PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A group of nurses working in Portsmouth said payday has come and gone but they’re still waiting to get paid.
The nurses are contract employees at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.
10 On Your Side spoke with the workers who said the contractor has left them in the dark.
Along with the missed payday, the nurses said they were shorted money on their last paycheck.
The contractor is Magnum Opus Technologies, a company based out of Texas.
Registered Nurse Cristina Garcia said she hasn’t had luck getting in contact with the company.
“Phone numbers have been disconnected. Emails are getting bounced back,” said Garcia. “We just want to be paid for hours we worked.”
The nurses have worked under the contractor since 2018. They said they got an email earlier this year informing them the contract with Naval Medical Center Portsmouth was ending.
“That’s all they did say — that they were closing but someone would be in the office until Nov. 1 to support us and anything we needed,” said Monica Coffman, a licensed practical nurse. “On October the 7th, when we got our paycheck we noticed there was an adjustment of hundreds of dollars missing from our paycheck.”
The nurses said they tried contacting the company multiple times about the discrepancy.
Their last paycheck was supposed to be paid on Oct. 21. They said they didn’t get it.
“We were counting on that. I mean like everyone else, mortgages have to get paid, bills have to get paid, we have children who are in childcare because we are working,” Garcia said.
The company’s number has been disconnected, but we got in touch with the CEO by phone. He told 10 On Your Side the company is in bankruptcy.
Before hanging up, he also said an administrator would be in contact with employees who haven’t been paid.
“There’s no reason that you should not pay workers who have worked through this pandemic, have fought through it,” Garcia said.
About 20 employees in the nurses’ unit are affected, but they believe the issue may be more widespread.
“We’re always here for our patients and we put patient care first, so we just wish he would’ve put us first,” said Coffman.
The nurses said officials at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth have also been trying to get answers but they haven’t been able to reach the company either.
After our story aired, Garcia said she did receive an email from Magnum Opus, which said they had filed for bankruptcy and future payments would come through a court-appointed administrator.
