CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WTVR) - A battle continues to brew between SportsQuest interim CEO Dudley Duncan and former SportsQuest employees, who are owed one final paycheck.
Collectively, the company owes $18,000 in back pay, according to Duncan.
But, Duncan says ever since the company started facing financial troubles late last year, whatever little money that's come in has been used to pay lawyers, and accountants, to keep the company afloat.
Yet according to employment lawyer, Kim Daniel, state law dictates that Dudley has to pay wages.
She says the company could be fined or sued by the state if they do not pay.
“And, an intentional failure to pay is either a class one misdemeanor, or a class six felony,” said Daniel.
Daniel said employees could file a complaint with the Department of Labor, or at General District Court. She said that the longer they wait the more flexibility SportsQuest has to use incoming revenue any way they want.
“The employees being patient is to his [Duncan] favor, and to their [employees] detriment,”, Daniel said.
“If in fact SportsQuest files for bankruptcy, then the employees will have to file a proof of claim with a bankruptcy court,” she said.
When we spoke to Duncan on Tuesday, he didn’t talk bankruptcy, but said this:
“The news is, it`s a great challenge, don`t know if we`ll overcome it”.
SportsQuest largest stakeholder is Chesterfield County. It has a 20 percent lease for a portion of the facilities and has a first lien on the property. Mike Golden with the county Parks and Recreation Department says they've been having ongoing discussion with SportsQuest to see what's the best route to take.
Duncan says he'll have a better idea of how to proceed going forward, once he gets the results of a financial audit which he claims is fairly complete.
