Former employee takes Stone Canyon Homes to court after not receiving commission

Stone Canyon Homes employees in Marion County still haven’t been paid. Many employees say they are entitled to three weeks of work. Following our previous storyTom Frey, a former employee of Stone Canyon Homes, reached out to share his experiences.

Frey said he owned 413 Cabins LLC dba Stone Canyon Homes. He sold the part he owned, but remained National Sales Director. Then he noticed he wasn’t receiving any commission.

“So he pays me my salary, but he stopped paying my bonuses and commissions,” Frey explains. “It had to be well over six figures that he owned the sales force, and close to six figures that he owned me.”

Frey said this took about six months.

“In the meantime, I have to tell my salespeople, ‘The money is coming, the money is coming.’

Ultimately, Frey left the company and took legal action. He filed a complaint in Marion County Circuit Court in 2022.

“When you hire someone, you as an employer have an obligation to pay them or terminate their employment,” Frey said.

A settlement has been reached between the two parties, but so far Frey has not been paid. He said he knowingly received a bad check for $25,000. The arbitrator said Stone Canyon Homes was notified three times to pay the settlement but failed to do so. Frey said he hopes that by speaking about his experiences, hardworking people in Marion County will get the pay they worked for.

“They use the factory as a way to feed their families and they don’t have the extra money to wait weeks for their payment,” Frey said. “If me talking about what I’m doing brings more light to the story and makes Doug more accountable for what he should be doing, then that’s the motivation I have.”

Since our story on October 23, many more employees have sent messages or emails explaining how having unpaid work impacts them. One woman writes: “We have five children. There have been nights since this incident where we went hungry to make sure our babies were full and satisfied. They don’t understand why we can’t go out to eat on Sundays like we used to. done, or why we’re so stressed, they don’t understand why I haven’t eaten as much or why I’m suddenly selling so much of my stuff, and they shouldn’t have to understand that.

Another employee says, “Besides the fact that we are fighting and cannot receive payment that is due, they have also taken insurance payments from our checks when we were not covered by the said insurance, some people are withholding tax withholding from last year pay stubs. does not match w2s.”

The Alabama State Department of Labor referred us to the Alabama Department of Insurance due to this concern. The DOI could not confirm whether an investigation has taken place, but anyone who believes they have been wronged should contact the State Fire Marshal’s Office Tip Line at 1-800-654-0775.

See more: ‘It’s not OK’: Stone Canyon Homes employees go weeks without pay again

Attempts to reach 413 Cabins LLC dba Stone Canyon Homes CEO Doug Merryman and his attorney were unsuccessful at the time this article was published.