Film Editor Says He Was Cheated
Recent Cases
Damien Leveck, a film editor, claims Paulist Productions and Forgiveness LLC defrauded him of wages and wrongfully fired him while he worked on a film called "Forgiveness."
In his Superior Court claim, Leveck says he worked as a creative adviser for Apple until he "was courted by Frank Desiderio of Paulist and Forgiveness to be an in-house editor for film projects."
He claims Desiderio offered him $60 an hour, but the paychecks were hinky from day one - first, without deductions and without overtime; then his pay rate was cut to $50 an hour - then to $30 an hour. Then, he says, the defendants denied him two months wages completely, "claiming Plaintiff was working on a pro-bono basis."
Leveck claims Desiderio told him the pay cuts were necessary because Desiderio had lost $2 million on a previous film, called "The Jesus Experience."
Leveck claims that while all this was happening, he was working 12 to 20 hours a day on the film, "Forgiveness."
During this time, Leveck says, Desiderio was soliciting members of his church to invest in the film project on which Leveck was being cheated.
"Mr. Desiderio was selling stock in the film at a minimum investment of $30,000," the complaint states. "Mr. Desiderio was fraudulently inducing members of the church to invest in the project by claiming that the church would benefit from the donations. Mr. Desiderio received investments from the parishioners ranging from $30,000 to $60,000. Mr. Desiderio made it clear that Father Liam Kidney was in no way to know about the investments."
Represented by Todd Harrison, Leveck demands punitive damages for wrongful termination, fraud, conversion, breach of contract, interference, and Labor Code violations.
Related listings
-
Police Maliciously Set Him Up, Doctor Says
Recent Cases 04/23/2008The Melbourne Police Department trained people to pose as patients seeking medical treatment for nonexistent illnesses, provided them with false medical records, trained them to give false medical histories, then sent them to walk-in clinics and arre...
-
Supreme Court To Hear Uranium Trade Case
Recent Cases 04/22/2008The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider whether uranium enriched in France and imported to the United States for use in nuclear power plants is subject to U.S. trade laws. Eurodif SA, a French uranium-enrichment company, and U.S. utility companies ...
-
Jurors' Complaints Bring Mistrial
Recent Cases 04/18/2008In an extraordinary case of a jury room dispute spilling into public view, a Suffolk Superior Court jury was dismissed yesterday after a male juror was accused of sexually harassing several women on the panel during lengthy deliberations in a 2004 mu...
USCIS Will Begin Accepting CW-1 Petitions for Fiscal Year 2019
On April 2, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting petitions under the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) program subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2019 cap. Employers in the CNMI use the CW-1 program to employ foreign workers who are ineligible for other nonimmigrant worker categories. The cap for CW-1 visas for FY 2019 is 4,999.
For the FY 2019 cap, USCIS encourages employers to file a petition for a CW-1 nonimmigrant worker up to six months in advance of the proposed start date of employment and as early as possible within that timeframe. USCIS will reject a petition if it is filed more than six months in advance. An extension petition may request a start date of Oct. 1, 2018, even if that worker’s current status will not expire by that date.
Since USCIS expects to receive more petitions than the number of CW-1 visas available for FY 2019, USCIS may conduct a lottery to randomly select petitions and associated beneficiaries so that the cap is not exceeded. The lottery would give employers the fairest opportunity to request workers, particularly with the possibility of mail delays from the CNMI.
USCIS will count the total number of beneficiaries in the petitions received after 10 business days to determine if a lottery is needed. If the cap is met after those initial 10 days, a lottery may still need to be conducted with only the petitions received on the last day before the cap was met. USCIS will announce when the cap is met and whether a lottery has been conducted.