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Agency Recovers $259,000 in Back Wages for Former Washex Employees

AUSTIN, Texas —The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) has sent payments totaling $259,391 for back wages owed to 46 former Washex Inc. employees, the agency reports.
Recovery of the money was the result of a TWC Labor Law Department investigation followed by administrative liens placed on the Wichita Falls-based company’s assets after it filed for bankruptcy in January 2010.
Washex closed its Wichita Falls plant and laid off its remaining workers in September 2009. TWC began investigating wage claims from several Washex employees and determined 47 workers were owed back wages. The agency’s Labor Law Collections Unit filed as a creditor in the Washex bankruptcy on behalf of the workers.
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in New Haven, Conn., approved distribution of proceeds from the sale of personal property of the shuttered manufacturing plant.
“Texas workers need to know that they can turn to TWC if they feel as though they have not been paid for wages owed,” says TWC Commissioner Ronny Congleton. “TWC will investigate and take every possible action on behalf of workers in order to recover unpaid wages.”
GTA Sales, doing business as Investment Recovery Services, agreed to pay $700,000 for Washex’s assets in October, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court records. Investment Recovery Services then staged a two-day liquidation auction at the former Washex plant in mid-December.
Mark Brim, president of Brim Laundry Machinery Co., Dallas, purchased the Washex name and intellectual property on the first day of the auction, according to an Investment Recovery Services spokesman.Related Stories:Washex Closes Plant, Lays Off Remaining EmployeesWashex Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Assets of Bankrupt Washex Go On Auction Block Next Month
Washex Auction Next Week to Include Rights to Name, Machine Designs
 

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