Defunct Sacramento Magazine sued by ex-employees claiming they were not paid final wages

Sam Stanton
·2 min read

Former employees of Sacramento Magazine are suing the defunct publication, alleging they were not paid their final wages after the magazine was sold to competing Sactown Magazine in August.

The lawsuit, filed in Sacramento federal court on behalf of employee Lisa Bonk and other former workers, claims that on Sept. 1 Sacramento Media LLC “announced to employees that it had sold the assets of its publication, Sacramento Magazine, to another company, and that as a result all operations were ceasing immediately and all employees were terminated.”

“Despite terminating all employees in a pre-planned action, defendants Sacramento Media LLC did not pay employees their final wages, thereby violating the California Labor Code,” according to the suit, filed by attorney Joshua Watson.

“Defendant Sacramento Media LLC is still in business, is still collecting residual advertising income from the last issue of the magazine,” the suit says. “It had the ability to pay all employees their final wages as required by law.

“The decision to not pay wages was intentional, willful, and deliberate. Defendant Sacramento Media LLC took an extended period of time to pay final wages to all employees, and still has not paid final wages to some employees.

“All affected employees are entitled to waiting time penalties of up to 30 days wages/income pursuant to the California Labor Code.”

Sacramento Media LLC is a subsidiary of Hour Media, the publisher of Hour Detroit Magazine and Cincinnati Magazine. The company did not immediately respond to a voicemail left there Tuesday, and a subsequent call resulted in a woman saying she had no comment and hanging up.

The suit names Sacramento Media and its CEO, Stefan Wanczyk, and seeks class-action status for former magazine employees.

The suit also alleges violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, failure to pay wages and breach of contract.

Sacramento Magazine was a 48-year-old monthly publication that published its last issue in August.