WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) — Three individuals filed separate lawsuits against an Ohio County business which they allege did not pay them properly for their work, according to the West Virginia Record.
The plaintiffs, all former employees, Rebekah Karelis, Tishawna Terry and Sarel Venter filed suit October 19 in Ohio Circuit Court against Roxby Development LLC, Roxby McLure LLC, Roxby LLC, Roxby Hawley LLC, Roxby 12th Street LLC, J&Z Marshall Rentals LLC, Zoe Morris, Jeffrey J. Morris and Jeffrey S. Morris.
They are represented by Teresa Toriseva, Josh Miller and Michael Kuhn of Toriseva Law in Wheeling.
The complaints state that the Morris defendants began to form a real estate development company in 2020 while the Roxby defendants “were used to purchase properties” around Wheeling including the Scottish Rite Building, the Mount Carmel Monastery, the McLure Hotel and the Twelfth Street parking garage.
The Morris defendants also branched out into other business enterprises such as Roxby Labs and venues for “parties, concerts and musicals.”
The West Virginia Record states, “The complaints allege the Morris defendants were using the Roxby defendants to defraud investors, enrich themselves, avoid paying taxes and launder money [and] to defraud and deny paying compensation to their employees, including the plaintiffs.”
The three plaintiffs tell “similar stories” in their complaints of being employed by the defendants and either not being paid or only being partially paid for their work. Their roles included Director of Historic Preservation, Human Resources and Construction Manager.
The plaintiffs also claim that the defendants did not pay standard payroll tax deductions including federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state taxes, municipal taxes and state unemployment on the missing paychecks.
They claim that the defendants negligently failed to pay wages and violated the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act.
The plaintiffs “seek compensatory damages, interest, court costs, attorney fees and other relief,” say reports.
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