LIVE
61 °
74 °
75 °
Search Site
NBC 10's Tamara Sacharczyk reports on what's being done to combat wage theft.
Brissette’s boss owed him $15,000 in earned wages.
"He stopped returning my phone calls. He told me to call a lawyer instead of calling him for my
money," Brissette said.
He was a victim of wage theft, a crime committed by employers that targets hundreds of
Rhode Islanders every year, mainly in the construction industry.
Brissette took matters into his own hands, creating a blog to find other workers victimized by
the same employer, then filed cases against his former boss in Rhode Island and
Massachusetts.
The case in Rhode Island was eventually dropped after his former employer failed to show up
for court.
Since wage theft is a misdemeanor, the defendant couldn't be forced to return from
Massachusetts.
NBC 10 I-TEAM: Employers who rip off Rhode Island workers face misdemeanor
punishments