"I worked as a subcontractor for the above-mentioned company for approximately 10 years the last four years being employed full time. The previous 6 years was part time and on an as-needed basis.
On or about May 17, 2014, I went on a paid vacation for two weeks, as I have been doing for the last 4 years. I was to be on vacation for approximately 2 weeks and my contractor, David Franchek was well aware way ahead of time that I would be on vacation those days. In fact, Mr. Franchek, as he had done on my previous vacations, loaned me his timeshare in Florida.
While on vacation, Mr. Franchek accused me of not letting him know I was going on vacation. He said that because I was on vacation, certain work was not completed and as such, he lost the contracts. These contracts were with Regal Cinema, Corp. However, it was untrue as he did not lose the contracts.
He was also supposed to pay me and advised me, while I was on vacation that he may not be able to "cover payroll". This, of course, made me extremely upset because I was counting on that money for my vacation as I live paycheck to paycheck. He did eventually pay me while I was on vacation, but not before I complained vigorously to him.
In addition to the above, Mr. Franchek fired me via text message again stating he was "letting me go" because of the complaints he received from Regal Cinema, Inc. while I was on vacation. He again insisted he lost the contracts because of me. And again, this is not true as he still has the contracts. In addition, I often received compliments from management of Regal Cinema as well as Mr. Franchek. Not once during the approximately 10 years did I receive a complaint from management or Mr. Franchek.
My work consisted of keeping the parking lots clean. However, on many occasions I went above and beyond my work and performed landscaping for Mr. Franchek but was not paid for the additional work I completed. He compensated me with $20 every time I did any landscaping work. He advised me I was not going to be paid anything more than $20 because I worked for him full time maintaining the parking lots and thus was "paid enough". Also, during winter storms, although most storms fell on my day off, Mr. Franchek would call me to help him plow the snow and supervise the other workers but, again, I was not paid any additional money. Out of the four years I plowed and shoveled snow and supervised the other workers, Mr. Franchek only paid me $100 in addition to my pay. Again, I came in on my days off to help him, yet he never paid me. During these snow storms I usually worked 15 to 20 hours a day.
During the time I worked for Mr. Franchek, other than vacation pay, I was not given any bonuses nor have I ever borrowed money from Mr. Franchek. However, he did give bonus pay to other employees/contractors. Also, I often took care of his house and did pet sitting while Mr. Franchek was on vacation. I was also never paid for these services. I am a hard worker and because of the long term relationship with Mr. Franchek I did not have a problem caring for his house and his pets while he was on vacation.
In addition to firing me via text message while I was on vacation, Mr. Franchek advised everyone that I simply quit. That I went on vacation and never came back. This is, in my opinion, defamation of character as I would never do such a thing as quitting and never coming back nor letting anyone know. This defamation may in the future cause me to lose work.
Because of Mr. Franchek's actions, I am having a difficult time as I lived paycheck to paycheck, as many of us do, and was left with absolutely no income. I am in the process of being evicted. I have been struggling so much that I have become depressed and anxious. I have trouble sleeping and eating and find myself ruminating on this matter because I simply cannot understand why this happened.
I am hopeful we can resolve this issue without any litigation. However, I am not unopposed to filing a lawsuit against Mr. Franchek and his wife Elvira Franchek as well as Regal Cinema, Corp."