Employees of EducationWorks sue the Philadelphia nonprofit after waiting months to get paid

Former EducationWorks employees have sued the nonprofit for not paying them the wages they are owed.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court this week, comes nearly two months after the layoffs of 133 employees and the death of the nonprofit’s CEO, Miles Wilson. Before the layoffs, EducationWorks had missed two pay cycles, totaling a month’s worth of pay.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Soledad Richards, a compliance and data manager who resigned shortly before the layoffs, and Kenya Baldwin, who worked as an assistant director of learning and impact before getting laid off. If a judge certifies the suit as a collective action, other former employees can join the case.

The court filing alleges EducationWorks broke state and federal law by failing to pay workers, as well as not paying workers their unused paid-time-off, as laid out in the employee handbook. The suit seeks payment of wages and paid time off, as well as damages and attorneys’ fees.

EducationWorks did not respond to a request for comment.

The nonprofit, which ran after-school programs at Philadelphia and New Jersey public schools as well as operated workforce development provider PowerCorpsPHL, has publicly said it is waiting to get paid.

“We believe that there are outstanding receivables for services already earned that will cover compensation to the laid off and furloughed employees,” an EducationWorks spokesperson said in a statement earlier this month. “We are in discussions with those agencies and our lender. Ensuring payment to the employees remains our highest priority.”

» READ MORE: A month after layoffs, EducationWorks employees still haven’t been paid

More than 90% of EducationWorks’ $8.4 million in revenue came from city, state, and federal grant dollars, according to its federal tax filing for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, the most recent available.

The City of Philadelphia has halted payments to EducationWorks, a city spokesperson said Thursday.

In an email to staffers last month, CFO Jamil Rivers wrote to staff, “Unfortunately, we did not receive payment in from [Public Health Management Corporation] or the City of Philadelphia. The funders received a notice of default from the lender of our line of credit, the Reinvestment Fund, which prohibits them sending payments to us.”

Two days later, board member Nikki Frazier told workers that rumors were to blame for the lack of payment.

“A ripple effect was created when there was an inflow of e-mails from staff and articles written which caused rumors to spread,” Frazier wrote. “Because of the rumors, vendors decided to hold payments owed to us. That has delayed the situation significantly as we have been doing damage control to produce information and financials to prove the rumors false, so they may release funds.”

Lawyers could add additional defendants, such as the City of Philadelphia or Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), if they determine the parties are joint employers, the court filing said. They could also add individuals, such as EducationWorks executives or board members, if they find evidence showing liability, it said.

The City of Philadelphia and PHMC declined to comment because they were not named in the suit.