Company That Hired Part-Time Employees To Staff Events Says They Can't Pay Wages
(CBS4) - Workers hired to staff events across Colorado for Diamond Standard Events and Genesis Event Solutions say they have not been paid for jobs they completed months ago. But the two companies disagree on whether money is owed as both prepare to take legal action in the case.
"We count on that money, I have bills to pay as well," said Savannah Ivarson, a former employee who says she worked part time for both companies. "It just got to the point when I couldn't do it anymore."
Ivarson worked with Diamond for two years and in the past 12 months supported several events taking on security, tickets and checking bags. But she says she was not paid for the last four events she worked that involved Genesis.
"I could pay a month's rent for sure with what I'm missing," she said. "I turned to friends and family to help me."
A single mother, she looked for work outside of the industry and she says she will not work events again anytime soon.
"I had to find another job, thankfully I got into another company where I'm working full time," she said. "People don't work for free, if we provide a service we need to be paid for that service."
Diamond is a temporary hiring staff business that supplements larger companies for large events like Genesis. They often handle parking, setup and tear down, or other needs for events. The company says they have a database of 500 employees they turn to for these events.
Mark Wonder of Diamond says he had a relationship with Mike Carroll of Genesis before they both started their own businesses. He says the two companies worked together on several thousand dollars worth of business before there was an issue.
"He wasn't paying it as he was previously, which really started making us nervous," said Wonder.
According to Wonder, Diamond still needs $17,200 to pay more than 100 employees. A spokesperson for Genesis disputes that number and says the companies disagree about the work done on past events.
"Genesis Event Solutions LLC, has made continued payments for the verifiable hours presented to us," a company spokesperson emailed CBS4.
Genesis also shared statements the company says cover payments owed to Diamond. Other emails provided to CBS4 show frustration in the work done by Diamond and a struggle to get the number workers need for events. Wonder says his company is not at fault in any way.
"Absolutely not. He needed staff," he said. "We provided it. That's what we do."
Both companies say they have hired attorneys to resolve the matter but it is unclear if that will ultimately help workers like Ivarson.
"I hope so, that would be nice but I'm not really counting on it," she said. "Lesson learned, cut my losses, you know, and walk away from it."
Shawn Chitnis reports weeknights for CBS4 News at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Email him story ideas at smchitnis@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter or Facebook.
