Jennifer Bowman

Battle Creek Enquirer

MARSHALL TOWNSHIP –

Judy Wirth has a newspaper spread out on her bed. She's scanning the employment classifieds in search for a new job after she says she was fired from one that never paid her.

Instead of pay, she was given a motel room. It looks like one that could be rented for a short stay, but it's been personalized with her own belongings since she moved in more than two years ago.

There are two beds: one for Wirth and the other for her 17-year-old daughter. There's no kitchen, just a corner of the room with a small refrigerator, a microwave and a slow cooker. The bathroom sink and a makeshift closet are visible from the front door, and there are stacks of storage bins against her window. Her black cat, Precious, is curled up in one of the three chairs tightly arranged in her room.

Wirth has lived in this room at Arbor Inn, at 15435 W. Michigan Ave. in Marshall Township, in exchange for working as a housekeeper there since August 2012. She's now being evicted after she said she was fired in late October for raising concerns about the motel's payment practices.

Wirth said she's seen other employees treated the same, and said at least seven workers receive a room as payment for their work. To her, it's a policy that allows the motel owner to take advantage of the vulnerable who have no other options. Many, including herself, receive food stamps to get by and have nowhere else to go, Wirth said.

"For two years, I've seen people get kicked out and had to go, crying," she said. "Cops come. I don't know how (the owner) does it."

And to Wirth's attorney, Raymond Davis, it's a policy that violates federal and state wage laws. They have filed complaints with both state and federal departments of Labor and with the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Anila Rana, owner of the Arbor Inn, said in a brief phone conversation with the Enquirer Wednesday morning that Wirth had quit. Through her attorney, Rana has denied the allegations.

"The management of Arbor Inn has been made aware of a variety of unsubstantiated and baseless claims being made by a person who is presently being evicted because of her failure to pay rent," Rana's attorney, Chris Vreeland, said in a statement Wednesday.

"We do not intend to try this case in the newspaper and look forward to any aggrieved party actually coming to court. Arbor Inn management categorically denies any wrongdoing and looks forward to the opportunity to obtain redress via the court system."

Davis is representing Wirth free of charge — their children are friends, he acknowledged — and argued that under the Fair Labor Standards Act, an employer can only take credit for lodging at its own cost and must pass two legal requirements: it cannot be substandard housing and it has to be for the employee's benefit.

But employees are required to live at the motel, are always on call and are required to dress appropriately in case services are needed, Davis said. He said "it's very clear" the arrangement benefits the employer.

"They haven't paid any payroll taxes," he said. "So Judy's worked for two years and gained no credit for her Social Security because they haven't issued a W-2. They haven't done, really, what's required under federal law in order to properly document these wages."

Davis also said the motel owner is charging Wirth more than the expense of the room for the employees' work — a violation of the federal law's "reasonable cost" formula. (Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, "reasonable cost does not include a profit to the employer or to any affiliated person.")

"If you look at this room, for what it is at cost, significantly discounted at the $55-a-night they rent, it's very clear that they work more than what this room is worth each week," Davis said. "So they should be getting some wage. If you can imagine for these employees, these employees work all year and get no wage. Judy was told she needs to live off tips."

"There's none," Wirth said.

Meanwhile, Wirth has been served with an eviction notice this week and according to the motel's owner, owes nearly $400 in rent. A court hearing is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

"Significantly, from my experience, what concerns me that then if someone like Judy raises a concern like this, then they're threatened with eviction," Davis said. "And so, it's almost indentured servitude. It's a very serious circumstance in my mind, I think, that these folks are taken advantage of. And I think it's abhorrent."

In August 2012, Wirth signed an "Exchange for Rent Protocol," in which she agreed to work 35 hours per week in exchange for a standard room, and acknowledged she would not receive any monetary compensation. The agreement also said there is no "guaranteed length of employment or housing and Arbor Inn retains the right to terminate employment for any reason at any time."

Wirth said since she signed the agreement, her hours have been loosely tracked by management on paper. She said she also often worked overtime.

Davis said agreements can't violate the law and this one "on its face, violates the Fair Labor Standards Act." He said he welcomes the opportunity to have a jury address the matters.

"What we want is just for them to correct their practices," Davis said. "If they correct their practices and treat their employees fairly, make up on the Social Security contributions for these employees so they have their federally mandated retirement moving forward, if they take care of just that minimum-wage level back pay that's owed to them, and at that rate back overtime that's owed to them, then we'll be satisfied.

"But we need these employees to be treated in compliance of state and federal law."

Call Jennifer Bowman at 966-0589. Follow her on Twitter: @jenn_bowman