NORCROSS, Ga. — Former employees at The Star Achievement Center say they haven't been paid for their work in 2-3 weeks.
"Now nobody's in the building," former employee Tiffany Hayes said. "People have not been paid people and have been impacted."
Leaving at least 100 employees without their money, things got so tense last Wednesday that Norcross police had to be called out the office on Peachtree Industrial.
"I see a lot of cops and a lot of employees running around screaming and yelling," neighbor Michael Long said.
The police report revealed that there are two owners -- one on paper, according to the manager, and the real owner, identified as Tyler Franklin Long.
The biggest problem in that regard, Channel 2's Carl Willis found, is a Federal Trade Commission suit against Long from 2011, ruling that he is permanently restrained from running such a business.
Willis reached out to Long by phone.
"This is Carl Willis with Channel 2 .... Do you have a minute?"
He acted as though he couldn't hear me, Willis explained.
The ruling against Long found that he used a predatory strategy to mislead people desperate for employment.
The business advertises on Craigslist and its website, offering job placement in the U.S. Postal Service.
"It really hurts my heart that people actually thought we were the post office," former employee Tamarra Deloach said.
Now these employees left without pay have a message for anyone seeking a job with the post office.
"Don't search on Craigslist. They have free materials for them to study, " Deloach said. "We just want to put it out there just to make sure that it doesn't continue to happen because it's messing with people's livelihoods."
Cox Media Group
