Several former employees of a Kanawha County drug treatment center filed lawsuits against the business and its owner last week over late salary payments.
The state Division of Labor closed an investigation into New Beginnings Drug Treatment Center after its owner, William Mucklow, paid the $24,000 he owed to 13 former employees.
Still, at least four of the employees filed lawsuits against Mucklow last week, citing the delayed payments.
Mucklow also faces the threat of eviction from his inpatient facility in Cross Lanes. The building's owners said in a court filing that Mucklow owes more than $40,000 in rent. A hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday in front of Kanawha Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey.
Financial problems caused New Beginnings to temporarily close earlier this year, but the facility on Big Tyler Road appeared to be open Friday morning. Several cars sat in the parking lot, and an employee said the facility reopened several weeks ago.
The employee walked inside to get Mucklow but returned without him and asked a reporter to leave. Several calls and emails to Mucklow went unanswered.
In June, Kanawha sheriff's deputies arrested Mucklow after a $1,415 paycheck bounced. He still faces the felony charge of obtaining property in return for a worthless check. A hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday in front of Kanawha Magistrate Brent Hall.
Mucklow received attention in 2006 when he pleaded guilty to two battery charges.
According to criminal complaints, he posed as someone with a mental illness and the behavior of an infant. Several caretakers said they were tricked into changing, clothing and feeding Mucklow, who often wore diapers. He is also accused of groping the women's breasts.
Mucklow's recent business troubles surfaced in May, when more than 20 employees gathered for computer training at the Cross Lanes facility. He laid off the group of employees and left them without a paycheck. Thirteen employees complained to the state, sparking the recent investigation.
An investor had left the company, Mucklow previously said, which caused its financial issues. He also said the business had trouble billing Medicaid.
The Division of Labor expected him to pay the employees by July 1. Five days after the deadline, an investigator visited Mucklow at his other business, U.S. Tax and Financial Group in South Charleston. New Beginnings' outpatient facility, in the rear of Mucklow's tax office, remained open as the Cross Lanes inpatient facility stopped accepting patients.
Mucklow told the state investigator a Gazette-Mail article caused an investor to back out, according to a report. Four other investors were "good to go," and a transfer of $100,000 would go toward paying the employees, Mucklow said, according to the report.
He paid the 13 employees by mid-July, about two weeks after the original deadline.
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According to the lawsuits, Mucklow violated state law by not paying his discharged employees in a timely manner.The lawsuits also name a co-owner in the company, Ethel Fleming, along with every board member of the company's nonprofit arm, New Beginnings Foundation.
It's not clear if Fleming is still associated with the company. Several phone calls to her went unanswered.
The plaintiffs - Robert Meadows, Noel Zuniga, Lorri Reed and Lisa Hanger - are all nurses who worked for New Beginnings Drug Treatment Center. They are suing for liquidated damages, attorney's fees and both pre-judgment and post-judgment interest.
As for New Beginnings' facility in Cross Lanes, the building is owned by Jonathan and Blessing Eya, who claim Mucklow owes them $44,000 in rent. They filed their motion in Kanawha Circuit Court in hopes of evicting Mucklow from the property.
"All my life, my mother said, 'Give people a chance and give them benefit of the doubt, because we are human,'" Blessing Eya said. "And that's all I do in my life. I don't condemn people for making a mistake one time, but I do let them know when they're hurting me."
A written notice of eviction was sent Aug. 1, according to the complaint, which was filed nine days later.
Blessing Eya relocated her business, Dream Home Assisted Living, to make way for the drug treatment center.
The Eyas said they believe Mucklow wants them to lose their building. The complaint says he filed for a personal safety order against the couple, delaying a hearing on their motion.
Now the Eyas are at risk of defaulting on a loan for the building. That could also mean losing their home, Blessing Eya said.
"He is preying on somebody that is so naive and ignorant about the legal system," she said.
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New Beginnings' initial health license will expire Thursday, a day before the eviction hearing. Surveyors reviewed the policies and procedures of New Beginnings Drug Treatment Center on Feb. 28, and it received a six-month license days later."A full survey will be completed prior to the expiration of the initial license," Allison Adler, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Human Resources, said in an email. Behavioral health centers in West Virginia are licensed by the Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification, an agency under the DHHR.
Before the agency considers issuing a regular license to the treatment center, surveyors will also review its personnel records, Adler wrote.
Besides his 2006 battery convictions for groping women, Mucklow also was ordered in 2005 to pay nearly $100,000 to a former business partner who sued him.
The partner, Norman Chill, filed the lawsuit after years of deception caused him to lose nearly $100,000, according to a court order.
"He had an excellent plan," Chill said recently. "It really made sense to me, and I was busting my rear working with this individual to make this thing successful."
Among other wrongdoings, Mucklow forged Chill's signature and withdrew money from their joint bank account, according to Chill's lawsuit.
Chill later won a settlement of more than $97,000 against Mucklow. He said most of the debt has yet to be paid.
Mucklow has previously said Chill's claim "has nothing to do with New Beginnings," and DHHR officials apparently agree. Only certain convictions affect health centers, according to Adler's email.
"The center shall not employ individuals with a conviction of consumer or child abuse or neglect," she wrote.
Reach Giuseppe Sabella at giuseppe.sabella@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @Gsabella on Twitter.