FACT CHECK: Moreno Destroyed Key Evidence To Get Out Of Paying His Employees Wages They’d Earned
January 22, 2024
Columbus, OH – New reporting last week revealed that Bernie Moreno destroyed key evidence a judge had ordered him to keep to avoid paying his employees the overtime they deserved. After forcing his employees to sue him to get the pay they were entitled to, Moreno was found liable by a jury for wage theft and was forced by the Court to pay over $400,000 in damages – only then did he settle over a dozen lawsuits before launching his Senate bid.
FACT: Moreno shredded key records containing information about his employees’ overtime hours – evidence he was legally required to retain and that he agreed to provide the court – because he knew the documents would prove he owed his workers. Moreno was sanctioned by a judge for destroying evidence. Key points from Business Insider:
- “From the beginning, Moreno was required to preserve all documents relevant to the case, and he specifically agreed to do so in January 2020…”
- “But during a May 2021 deposition for one of those wage theft cases, Moreno conceded that in late 2020, he had destroyed paper copies of monthly reports containing information about overtime hours worked by some employees…”
- “…Moreno admitted in a deposition to shredding documents containing information that was potentially relevant to the case, despite being instructed to preserve records — drawing a rebuke from a state judge.”
- “[T]he judge in that case, Justice Michael Ricciuti, chose to sanction him for destroying potential evidence…”
FACT:A jury found Moreno liable for wage theft and forced him to pay more than $400,000 in damages to his employees. Moreno ultimately settled 13 additional similar lawsuits in 2023, just months before launching his second Senate bid. Key points from Business Insider:
- “Ultimately, a jury found in August 2022 that Adem and another salesperson who joined the lawsuit had proven ‘by a preponderance of the evidence’ that they had worked overtime hours, and that his employers knew that.”
- “The judge later ordered Moreno to pay out a total of $416,160, including compensation for the overtime hours worked, damages, and legal fees, in November. In January 2023, Moreno settled 14 of the 16 related lawsuits, court records show. Just 3 months later in April 2023, Moreno launched his comeback bid for US Senate.”
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