Ex-Employees Still Waiting for Last Paycheck

Lawyer says people asking wrong person for their money

BROWNSVILLE - Ex-workers at a Brownsville adult day care say they haven't been paid for work they've done.

El Paraiso Adult Day Care shut down in February. Sheila Barrett says she's one of six former employees still trying to get answers. She tells us they're tired of waiting.

"The owner, Maria Cervantes, won't return calls. She made a promise she would make it right when she got her money," says Barrett. "She hasn't done anything she's promised. And we are still unpaid."

She showed NEWSCHANNEL 5 a log of the hours she and the other employees worked at El Paraiso.

We tried tracking down Cervantes. We spoke with her lawyer, Robert Robertson, by phone.

"Maria had nothing to do with them," he says.

Robertson tells NEWSCHANNEL 5 his client isn't the one who runs the company. He says her sister, Beatrice Castellano, is in charge.

According to Robertson, a business dispute between the sisters led to the shutdown. He says Castellano took the equipment and hasn't paid the workers.

NEWSCHANNEL 5 spoke to Cervantes herself. She says her sister is responsible for paying ex-workers their last checks.

Meanwhile, Barrett says she just found work at another adult day care. But the ex-El Paraiso worker tells us she's still counting on the money she worked for.

NEWSCHANNEL 5 is still looking for answers and trying to help Barrett get her money. She tells us she's already filed a wage claim to the Texas Workforce Commission.