Former Viable employees claim they are owed back wages
by Kevin James Shay | Staff Writer
As a trial in the federal criminal fraud case involving John T.C. Yeh and Joseph Yeh, executives with Rockville deaf services company Viable, has been delayed until the fall, a class-action lawsuit involving 140 former Viable employees seeking back wages has been active with motions to delay proceedings.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt seeks back wages of a total of some $500,000 owed as of a year ago, according to court documents filed in late May. The lawsuit names John Yeh, Joseph Yeh and Mary Yeh, John Yeh’s wife; among the plaintiffs is Glenn Lockhart, Viable’s former director of corporate communications.
In court documents, attorneys for the Yehs have asked that the lawsuit be delayed until after resolution of the criminal case, when they hope to negotiate a settlement of the lawsuit without “the need for the additional litigation costs of dispositive pretrial motions and trial.” In a response to the lawsuit filed last year, the Yehs’ attorneys denied that the plaintiffs were entitled to any “relief sought” and asked to be awarded attorneys’ fees and other “reasonable” costs.
Nicholas Woodfield, who is representing the plaintiffs, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The trial involving the Yeh brothers on charges of conspiracy to defraud the government has been delayed until the fall, according to a court documents and an attorney for Joseph Yeh. The brothers were set to stand trial in late May in a New Jersey federal court, but U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano agreed to a delay.
In November, the Yeh brothers were among 26 people nationwide charged with conspiring to defraud a deaf services program out of millions of dollars by fraudulently billing the Federal Communications Commission for interpreting calls between deaf and hearing people that were not legitimate. The Yehs pleaded not guilty.
But two former Viable executives, Anthony Mowl, former assistant vice president of business development, and Donald Tropp, former Viable human resources manager, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. At least nine other people who were charged in the case across the country have pleaded guilty.
Federal prosecutors agreed to dismiss three other counts, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., against Tropp and Mowl at the time of sentencing. They face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. A sentencing date has not been scheduled, according to a motion by Mowl’s attorney, Allen H. Orenberg of North Bethesda.
In a related case, a claim for unpaid wages filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court by Rebecca Boswell of Waldorf against Viable in August is scheduled for a hearing on July 23.
Another claim of $7,450 made against John Yeh by Mary K. Moylan of Catonsville in a Baltimore County District Court was dismissed in October. Moylan, who worked as an interpreter for Viable for about a year, said this week she was told she could not sue Yeh directly for the back wages but had to make the claim against Viable.
“I think I will refile the case,” Moylan said. “I’m trying to figure out what to do, with all these other claims and the criminal case still pending.”
Snap!VRS of Pearl River, a video relay service company, agreed to acquire Viable last year. Allison Polk, a spokeswoman for Snap, said in an e-mail this week that the transaction is still pending in part to wait for the legal situation to clear before making a final decision and also because Snap “is still conducting diligence into the business.”
