Employees Say Weymouth's JetDirect Owes Them Money
Now Bankrupt, Wages, Taxes, Benefits Unpaid
POSTED: 3:33 pm EDT June 2,
2009
UPDATED: 6:33 pm EDT June 3,
2009
BOSTON -- Former employees of a Weymouth aviation company say they are owed thousands of dollars each by JetDirect Aviation Inc., which laid them off and days later filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.Lindsay Kokoros was laid off via e-mail in mid-April. She is now nine months pregnant and collecting unemployment. The news that she had lost her job proved to be only the beginning.“401(k) and the taxes that were being taken out of our pay weren't being paid,” Kokoros said.Her former co-worker, Sharon Callanan, quit her job in JetDirect’s billing department once she realized how bad the finances were.“Between my salary, including my back vacation pay, my 401(k) that they took out of my paycheck and never sent to Fidelity, and flexible spending and my withholding taxes,” she said. Callanan claims she is owed $6,600.NewsCenter 5’s Kelley Tuthill reported that while there is a lot of anger and questions on the south shore, it likely extends across the country. The list of creditors that filed a claim in the federal bankruptcy case, obtained by Team 5 Investigates, is as thick as a book.The Weymouth, Mass., location was just one of JetDirect’s locations nationwide.Employee outrage has spilled over on to the internet, with the Web site www.JetDirectOwesMeMoney.com.According to bankruptcy documents, the company owes $109,724.88 to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.JetDirect filed for bankruptcy May 1, owing nearly $16 million in unpaid wages, taxes and 401(k) contributions alone.Under new ownership the company now operates as Wayfarer Aviation. But a director from JetDirect is now the president and director at Wayfarer.“There should be some kind of law that prevents them from doing this,” said Kokoros.NewsCenter 5 attempted to reach former executives at JetDirect by phone and e-mail but did not get a response. Both Kokoros and Callanan doubt they will ever see any of the money they are owed.“No never. I don't think I'll see a dime,” said Kokoros.JetDirect’s bankruptcy attorney told Team 5 Investigates that at this point it is “questionable” if there will be any assets available for the former employees.
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