Film Editor Says He Was Cheated
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Damien Leveck, a film editor, claims Paulist Productions and Forgiveness LLC defrauded him of wages and wrongfully fired him while he worked on a film called "Forgiveness."
In his Superior Court claim, Leveck says he worked as a creative adviser for Apple until he "was courted by Frank Desiderio of Paulist and Forgiveness to be an in-house editor for film projects."
He claims Desiderio offered him $60 an hour, but the paychecks were hinky from day one - first, without deductions and without overtime; then his pay rate was cut to $50 an hour - then to $30 an hour. Then, he says, the defendants denied him two months wages completely, "claiming Plaintiff was working on a pro-bono basis."
Leveck claims Desiderio told him the pay cuts were necessary because Desiderio had lost $2 million on a previous film, called "The Jesus Experience."
Leveck claims that while all this was happening, he was working 12 to 20 hours a day on the film, "Forgiveness."
During this time, Leveck says, Desiderio was soliciting members of his church to invest in the film project on which Leveck was being cheated.
"Mr. Desiderio was selling stock in the film at a minimum investment of $30,000," the complaint states. "Mr. Desiderio was fraudulently inducing members of the church to invest in the project by claiming that the church would benefit from the donations. Mr. Desiderio received investments from the parishioners ranging from $30,000 to $60,000. Mr. Desiderio made it clear that Father Liam Kidney was in no way to know about the investments."
Represented by Todd Harrison, Leveck demands punitive damages for wrongful termination, fraud, conversion, breach of contract, interference, and Labor Code violations.
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Does a car or truck accident count as a work injury?
If an employee is injured in a car crash while on the job, they are eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits. “On the job” injuries are not limited to accidents and injuries that happen inside the workplace, they may also include injuries suffered away from an employee’s place of work while performing a job-related task, such as making a delivery or traveling to a client meeting.
Regular commutes to and from work don’t usually count. If you get into an accident on your way in on a regular workday, it’s probably not considered a work injury for the purposes of workers’ compensation.
If you drive around as part of your job, an injury on the road or loading/unloading accident is likely a work injury. If you don’t typically drive around for work but are required to drive for the benefit of your employer, that would be a work injury in many cases.
If you are out of town for work, pretty much any driving would count as work related. For traveling employees, any accidents or injuries that happen on a work trip, even while not technically working, can be considered a work injury. The reason is because you wouldn’t be in that town in the first place, had you not been on a work trip.
Workers’ compensation claims for truck drivers, traveling employees and work-related injuries that occur away from the job site can be challenging and complex. At Krol, Bongiorno & Given, we understand that many families depend on the income of an injured worker, and we are proud of our record protecting the injured and disabled. We have handled well over 30,000 claims for injured workers throughout the state of Illinois.