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Latitude 360 employees denied unemployment benefits

By Ryan Smithson
By Ryan Smithson
First it was bounced paychecks for workers -- now former Latitude 360 employees can't get unemployment benefits.
The Jacksonville-based company’s popular Philips Highway entertainment restaurant suddenly shut down earlier this month.
“I was upset, devastated that I wouldn’t be getting any sort of help or whatever. I have bills just like everybody else, you know?” said Jeff Land, saying he had worked as a cook at Latitude 360 for three years.
Land said he was surprised to see nothing but zeros for his wages when he tried to file for unemployment benefits.
“This is an employment statement that I got and it’s showing that I have no wages that I made at all — absolutely,” said Land. “They have no records of me, like, ever working there.”
He said several of his fellow former employees have experienced the same thing and now he’s worried about whether he’ll even be able to file his tax return.
“I’m not even sure that we’re going to get our W2s,” said Land.
His former coworker Melissa Roehm invited Action News Jax to come with her as she tried her shot at the unemployment office on Tuesday. It’ll be days before she finds out whether she’s denied too.
The former banquet server said Latitude 360 already owes her nearly $2,000 because the bank won’t cash her final two paychecks.
“He [CEO Brent Brown] just screwed over a lot of people. People that have families,” said Roehm.
“There’s not even words. I can’t even – I’m so angry right now. I could say a lot of stuff to them. He deserves to be put in jail. And he needs to pay all of us,” said Land.
Action News Jax called Latitude 360 CEO Brent Brown, President Greg Garson, and the man in charge of payroll, Tom Bass. None of them have answered our questions.

Cox Media Group

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