MOUNT VERNON, Ohio -- A local college student is crying foul after the company she worked for failed to pay her for weeks.
Mount Vernon resident Laura Nixon filed a complaint last week with the Ohio Division of Labor and Worker Safety in an effort to collect roughly $380 she said she's owed by Windy Hill Nursery Garden in Gambier.
"It's not something you expect to go into a job, to have to not only ask for a paycheck, but kind of beg," Nixon said. "It's unfortunate that it's had to come to this, but it's unethical. You can't do this."
Nixon said she needs to buy college textbooks and gas for her car, but the company's owner, Bill Blaschke, says the business is suffering financially because a key customer filed for bankruptcy, despite owing the business roughly $60,000.
"I'm just trying to survive like any small business. And I'm not trying to do it at the employees' expense," Blaschke said. "I'm trying to get out there and do anything I can to get finances in here."
Blaschke said he was upfront with Nixon and other Windy Hill employees about the company's financial troubles. Nixon said she was lead to believe she would be paid on time, otherwise she would not have continued to work.
Nixon's complaint launched what a Division spokesperson said will be a month-long labor investigation into Windy Hill's payroll records to determine how many unpaid hours Nixon worked for the company.
If the business pays before the investigation ends, there will be no additional penalty assessed. But if Windy Hills fails to pay before the investigation is completed, the state will fine them double the amount they owe and forward the account onto a state collection agency.
Blaschke says he intends to pay Nixon as soon as possible.
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