By Natalie Yahr Dec 12, 2024
The owner of a Dane County screen printing company must pay more than $8,000 in back wages to former employees, according to a court settlement negotiated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
The deal, approved Dec. 10 by the state Legislature’s budget committee, settles a lawsuit the DOJ brought in April after a Department of Workforce Development investigation found Crushin’ It Apparel owed 11 workers $8,230.
“Finally, after so much time, we won the case,” said Jorge Tlahuel, 34, who worked as a screen printer at Crushin’ It for about two years and is owed around $1,400 of the settlement.
While working at Crushin’ It, many of Tlahuel’s paychecks were rejected by his bank for insufficient funds, he said. It happened so often, he said, that the bank started rejecting checks from his second job, too. He felt embarrassed, like the company had tarnished his reputation.
He was happy to learn this week that, after two years of waiting, he might now get the money he’s owed.
“But a worker shouldn’t go through this situation, where after working you end up looking bad at the bank,” Tlahuel said.
The company employed around a dozen screen printers and sewists, who made custom gear for schools, employers and sports teams at a workshop at 5241 Voges Road. In 2022, workers presented owner Jeremy Kruk with a list of demands, including timely pay and better working conditions.
A month later, they voted 6 to 0 to unionize. When the ballots were tallied, Kruk told the Cap Times the business had shut down and fired the workers. One worker filed a wage claim complaint with the Department of Workforce Development, triggering an investigation.
Meanwhile, it appears Kruk reopened the business with a new name and a new location. Last year, the Cap Times reported the company had a new Facebook page under the name “Thunder Bay formally known as Crushin’ It,” with an address at 1831 County Road V in Columbus. That’s the address on file for Crushin’ It in the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, according to the Open Corporates database.
The Facebook page included videos that identified Kruk as the company’s owner and explained that the company has rebranded. The page and videos have since been removed. Kruk’s LinkedIn page describes him as “VP of Sales” for Thunder Bay.
Kruk did not respond to a request for comment about the new settlement agreement. When reached by the Cap Times last year, Kruk denied owning Thunder Bay.
It is legal for an employer to shut down a business for an anti-union reason, but it is illegal to continue operating and refuse to bargain with unionized workers.
In the two years since Kruk fired the Crushin’ It workers, two of them joined with family members and friends to form their own screen printing and sewing shop. Los Volcanes, the seven-person cooperative, officially launched in October with support from Madison worker advocacy nonprofit Worker Justice Wisconsin.
According to the settlement approved Dec. 10, Kruk has 20 days to pay the unpaid wages, plus 8.5% annual interest since June 23, 2023. While the exact amount due will depend on when the payment is made, the total amount will likely be around $9,300.
If the company doesn’t pay by the deadline, the Department of Justice will instead “litigate the case to a final judgment that will include all owed wages plus interest and penalties,” Department of Justice spokesperson Gillian Drummond said in an email.
