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Utah-based video game developer Sensory Sweep Studio is in hot water with the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Utah Labor Commission is also investigating Sensory Sweep Studio over complaints the company hasn't paid about 200 of its workers. Brent Asay is the wage claim unit manager. He says Sensory Sweep has about 40 complaints against it with the State Labor Commission.
"Some of these could end up going to a judgment filed against them in court, and we have someone with the A.G.'s office who does our legal collections work," Asay said.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor's court filing in U.S. district court in Utah, Sensory Sweep owes 198 employees a combined total of over $2 million. That includes both regular wages and overtime pay.
The court filing asks for an injunction keeping Sensory Sweep from shipping games produced by unpaid workers. Some of the games have already shipped out. The list of affected games includes: The Tale of Despereaux, The Bigs, Scentient, TNA Impact/Wrestling and Drama Queens.
Asay says Sensory Sweep hasn't responded to most of the complaints from the Utah Labor Commission, which automatically puts those complaints in a "default" status. It makes it easier for the state to take Sensory Sweep to court to get the workers their money, but it's still not a guarantee.
"What we do within our process, that's our effort to try to get them to pay. We, of course, can't guarantee they'll ever pay," Asay said.
A Web site apparently created by current and former employees of Sensory Sweep echoes the claims made in the complaints to the U.S. Department of Labor and State Labor Commission. The headline today from X-Sweep's Web site reads, "Sensory Sweep is 116 days behind on pay. It has been 350 days since Sensory Sweep stole our 401(k) money."
The page continues, "This Web site is dedicated to the employees of Sensory Sweep, past and present. Sensory Sweep demanded a lot from us. We put our lives on hold for them. We worked shifts that ran long into the night and then into the following morning. We sacrificed relationships for them. Marriages and families suffered because of them. They wanted the impossible from us, and that is exactly what we delivered.
"In return, they fed us lies and deception."
The Labor Department's filing seeks $2,032,000.00 under the Fair Labor Standards act.
Sensory Sweep's Web site lists Dave Rushton as the company's president and CEO.
This afternoon, an attorney for Dave Rushton and Fooptube sent us this statement: "The Department of Labor and Fooptube entered into a Consent Injunction in the federal matter today. The Consent Injunction was just signed by the Court. In a nutshell, so long as Fooptube meets certain requirements, they can continue in business and ship any items they have produced."
E-mail: bbruce@ksl.com
