Moms cheated out of $407K in wages
We need your help. We are a group of 27 mostly single moms and widows who are owed a lot of money from the company we worked for as independent contractors. And they have just filed for bankruptcy, leaving us with broken promises about getting paid and overdrawn checking accounts. We've heard rumors that the owner knew this was coming and took steps to insure his survival, while letting us continue to work, knowing it would be for free. We are all owed for many months of unpaid wages, while we still had to pay for all the many business expenses that come with doing our job.
We are broadcast captioners who work weekends and holidays to provide an important service to the deaf and hard of hearing. We provide captions for TV so that people can enjoy their favorite shows as well as be informed about the news and receive information during an emergency like a hurricane or tornado. We often work through sickness and injuries because the show must go on.
We all worked with a company called BCCS in Toronto, Canada owned by Brian Hallahan. The biggest question people ask is how did it get to be so much. We were only paid once per month, and we would bill for a month and then had to wait 60 days to see the pay from that month. Some of us worked there for a long time, up to 15 years, and they always paid. Sometimes it was late, but it came. Then it started getting later and later and then just stopped altogether.
By the time we saw the writing on the wall, we were owed a lot of money. We were told to hang in there, it will get worked out. On February 29, the doors were closed. No notice and no communication. A few days before the closure, some of us caught wind of the sinking ship, but continued working up to the bitter end, knowing that we would likely never see that money but knowing also that there were people depending on the service that we have committed our lives to providing.
Some people haven't received a check since November or December. Many of us are starting to get desperate, having now depleted our savings and maxed out our credit cards. Some people received a check from them, deposited it in good faith, quickly paid their past-due bills, only to get notice that the check bounced or a stop payment was put on it, and their accounts became overdrawn. While most of us have started working again, it could take up to two months to see our first check. As independent contractors, we have no ability to collect any unemployment even to help out.
Any donations would be greatly appreciated and split up among us. If there was any extra, it would be donated to the National Association of the Deaf. Individual stories are after the amounts of each person.
Captioner A - $31,906.75, California
Captioner B - $31,541.25, California
Captioner C - $28,574.87, Canada
Captioner D – $28,340.00, Idaho
Captioner E - $27,871.00 , California
Captioner F - $27,690.00, South Dakota
Captioner G - $21,000.00, California
Captioner H - $20,000 Wisconsin
Captioner I - $26,463.05, Canada
Captioner J - $21,888.75, California
Captioner K - $19,931.00, Texas
Captioner L - $16,507, Arizona
Captioner M - $15,000, California
Captioner N - $14,178.00, Iowa
Captioner O - $13,298.75, Arizona
Captioner P - $12,000, Texas
Captioner Q - $11,000, Arizona
Captioner R - $8,336.25, Michigan
Captioner S - $8,000, California
Captioner T- $7,000, Iowa
Captioner U - $6,000, California
Captioner V - $4,000,
Captioner W - $3,298.75, Texas
Captioner X - $2,000, California
Captioner Y - $780.00,
Captioner Z - $508.00, Texas
Captioner AA - $259.99, Hawaii
TOTAL: $407,473.41
I love closed captioning. Working from home allowed me to schedule my work around daily breast cancer treatments two years ago. How blessed! But... being self-employed also has no benefits and no safety nets, and my heart goes out to all of us that do not get paid when we cannot work. The stress and worry of getting sick or injured can be overwhelming.
I've been the sole provider for my daughters for 16 years, and it's scary sometimes knowing they look only to me for everything.
I had another tumor last fall and was in hospital 11 days with complications from surgery. I kept worrying about all the work I was missing and how my girls were just starting post-secondary education, and how could I afford it if I didn't recover? I was so worried about my health that I ignored the fact that I hadn't been paid in five months... until I learned through social media that another captioner's check had bounced. Our "employer" had a no-contact policy for his captioners... but soon we all started communicating and learned of the dastardly deeds that were transpiring to deceive us into continuing to work with the promise of pay. And now we pray that we can recover... with a little help. We all suffer from time to time, and it's through the kindness of others that we heal... and always pay it forward. I promise to always do good in every way possible. 
I am a single mom and worked exclusively for BCCS for 11 years. The downturn in 2008 was also the same year as my divorce. So between splitting everything up and getting a $10 hour pay cut and fewer hours because of the economy, I had to use CCs to make up the shortfall. I have had to work many extra hours to make up the difference and try to start saving for retirement, and pay down my CCs. I was getting to a place where I had a tiny amount in the bank and was able to start paying down my debts. Then this hit, and I am owed over $28K. I am just about out of money, and my CCs are once again maxed out because though I have been receiving no money, the bills keep coming for personal as well as the business expenses. If you're out of work and not earning money, that's sucks, but I think it's worse when you actually do the work and then don't get paid. I am lucky that I now found another company to work for, but it is another pay cut, and it will be a while before I get any money. 
Most of my work was with BCCS. Four years ago, my husband passed away and I was left a widow. I provide the sole income for my family. My daughter is in fourth year university studying to become a teacher and at the same time enrolled in a college program to become fluent in French. This loss is financially crippling.
My last invoice honoured was November 2015, and that was paid February 2nd. December, January and February are outstanding and will not be paid because of the bankruptcy. I was able to find some temporary work, but I am still working on securing regular hours. 
I am one of the few who is not a single mother...anymore, that is. I was a single mom for ten years and I have cringed in fear just thinking of the ladies who are single and what if I was still single!? I am now married, and we are a blended family. I came into our marriage with one son, my husband came with two girls and one boy and then we had our "our" baby...that's five kids now! We receive NO child support for my son. We pay a hefty amount of child support for my husband's three. That child support we pay gives NO grace. We seriously need my income and that is why I had been working exclusively for BCCS for the last 4.5 years. I work six days a week starting at 3:00 am until it's time to get my kids up and off to school. I spend most of my days delirious, but I'm grateful I get to work from home and this allows me to have the rest of my day being mom to my kids. I did not recieve payment in December. and I did not recieve any warning of no payment coming. We started that month with Christmas putting everything on credit cards. I never got paid.. Then January, then February. Our credit cards are maxed. We are trying to save our house. We have to continue to pay child support and to provide for our kids. That doesn't stop! Now we are trying to save the house we live in to provide our family a home! I am so grateful thatI have moved on to find new work, but it's going to be tough recouping what income I lost since December.
These faces are what keep me going!
I am a single mom of a beautiful 1.5-year-old daughter, and her sole provider. Captioning has allowed me the ability to provide a wonderful life for her all by myself. It has given me the option to work early mornings and late evening hours so that I can spend most of my time with her instead of a typical 9 to 5 routine. I am so grateful for that. I love this career and can't imagine my life doing anything else. I only worked with BCCS for nine months or so. My payments were on time at first, but then started coming later and later. In February I put in my notice with BCCS because I was tired of chasing payment. Just before I put in my notice they had sent me a check. When I got the check in the mail I deposited it the same day, only to find out a week later BCCS had put a stop payment on it. At that point I knew all of my worries regarding this company were coming true – I would not be seeing any of the $16,000 they owed me. Luckily I had a savings, but I have burned through that. The account the BCCS check was deposited in has been left thousands of dollars in the negative. Thankfully I work for another captioning firm and still have income coming in to pay my bills, but have no idea how I’m going to pay my taxes that will be due soon; that’s what I was planning on putting a large chunk of my payment towards. When hard times hit I usually push things out of my mind and try to forget it happened, which is what I was beginning to do with this fiasco. A BIG thank you to Lisa and the others who got our group and this GoFundMe organized, and for all the well-wishes I have received from captioners within our group, and those who were not affected.
My husband and I recently got married. Nine months ago, I quit my full time job to work exclusively for BCCS. We were so excited to get started on my career as a realtime closed captioner. We went through our savings, buying the equipment and software needed, thinking it would all pay off in the end. We decided after we start replenishing our savings, we could start trying to have a baby. I began to get worried after months passed by and no checks came in the mail. As the bills began to pile up, I decided to increase my hours, working holidays and weekends. After constantly emailing the accounting department, I find out that the company has closed their doors without notifying any of us. I am just left with all the long distance bills and cost of my equipment. It was a devastating blow, and now I find myself with little left in savings. I am so thankful for all the love and support everyone has shown us during these harsh times.
*****
Single mom from Texas here. My story is short with BCCS...begged me to cover other programming, offered me a higher rate and never paid me for my services. I join others who requested to place our names and totals last on the list for any payments received. There are others who have put in more time and have a greater loss and we do. Thank you for your support towards us, our families and our careers as we continue to move forward.
I had major surgery in December. Brian called to see how I was and begged me to try to come back to work early because shows were going to be going un captioned. I returned on the third day, still in pain. Stupid. I never got paid for doing it and he knew it. He went out of business owing me three full months pay. I'm at the point where I may have to file bankruptcy. 
My story isn't assad as some of the others who worked for BCCS, but I was a loyal and hard-working captioner for them. Always dependable, helped out with extra captioning whenever I could. I believed them when they told me things were fine with the company financially when I questioned them about late payments. I was also promised payment and that checks were in the mail when they weren't.
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