N.Y. Business Owner Convicted of Failure to Pay Wages; Court Orders More Than $100,000 Back to Employees

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and state Department of Labor Commissioner Linda Angello announced that the owner of a Dryden company was convicted of failing to pay more than $107,000 in wages and benefits owed to 41 employees.

On May 10, Melea Bartley appeared in Town of Dryden Court before Hon. Christopher Clauson in connection to her Feb. 9 guilty plea to two counts of Failure to Pay Wages, both misdemeanors under state labor law. Clauson sentenced Bartley to three years’ probation – during which she must $107,822.10 in wages owed – and fined her $1,000. If Bartley fails to pay back the wages and benefits she could face up to two years in jail.

Bartley was the president of two corporations – XCP Inc. and Integrated Payment Solutions Inc. – that occupied the same location at 40 Elm Street in Dryden. The companies manufactured money handling systems.

A Labor Department investigation determined that from October – December 2001 and again from July-December 2002, Bartley reportedly withheld wages and benefits due to her employees. The withheld wages included payroll wages, vacation pay and commissions.

Some of the wages owed were health insurance premiums that were deducted from employees’ pay but never used to pay the companies’ insurance policy premiums. This resulted in the cancellation of health insurance benefits and the non-payment of some medical bills, including $10,682 in unpaid bills for one employee.

Wages and benefits owed the 41 employees will be paid to them through the Tompkins County Probation Department over the course of Bartley’s three-year probation.

Upon reviewing the specifics of the Bartley case and her failure to make restitution of unpaid wages, the Labor Department coordinated with the Attorney General’s office and referred the case for prosecution.