Employees of Scottsdale home health company say they haven’t been paid in months

SCOTTSDALE, AZ (AZFamily) — An Arizona franchise of a home health company that connects elderly and disabled veterans with caregivers suddenly closed while its employees claim they haven’t been paid in months.

The closure has left the veterans, who relied on its services for daily care and companionship, in a tough spot.

Out of a total workforce of nearly one hundred, more than a dozen caregivers of “A Place at Home Scottsdale” contacted Arizona’s Family Investigates.

The company lost its franchise in August, and its parent company says the franchise owners received a default notice in July. Soon after, they started hearing from caregivers who claimed they hadn’t been paid.

“I really feel sorry for the clients,” said former caregiver Cynthia Washington.

“We would have conversations, breakfast, prepare breakfast for them. And then they had some health issues so I would remind them about taking their medicines,” Washington said of the work she did.

“You become really attached to your people, the people you help are an extension of your life,” Glenda Bivens, another caregiver, said.

It’s why Bivens, like so many others, stayed despite paychecks coming in late.

“It meant not being able to pay the rent, not being able to pay my electric bill,” Bivens said.

“We all had such a belief in Alex, we really believed he was going to get this resolved. How could you not, it was his business,” Severo Castillo, who worked at the front desk, said.

Arizona’s Family Investigates reported on the company and its owner, Alex Caudill, back in March. At that time, employees weren’t getting paid either.

In March, Caudill blamed it on a hack that was impacting some companies paid through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA.)

After Arizona’s Family Investigates reached out, Caudill confirmed he was wired money to help cover payroll.

“We need to hold people accountable that need to be held accountable,” Caudill previously told Arizona’s Family Investigates, speaking about those behind the suspected hack that left caregivers without pay for weeks.

He said then, “It is not right to have an employee render any sort of care or service and not have the payroll paid according to the timeliness it is supposed to be paid in.”

However, employees say payroll problems continued. Workers say their last paycheck came on July 18 for work from June.

“He was saying they were switching from one payroll company to the payroll company they started out with,” Washington said.

Arizona’s Family Investigates stopped by his last two home addresses after calling, texting, and emailing Caudill and his attorney to no avail.

Both said he no longer lived there, and one of them explained that he wasn’t surprised to see us.

“I’ve been having all kinds of people from process servers to sheriffs. Y’all, private individuals,” the new occupant said.

“I worked until I had no money for gas to go and that was the middle of August,” Bivens said.

“There are people to date that are still going to work to see these vets that have not gotten paid,” Castillo said.

The Industrial Commission of Arizona confirms it’s received eight complaints involving Caudill.

One employee said the FBI was investigating the center because he was being paid through the VA. Arizona’s Family Investigates could not verify that claim because the FBI does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations.

“I would want him to know how devastated that I am and that what he’s done has affected our lives tremendously,” Bivens said about Caudill.

As for Washington, she found a new job but couldn’t say whether she expected to get the pay owed to her.

“You know I hope so but you know I’m not sure if we will or not,” Washington said.

A Place At Home sent a statement to Arizona’s Family Investigates.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Do you have a story you want us to investigate? Tell us about it by contacting us.

Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.