NBC CT Responds has heard from Connecticut Christmas Tree Shops employees who fear they will not get paid for hours they worked during the company's liquidation sale.
Stores in Connecticut and around the country closed their doors for good Aug. 12.
During a contentious bankruptcy court hearing Wednesday, the public learned the liquidation sale made about $14 million less than what the liquidation company Hilco Global projected.
During the hearing, lawyers from Christmas Tree Shops and the liquidation company Hilco Global went head to head in bankruptcy court over the incorrect projected revenue and employee pay.
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
The judge presiding over the case said for employees to not get paid is unacceptable. Lawyers agreed to get 1,500 employees paid as soon as possible, saying hopefully within the next two weeks.
Chrystalynn Collins of Groton spent almost seven years working at the Christmas Tree Shop in Waterford.
“Like stages of grief, you know, you kind of deny it first and then as the sales started, it was like, 'oh, okay, this is really happening',” she said about her final days at the store.
NBC CT Responds
The closing supervisor said she wasn't surprised when the company filed for bankruptcy after seeing sales numbers at the end of each shift.
“We all kind of knew before May, like during the Christmas season last year, that something was off because we weren't as busy as we usually are," she said.
We spoke to her and a Manchester employee who said they’ve heard the store didn’t make enough money during the liquidation sale to pay them and they’re concerned.
“Technically we get paid tomorrow, but people with direct deposit get paid on Thursdays, and nobody got paid. So, people are kind of like, ‘What's going on?’ They can't do this, so it's a little stressful,” Collins said.
Also, up for debate, bonuses Christmas Tree Shops employees say they were promised for continuing to work during the liquidation sale.
“There was only I want to say like 18 of us in my store that stayed until the end because we were promised this retention bonus. So, we were like, 'we want to stay.' We loved everybody we worked with, we were all family,” Collins said.
Collins showed us the paperwork she said she received that said she would get a bonus.
In court, a lawyer for Christmas Tree Shops said there was a miscommunication. Bonuses were only approved for employees at the first 10 stores that closed.
Workers at the remaining stores, including those here in Connecticut, said they were told they would get an extra check, too.
“I don't think we all would have stayed. If there wasn't a retention bonus, we all would have jumped ship,” Collins said.
NBC CT Responds reached out to all parties involved for comment.
In a statement provided to NBC CT Responds, Restore Capital - which is one of Christmas Tree Shops' lenders and an affiliate of Hilco - said payroll will be processed through typical payment methods, which could happen as early as Friday, but may not happen until early next week.
A spokesperson said this is because the paychecks were delayed by a few days, but said all hourly employees will be paid for hours worked. The company blames Christmas Tree Shops for causing the delay in processing this final payroll. See the full statement below.
Connecticut’s Department of Labor recommends Christmas Tree Shop employees file wage complaints and apply for unemployment, too. Click here to file a Wage and Workplace complaint.
CTDOL said the division reviews every complaint it receives and prefaces that the investigations are detailed and can take months.
In addition, a spokesperson for the department said to file for unemployment benefits right away to help get that resource into their hands faster. She said former employees can go to www.ReEmployCT.com and start the application.
And she reminds applicants that there is a validation period where CTDOL verifies the claim information, which could take 10 days or longer, so it’s important to start the process as soon as possible.
Below is the full statement from Restore Capital:
"As stated to the Bankruptcy Court at the hearing on Wednesday, August 16, 2023, Restore Capital (one of Christmas Tree Shops’ lenders and an affiliate of Hilco Merchant Resources (the firm that handled the post-bankruptcy store closings for Christmas Tree Shops)) will fund payroll for ALL hourly employees for hours worked for the pay period ending August 12, 2023 as soon possible. The payroll will be processed by Christmas Tree Shops through typical methods, which could happen as early as Friday August 18, 2023, but may not happen until early next week.
Due to some inconsistencies in the payroll and accounting processing provided by Christmas Tree Shops, these paychecks were delayed by a few days and are now being re-processed. Moreover, due to these same issues and the delays caused by appointment of the Chapter 7 trustee, there will be additional delays for amounts due to salaried store managers. But, Restore Capital and Hilco Merchant Resources are committed to getting salaried store managers paid for their work for the pay period ending August 12, 2023 as soon as possible.
The Restore Capital and Hilco Merchant Resources’ teams have been adamant about ensuring that all store-level employees are paid for the work they did. In fact, Restore Capital and Hilco Merchant Resources insisted on this in bankruptcy court and ensured the court order included that proper funding was set aside to compensate these. Having done thousands of store closings over 40 years, we always seek to protect the store-level retail employees within any bankruptcy/wind-down of the retail stores.
Restore Capital and Hilco Merchant Resources appreciate the patience of the former CTS employees but to be clear our companies did not cause the delay in processing this final payroll. As a long time, retail expert, we appreciate all the hard work and dedication exhibited by the CTS employees during this very complicated store closing process and are happy to continue to answer any questions and will ensure store-level employees are paid for the work they did."
