N.Y. EMTs, Paramedics Lost Final Paycheck After Transcare Closing

EMTs and paramedics who lost their jobs when private ambulance company Transcare went bankrupt in February also lost their final paychecks — because they bounced, according to court papers filed in the Bronx Friday.

“The only ones who got paid are the ones who ran to a check cashing place,” said Joe Pena, 52, a former Transcare supervisor.

“All the employees who deposited their checks, got stiffed — they bounced,” he said.

Transcare abruptly shuttered on Wed., Feb. 24 and declared itself bankrupt — send its 2,500 employees scrambling to find work.

Paychecks handed out Friday to cover the prior week mostly bounced, said Pena.

He’s one of 175 ex-employees who filed a claim hoping to get a piece of Transcare’s liquidation.

“Some people are owed 36 hours or more,” he said.

Pena said Transcare’s management knew full well it was going to have to shut down — but didn’t tell workers the situation was dire.

He said the company had a conference call around Feb. 20 and told employees things looked bad.

“But they said it was going to be 30 days, possibly 60, maybe even 90,” Pena said.

Instead, it came within days — with the company pulling the plug for good on Feb. 24.

Pena said he only got his last check because he was called in to help move ambulances.

“People were walking off the job, just leaving, so we got calls to come help drive ambulances to the base in Mount Vernon,” he said.

He was able to pick up his prior week’s paycheck at midnight — and by 2 a.m. he was in a check cashing place, he said.

“There’s a lot of people who are owed money. I know of some who have applied for unemployment and heard nothing,” he added.

“There’s 175 of us as plaintiffs but there’s 2,500 people who worked for the company and were affected,” he said.

The papers filed in Bronx court name Transcare and all its affiliates as defendants, but also a private equity investment firm called Patriarch.

The firm manages 75 companies with revenues in excess of $8 billion, the filing says. It was founded by Lynn Tilton, its CEO and sole Principal.

Tilton’s website says her company is “Rebuilding America: One company at a time, one job at a time.”

A Transcare spokesman didn’t return calls for comment.

The lawyer representing the 175 ex-employees, Larry Cary, said Transcare failed to give employees at least 60 days notice of their terminations — which violates the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

Transcare and its investors are on the hook for workers’ wages, accrued holiday pay, vacation pay, commissions and bonuses, among other things, Cary said.

"The law says that if you know that your company is failing that employees should get notice in advance of the shutdown,” said Cary.

“More than 1,000 hardworking New Yorkers have been left without a job and we are seeking compensation due them under the law,” he said.