to seek investors to save it from going under. The case involves the most employees of any wage claim dispute Williams has handled.
“To have a big company like Transprint not make payments … is just unusual,” he said.
A pair of Transprint customers recently won judgments totaling more than $825,000 against the company in Rockingham County Circuit Court for services that had not been paid for.
Also, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office and Rockingham County Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst continue to investigate Transprint for possible criminal violations.
Contact Preston Knight at 574-6272 or pknight@dnronline.com
Melvin Williams of Roanoke has not been formally retained by any employees, but he has initiated the process that could result in legal action against the company.
“It’s going on as we speak,” Williams said late Thursday afternoon. “It could be a dozen or two dozen employees we are reaching out to talk to.”
Employees of the Harrisonburg heat transfer paper printing facility and corporate executives in New York City are at odds over pay. Workers say they have not been fully paid for every week of work since Thanksgiving.
While the company admits it is behind on pay, officials last week disputed employees’ claims that they went weeks without pay or have been reduced to minimum wage earnings at times.
Transprint is on Pleasant Valley Road in the city. Employees estimate that about 75 people work there, though company officials say it’s slightly more than 100.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division appointed Williams to investigate. Employees will have to show him proof that pay has been withheld before he files suit against Transprint.
Williams said he is seeking any documentation they can provide, from pay stubs to time sheets.
“It helps me establish rate of pay,” he said.
If victorious in court, employees would be entitled to back pay plus an additional one-third of that amount to cover attorney fees, Williams said. That means an employee who wins a $3,000 judgment, for example, would get $4,000.
Williams is on the case because the General Assembly cut funds for the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry’s wage claim investigative unit last year.
To address the hole that left, the state Senate unanimously passed legislation this week that would award three times the amount an employee is owed, plus reimbursement for attorney fees, in cases where an employer withholds pay.
However, an amendment to the bill — for which former Transprint employee Robbie Roadcap testified last month — stipulates that the legislation will not take effect if funding for six state wage investigator positions is restored in a budget amendment this year.
The amount needed is about $400,000 a year, according to the bill sponsored by Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico.
The measure is now in a House of Delegates committee awaiting review.
Roadcap recently quit the company and is now trying to collect unemployment. That’s easier said than done for Transprint employees, though, as Virginia law requires those who quit their jobs to prove they were justified in doing so.
But even if they’re receiving only partial paychecks, employees may be better off financially by working than seeking unemployment. Some jobs at Transprint pay around $20 an hour, employees say.
Williams said Transprint CEO Larry Levy informed him Wednesday that the company continues to seek investors to save it from going under. The case involves the most employees of any wage claim dispute Williams has handled.
“To have a big company like Transprint not make payments … is just unusual,” he said.
A pair of Transprint customers recently won judgments totaling more than $825,000 against the company in Rockingham County Circuit Court for services that had not been paid for.
Also, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office and Rockingham County Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst continue to investigate Transprint for possible criminal violations.
Contact Preston Knight at 574-6272 or pknight@dnronline.com