Former employees want paychecks

Former employees of a mental health agency in Wilmington want to know where their money is. The Stratford Outreach workers haven’t gotten their W-2 forms yet either. They say their boss is to blame.

Nearly all the Stratford employees have resigned because they say they haven’t been paid in months and they can no longer afford to support their families.

“We were due paychecks on March 30th and I received a phone call four hours before it was time for me to pick up my check by Tameka Davis, the CEO, saying that she was having to close the business down and due to her having to consolidate her assets, I would not be receiving a paycheck,” says former Program Supervisor Alexia Hunter.

One former employee says Tameka Davis owes her $7,000. And none of them have gotten their W-2 forms, the employees say, because Tameka Davis couldn’t access the account records. They’re all struggling to get by.

“Only getting paid once a month is bad enough but when you don’t when the check is coming in five creeping up on six weeks have gone by, and you’re now trying to figure out how you’re going to pay your car insurance, which is lapsing, how you’re going to pay your rent, which is due on Monday, how you’re going to make sure all the other bills you have are taken care of,” says former Program Director Christopher Batts.

Not only are the former employees suffering, so are the clients. “Being predominantly kids, teens, adolescents, they were affected. I’ve talked with some of the clients that we have and they’re already dealing with abandonment issues at home, which is part of of course our purpose as being part of their lives. I’ve had them tell me ‘everybody’s leaving me.'”

Davis told WWAY she’s trying to put the business back together. She says a company is providing staff members pro bono so she can generate revenue to pay her employees back. Davis told us her former employees will start getting paid back by next week.

Davis says this all happened after the state cut her budget by about 75%. Her former employees say the Labor Board is investigating.