Two former employees from the North Liberty BeerBurger claim checks paid to them bounced and parent company MAiNGREDIENT still has not paid them. The BeerBurger franchise was recently in the news after closing its Iowa City location.

Based on emails obtained the Press-Citizen, both the checks bouncing and the closure were part of the same financial trouble.

The pair have enlisted The Center for Worker Justice in Iowa City to represent them in their effort to be paid.

Wenceslao Mendez and Norma Diaz claim payroll checks amounting to $742 and $620 respectively bounced over the summer of 2019 for insufficient funds.

According to the emails, John Burchert, founder and CEO of MAiNGREDIENT, wrote that the business has fallen on "hard times."

"We ran into financial struggles and unfortunately we had some payroll checks as such be returned from the bank," Burchert wrote in an August 29 correspondence with the Center's director Rafael Morataya. "Going through financial hardship is never easy and I have and will continue to give everything I have to make it right."

The Center for Worker Justice has been in correspondence with BeerBurger management since being contacted by the couple to settle the matter privately. In a press release drafted Wednesday, CWJ officials demanded that Mendez and Diaz receive their wages, as well as reimbursements for bank fees the pair were charged for the bounced checks.

As of Wednesday, Diaz received her last week of pay but no compensation for the fees the bank charged over BeerBurger's bounced checks. According to Mazahir Salih, an Iowa City councilor and Center for Worker Justice organizer, Mendez has not received either his wages or money for the fees.

She told the Press-Citizen workers like Mendez and Diaz depend on the reliability of these paychecks to support themselves and their families.

"A missed paycheck can mean unpaid bills, missed meals and the loss of cars and homes. This is completely unacceptable in our community," Salih said.

"I ask to have your commitment to work together and avoid and protests over the next 30 hours so I can ensure these employees and your group is satisfied. Please know this was never to hurt anyone, simply a business trying to survive during a hard time and working to make it right," Burchert wrote on August 29.

The Center for Worker Justice called for a protest at noon on Thursday, September 12 outside of North Liberty's BeerBurger, 575 Cameron Way, North Liberty 52317.

A manager at the North Liberty location, reached Wednesday evening, said he could not comment on the situation.

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Zachary Oren Smith writes about government, growth and development for the Press-Citizen. Reach him at zsmith@press-citizen.com or 319 -339-7354, and follow him on Twitter via @zacharyos.