Most of the 61 former employees of Multi Family Services received the wages they said were due them from the landscaping company that terminated its contract with Picerne Military Housing July 30 without paying employees, vendors or suppliers associated with the contract.
MFS had requested that Picerne pay the employees, vendors or suppliers directly out of funds Picerne owed to MFS for services performed in July. Due to legal difficulties, however, Picerne declined, but did agree to make payment directly into a local MFS bank account and help facilitate payments to the MFS employees, which occurred Wednesday morning at about 10 a.m.
"Please accept our deepest apologies for this entire situation," said Doug Howard, Picerne's program manager at Fort Polk, to a roomful of MFS employees. He continued by explaining that Trance Griggs, on behalf of MFS, would distribute the payments.
"They are in the form of money orders, so they are good," Howard added, referring to the payments, as applause erupted around the room. Many employees had complained that even when they had received payment from MFS in the past, cashing the company's checks had become almost impossible. Employees were assured on Wednesday that the money orders could be cashed at any bank immediately.
Howard also said that Picerne had been unable to verify amounts paid to each person.
"All we were able to get was payroll documentation from MFS," he said. "As far as verifying the amounts, we did out best." Once employees were paid, then vendors and suppliers would receive whatever funds were left over, likely at a "greatly reduced payout."
Most employees walked away nodding that they'd received the correct amount, but not all were pleased.
Rachel Griggs, who had provided accounting services for MFS, said that her name had been omitted, despite the fact that the original spreadsheet included her.
"I was the one who sent the spreadsheet to [MFS]," she said, her voice edged in disbelief, referring to the information Picerne received from MFS which provided the names of employees and amounts MFS owed each.
She added that Jeremy Parrott, co-owner of MFS, told her that the omission was a clerical error.
According to Russell Robinson, Picerne's community management director, Picerne could only act on the information that MFS provided.
"We have to trust in the information they sent us," he said.
Rachel Griggs said Parrott had told her he would pay her later.
"For whatever reason, Rachel was not on the final spreadsheet I submitted to Picerne ... I didn't create the spreadsheet or adjust anything, so it was my oversight not to have caught her name being left out," Parrott said in a an email. "They (the Griggs') will not be owed anything for work performed through July after today. Arrangements have already been made and agreed upon to make up for this clerical error ... The money due to them for working in August has yet to be determined."
Trance Griggs, when asked about the status of the Mexican nationals still living in MFS quarters without water, said that he'd had no knowledge of that fact but that he would make sure that the water was cut back on and also help the nationals contact the owner of the building to see if they could negotiate a lease agreement.
Jose Ascension, one of the Mexican nationals, was also left wondering about a $1,000 emergency room bill that he said MFS should pay, since he'd cut his hand while working for them.
Parrott said in an email concerning the issue that he's been unable to pay the deductible for the claim. Though the the amount seemed inflated to him, he said, "Anything done on the job is my responsibility to cover. This situation will not be any different."
Munie Greencare Professionals has taken over the landscaping contract with Picerne at Fort Polk and had already picked up two former MFS employees, said Howard who added that he continues to refer former MFS employees to Munie.
Nancy Nekola, regional manager for Munie, said in a released statement that the company has hired "several MFS employees and we continue to assess our staffing needs."
Any former MFS employees who have not yet received payment can contact Picerne Military Housing at 537-5000. Employees who have since moved can have their payments mailed, said Robinson.
