NewsWest 9
ODESSA - Fired via text message. An ex-employee of KVB Enterprises in Odessa says she wasn't the only one laid off over a text last Monday.
On top of that, it was pay day. She claims she hasn't seen a penny for more than 10 days worth of work.
NewsWest 9 paid a visit to KVB Enterprises in Odessa but no one was inside. The company vans were also still in the parking lot. Aside from that text message, all these employees want is the money they earned.
"We all work for our money. We all deserve our money," Kimberly Pittman, Ex-employee of KVB Enterprises, said.
KVB Enterprises is a third party company who works for Baker Hughes moving fracking equipment.
Kimberly claims she is one of 12 employees, who lost their jobs via text message.
"I was sitting by the phone waiting for a call to go to work. Instead, I get a text message saying, 'You're no longer employed and the company's closed,'" Pittman said.
That Monday was also pay day but Kimberly says she has yet to see a penny for over a week's worth of work.
"I am missing 17 days worth of pay. Roughly around $4,000," Pittman said.
In her contract with KVB, it states that the, "Agreement may be terminated by either party with or without cause upon ten days prior written notice to the other party."
Kimberly questions if a text message qualifies as a written notice.
"Never in my life have I heard of anybody being laid off in a text message," Pittman said.
She says that her Christmas bills are behind and other employees can't pay their utilities or their rent.
Workers have called to inquire about their pay, but all they get, they say, is the runaround.
"We get told that they haven't billed Baker Hughes, that they have billed Baker Hughes, that people have stolen money out of the bank account that is the company's bank account. I've got a whole list of reasons why I have not been paid," Pittman said.
Another ex-employee tells NewsWest 9 the company was purchased, and that Wednesday, the new owner distributed half weeks pay to the workers who were let go. The rest of the money, however, lands in the hands of the former owners.
We are also told by other former employees that this isn't the first time the company hasn't paid workers their back pay.
"I'm not looking for jail time for anybody. I just want my money," Pittman said.
