Paradigm Engineering Exposed.

My Paradigm Experience

Here is my work experience at Paradigm-Engineering. I am not here to bash anyone personally but just to state the facts as they happened to me. I worked less than a year a Paradigm Engineering, I was very excited to start a career there because of the family atmosphere and the excellent way I was treated on my interviews. I started working at Paradigm and instantly I made lots of friends, and got to know almost everyone at the building in Lewisville. Never before have I worked to a place where you have morning devotions and I thought that was a great thing. Not all things kept going well as planned, within the second month I was there, the company started having financial troubles. Trouble to the point were our paychecks were started to get held from us. This was a first at a company for me. But being that I really liked the company, I didn't like that my paycheck was being held, but I felt I could deal with it because things happen and sometimes companies struggle. But my problem is with the fact that almost 2 months went by without me getting 1 paycheck. This hurt because like most people I have bills and the bills don't stop coming in. We kept hearing that everything will be alright and for us to stay focused on the customer and the company. Yet giving 100% is tough for anyone when you work for well over a month with no money to show for it and to have to make your credit card debt increase greatly because you have to pay your bills this way. And the worse thing is when you have to ask for a paper check and you go to cash it and a week later the check bounces. That means more money coming out of my pockets for fees that I shouldn't have had to deal with. Another thing that was a very terrible thing to witness was close friends getting laid off from the company. I knew many people that stayed through the tough times and gave all out effort with their jobs while they were getting any paychecks get laid off. They showed dedication through Paradigm's rough times, but no dedication was shown to them. This was not a good thing to see when a friend comes into work and with no warning you are told that is your last day at the job. Like I said, I don't have a problem with the people who ran the company.....it's just that some of the things there were very questionalble and people working there deserve to get paid the money they worked for.

My Paradigm Experience

Hi, my name is ___________. I was laid off on Friday, March 28th. I wasn't the only one. I just want my money. We were suppose to receive our check on Friday but did not. Sound familiar?? They owe me a little money. No where close to what they owe you! Have there been any lawsuits filed against Paradigm?

Yes there have been law suites filed against Paradigm. If I find out the number, I'll post that information.

So one lawsuit has been filed. Interesting. I wonder how in the world they can get away with all of the laws they have broken. They did pay me my check for March 28th. It was deposited directly into my checking account. They still owe me one paycheck and one expense report. They owe so much money to people it is a wonder how they will be able to pay everybody back. They did get some investors which saved them for awhile. They were loaned 3 million dollars. At that time they owed as many as 6 paychecks to an employee who is still with them today. They paid this person 3 paychecks after receiving the investor's money but had told us we would be caught up to date once the money was received. I know they owe thousands of dollars to former employees and to some of the people who are still there. But yet they are intent on making sure they have 200,000 a month to pay the investors. That is the agreement they have with them. Correct me if I am wrong but aren't they required to pay the employees back first?!

My Paradigm Experience

I was one of the first to be fired by PE back in July 2002 and the hunger for money began to show it head (this is not a judgment but a statement of fact as evidenced by the "corporate move", then moving everyone to salaries from commission, thus giving all the monies to PE and their pet projects, along with the FAILURE TO KEEP PROMISES AND WORD'S GIVEN TO THOSE THAT BUILT THIS COMPANY, Matt 5:37, James 5:12, some very basic principles have been forgotten or subverted Eph. 6:9). I joined the company and lived with J & K during the time of transition. They were very kind and gracious by having provided me a place to stay while my family was in the process of selling our house in San Angelo and moving to the area. I was hired on as a contractor (this was when you made 70% commission and everything was going just fine, the company was growing in leaps and bounds) and in February 2000 and began my work for PE in the Dallas area in March of that same year. I was told that I would make around $60 a year and actually made about $55 by the end of 2000. In 2001 I was honored by J&K to be given the position of Senior Project Manager along with another individual that had much more experience than me and was one of the hardest workers and most knowledgeable persons that I had known in the industry. During that same year J approached me and made me an offer that was beyond anything I could imagine. J&K wanted to give me 1/4 of the company if I would agree to return to college and get my Masters in Environmental Engineering. I agreed and began checking out colleges and was slated to start my degree program at UTA in August of 2002. By the fall of 2001 things had started to change. With the offer of 1/4 of the company I was told that I would be kept in a position that would allow me to use my understanding and my natural engineering ability, attend college and PE would cover the expense as they needed me very badly. J&K quickly subverted their word to me and hired two individuals that had no experience in the SWPPP field and filled the needs they had (they had no idea that I had managed a group staff of 383 right out of college for 2.5 years). These two were told not to touch the two "Golden Children" (the other Senior Project Manager and myself) because we were doing just fine and did not need anyone's help, directions, or advice. By that time I was known as the "Fireman" because I was the one that J&K went to when everything went bad on a project, when we could be facing tickets, when city enforcement divisions were involved, or when lawyers had been called in. I was the one that they trusted with the life of the company but that was being undermined by the two uppers that had just replaced me. That year I made $101 and I could tell that that was shocking to the uppers and to J&K. In the fall of 2002 thing were turning over very fast with PE and I was letting go of clients on a regular basis. It was great to see the company doing so well. In May of that year, G, a construction project north of Woodall Rodgers in Dallas, was in trouble with the City of Dallas. I had released the project to another manager six weeks earlier but I was called back in to, or as I was told "correct and recover", the project and attempt to keep the CoD for issuing a ticket. The Lord had given me great honor in the eyes of the CoD Environmental Department and I was to use that relationship to keep the company from getting a ticket. In spite of attempts to correct and recover ticket was going to be issued and J approached me to "Take one for the Gipper" as he could not afford to have a mark on his or the companies record. I did so because this was family. K, J's wife, is my cousin. Why wouldn?t I! I had nothing to hide! I would gladly stand up for MY (1/4 is to be mine) company and take a ticket in order to protect family, friends, co-workers, and company associates. It would be an honor. J promised me they would take care of it. The ticket was issued to me with my name, my DL number, but under counsel I had refused to sign. By the end of that month I had turned in $95 in invoices to PE and the uppers began their work (I was a threat to them and their positions and they knew it) and I was called in to a meeting were J&K offered me a office job with a salary of $60, I turned it down. Long story short, there was a running joke between myself, the other senior project manager, and several other project managers that were in good standing with PE. Those that we worked with, our clients, would often make us offers to work for them. It happened so often that we joked fairly often not fearing we would be disciplined for it. During one of my phone conversations with an individual at the office, one of the uppers overheard our joking and immediately reported to J&K that I needed to be let go effective immediately because I was trying to hire their employees to work for me. It was July and I was called by T, one of the uppers, in for a managers meeting that would occur the next Monday. I showed up to find T, D, J, & K, sitting around a table. That day I was fired for trying to hire PE employees to work for me. Without investigation into the facts, recognition of the fact that I had just taken a ticket for PE, K keeping her word to me that she "would never believe anything she heard about me", I was let go. I have chosen, by the Grace given me to have forgiveness over them. I'm still in the environmental business (elimindustries.com) and it was started in September of 2002 following several request and prompting from the CoD and several other enforcement entities. I have several of my old clients and would love any counsel anyone could give me on how to get more of my old clients back. Blessings and the peace of Him who is ours because of the Price He paid be on each of you as your are facing this terrible and easily avoided situation. THE TICKET WAS NOT "TAKEN CARE OF" UNITL OCTOBER 2004.

I would like to hear more about this ticket. If anyone has more details about this please let me know.

My Paradigm Experience

Thank you so much for producing such a wonderful website. I too was a former employee of Paradigm that still has not been paid and I resigned over 3 ½ months ago. We will probably never see our monies owed.

My Paradigm Experience

I use to work for them. I worked for them for about 6 months here in Houston and after the first month of the late checks and bounced checks I started looking for another job. The owners wife (I forget her name) called me after I complained that even their own bank would not cash their checks. She assured me that the check was good and I deposited it and guess what...IT BOUNCED! After that I started looking for a job here in Houston. I found a great local company here in Houston called Construction Eco Services that hired me and I learned so much more about SWPPP and SWPPP Inspections. I am one of the few that did make it out of Paradigm Engineering relatively financially intact!

Her name is Karen Combs!

My Paradigm Experience

Hi , Thanks for this forum, it is nice to know that I am not the only one that bought into this one. My story is almost the same as yours Paradigm owe’s me $15,000 in back pay, expenses and PTO time. They sent me the same form letter they sent others about the DOL, and not being able to pay any monies out of the loan which is what they had been promising to do all along. You know I have no idea how I could not see this happening with the bounced checks and everything that was going on. My Boss had quit a month after the first bounced check. You know my Pastor suggested what I need to do, is say God Bless them when I think negative thoughts about them. I don’t think I am quite ready for that one yet.

My Paradigm Experience

First let me start my story by stating I do hold the owners accountable for this whole tragic mess. They were never upfront and truthful about anything. The weekly J's Notes were laughable. The fact that I held on for so long because of his weekly BS email makes me embarrassed. I have and will not have forgiveness to them for what they did to myself and so many other people. If they were just truthful about the situation from the start it would have made it alright. Because people would have been given the tools to make their own decisions about their future with PE. On to my story.

I worked for PE for about 3 years. My 1st job out of college. I was an inspector then promoted into S/T/ET. I loved my job. The freedom , independent decision making that I was allowed was unheard of in my group of recent college graduate friends. I loved and still love and keep in contact with most of the PE survivors out in the old "Mountain District." Then I started wanting more so I applied for the infamous consultant position at a location North and West from my location at the time. After three months I was given the opportunity to go. PE paid for my initial moving cost but did not pay for gas or food. This is when I should have turned around. For 4 months 5-6 days a week I spent 8-10 hours a day marketing from my car and house to try and get PE established in this area. As you can imagine the bills were piling up. Two weeks before my lay off I sold my first contract which was around the 9K mark. Then a second contract was in the works for the typical Homebuilder "take over all SWPPP s and inspections" type of deal. Big time contract. Well I was laid off on 12/7 and my second/final meeting with the second contract was on 12/10. So we were left high and dry in a strange new place that was expensive enough even when you are getting paid. The thought that a company does not have the ability to forecast a position for a year out shows the level of incompetence inside PE. How can a company justify moving an employee to a new territory and giving them 4 months to establish it. I was told I would have a year. You know what, after a year if I was not producing I would have left on my own. But 4 MONTHS! They set me up to fail. For that I will never look at corporate America the same. I am still owed money and have filed a lawsuit against them which has been met with this letter that was mentioned on the web. But in the end I do not care about the money I just want PE to go out of business and for the owners to feel what we all have felt even if it is just for a day. Stay strong PE survivors there are brighter days ahead.

My Paradigm Experience

I have been hearing all of these stories, since I was fired from PE. I find it amazing how God has linked all of these employees together and gave us the opportunity to see what we escaped. I say escaped, because I was (blessedly) fired, literally, two weeks before the check bouncing started. Here is my story.

I was hired June 1, 2004 to work in the “Call Center” under AN (maiden AC). I, too, was extremely impressed by the Christian family-like atmosphere. Mesmerized would be a better word to use in hind sight. After a few months (prior to moving into the Lakepoint building) I was promoted to permitting and worked with some absolutely wonderful people. Many times I would go into the office on Saturday to establish an organization to the permit files (they were such a mess), without pay. I didn’t mind doing that, because I have always believed in giving 150% of myself to something I believe in. When SB was hired to head up Operations, God gave me some spiritual insight to this person. I shared that insight with very few people, only those closest to me. About a month or so later, that insight surfaced publicly by his firing a person (over Production) for refusing to accept a demotion and decrease in pay. She was immediately escorted out the door and an emergency employee meeting was held to explain that her departure was purely voluntary. When her unemployment claim was denied under those stated circumstances, I knew that something was awry at the executive level. Once we moved into the larger building, I noticed that things started to grow by leaps and bounds, and felt very uneasy about the whole situation. I approached the head of the Inspectors about changing my job description and was hired, as an inspector January of 2005, but it wasn’t effective until January 12. I loved my job, and working one-on-one with site supervisors. Having the mind set of giving 150% of myself for what I believe in helped me to build strong relationships with the site supervisors of the sites I inspected. The summer of 2005, things started changing. The expense check payment schedule changed, creating a tremendous hardship for me, as I was forced to purchase a vehicle that could accommodate using a power converter and get in and out of development sites during muddy conditions. My car payments, rent and other bills began to take on a “late” status as a result of delayed checks. When we were advised that the system was changing, I spoke to KB about my concerns of being late on my payments and she assured me that nothing was changing, it was just going to be a little late. Well, as a result, I never got caught up. In January of 2006, during a phone conversation with a close PE employee in the mountain district (CP) I mentioned that I would love to work in Colorado. She pulled some strings and two weeks later I was faced with the decision to transfer to Colorado Springs, CO. During my decision process, I approached both UM and RB about some of my concerns (after researching the cost of living and job market – God gave me a little intuitive insight with that one). I was concerned that if things didn’t work out there, I would be stranded in a place where there were no jobs available. In the presence of UM, RB assured me that if things didn’t work out, after a year, PE would bring me back to DFW, and I would have my job in DFW. PE paid for my UHaul truck, and the deposit for the home I rented. Any gas or lodging I had to pay for up front, and submit an expense report for the next pay period (food expenses was not part of the expenses offered by PE). Keep in mind now, that my payments were already behind, and I had to pay the first month’s rent where ever I moved to, which set me up to a very bad situation. I took vacation time to move to Colorado and get situated before starting work. The second week there, I was forced to borrow 20.00 from CP just to buy gas to work. In fact, the night I traveled to Colorado, I was sweating out hour by hour for gas money until my check was automatically deposited at midnight (CST), which was 1:00 AM mountain time. I didn’t receive reimbursement for the moving expenses until the following month. So, I left DFW in a deficient situation and continued that way while I was there. In April, 2006, my vehicle was repossessed. The company I bought it from recognized that a Mitzubishi Montero depreciated very little, and they could re-sell the vehicle almost the same price they sold it to me for, a year earlier. They refused to work with me on the behind payments and took the vehicle. I was forced to install a 12v outlet in my son’s car and use that to perform my inspections the rest of the year. During the course of the summer, my expense checks were regularly late (due to CH not approving the reports on time), and the payroll schedule went through changes, such as the direct deposits being eliminated (due to insufficient funds in the account). Rain Event inspections were not being paid on-time. In Colorado, every site required a rain event inspection, whether it was a weekly or bi-weekly inspection. So, with 83 sites, rain events amounted to a large dollar amount, which was spread out over several checks, several times – and explained as entry errors. December 12, 2006 (one week after my birthday, and weeks before Christmas) I was terminated on grounds that were made up and lied about. The same day I approached UM about the promise to bring me back to DFW and I was told that RB never made a promise like that to me, and that he was not authorized to make those kinds of promises…even though it was done in front of her. They did pay me for the PTO they owed me, only because I stayed on top of it and was on the phone with them every day until I received the check. I filed a claim for unemployment, and being true-to-form PE denied my claim, which I appealed. During the appeal hearing, by phone, there were 4-5 people on PE’s end, including a new employee from HR that briefly went through my file and tried to build a case out of irrelavent information. The Unemployment Officer, conducting the investigation, recognized CH’s blatant untruths and skirting around answering questions I submitted to him and called him on it, forcing CH to answer the questions truthfully. My claim was approved and PE was forced to pay my unemployment.

Fortunately, with the grace of God, I received proceeds from the sale of property my siblings and I inherited and was able to live in Colorado until March 28, 2007. The entire time I searched frantically for employment and found nothing. I was forced to spend my inherited money to move back to DFW to find work. So, my loss was 12,000 to purchase another vehicle (after the one I spent 9,000.00 on was repossessed), 5000.00 to move back to DFW, and all the grief they put me through while experiencing delayed mileage checks and paychecks.

I, too, love the Lord very much and realize that in order to be forgiven I must forgive. I pray everyday that the Lord helps me to forgive PE for what they did to me. Thank you for creating this website, it was inevitable. God always brings sin into the light.

My Paradigm Experience

Well, I am glad to see that there is a place that every one can get this train wreck off of their chest. My story is the same as everyone else's... THEY OWE ME MONEY!!!! The bad part of this is, they owe us our money, money we spent out of our own pockets to continue to keep Paradigm in business!! I have never had a job where I had to PAY to work!!! I think we all loved the jobs we had, the freedom, the money (when we got it) and the ability to establish great working relationships with our clients and fellow employees. I also think that all of upper management lied to us and deceived us. They all knew the truth and just kept on lying to us. On a side note, I stepped down in the beginning of January and found out a couple of weeks ago that, according to their new 401K company, I was still listed as an active employee. Maybe they are still contributing to my retirement. The thing that burns me up the most, is that they stole our 401K money from us, and they have been feeding us a line of BS for over a year. I don't believe for one minute that management did not know that Paradigm was about to hit the financial brick wall. They knew that they did not have any money. I am not the smartest business person, but when you have to borrow money to pay your employees, you are in trouble! I am very interested in getting involved in a class action or some kind of legal action. I have spoken to several lawyers, and they have all told me the same thing, "You can sue them, but you probably won't get any money." It is just on principle now. And then that affidavit, you have to be kidding me. In order to be considered for payment, you have to sign this affidavit, I threw that thing in the trash. Man, I should have kept all of my equipment. There is some good that came out of all of this, I have started my own business, and we are doing well. I would also like to thank Jeremy for the scripture!

I will leave you with a little poem I put together

Owed(ode) to Paradigm Employees,

They owe us money
Oh yes they do
They owe us money
What should we do?

Should we sue
Or should we cry
Should we believe
All their lies?

Its up to us
What happens next
When we demand
Our pay checks

Whether they pay
Or whether they don't
We'll have character
And they wont

Have no fear
Its all for the best
Your better without them
GOD BLESS

My Paradigm Experience

Well, I will chime in here . . . I worked for PE for 2.5 years -- I was never in the old environment -- I interviewed the day they were moving into the new building on Lakepoint Drive. I went through a vigorous interview process -- several management folks -- plus the owner's wife and the company "Intercessor" --- do any of us really know what the heck that even is . . . (the employee Chaplain . . .) It was a little intimidating -- but, I know my own strengths in my belief system -- so, I was ok -- and I passed this really weird test.

The company itself has very wonderful and caring people. The daily devotions are cool -- but I came to realize very early in the game that if you don't have the connection to the "Village Church" and are not are a part of the "Sect" -- you probably are very limited as to were you will be going within this company.

I was ok with that. I attended devotions for the first several months -- and the more I realized I didn't fit in at this level -- I decided to bug out. I'm not Baptist -- and there were always references to "inside" folks and situations that made me realize I would always be an outsider. I don't think this was intentional -- it was just always there. I heard more than one person reference this. If you didn't have your hands in the "Waters of Mercy" mission -- or other things -- you were just a "worker bee."

I think the sad thing I am hearing here from reading other "victims" stories is the fact that we all "banked" upon the fact that this was a very strong Christian based organization that would "take care of their own." I, too, saw the many e-mail messages from the owners telling us to "hang in there" and "God would provide . . ." Yikes -- those of us in the real world truly know better!

Maybe I was one of the lucky ones -- I was let go in July of 2007 (early on). There were some early high management layoffs before that time -- but we all knew that had to be coming -- because they were so monumentally top heavy on that end of the spectrum -- and we were in the midst of the sub-prime fiasco . . . You can't ask your employees to hang in there when you have a way too many high level management staff members absorbing over 6 figures a year in income when the market is taking a big dump in the process.

I think a telling factor to me -- was one day when one of our management level employees lost a family member - - suddenly -- and a lot of us in the corporate office showed up for daily devotions in support of that -- and to get some much needed comfort and comrodity. As I sat in this Devotion -- which I hadn't attended in quite some time -- at the end of the session -- the Owner of the company proceeded to look around the room at all of us there and tell us that he noticed that many of us had not been there in some time -- and that we should not have a major catasphore prompt us into attending daily devotions . . . and, it was all I go do to keep myself from leaving the "arena" at that very moment. How dare someone make that kind of judgment upon me -- and any one else in the room -- because you don't see me at devotions on a daily basis. Am I somehow at not at the same level as you because you don't see me worshipping on the job site on a daily basis. I was flabbergasted to say the least. Someone was obviously "making a list and checking it twice . . ."

I will only say that when all was said and done -- I was side-swiped -- like so many others. We put up with the bounced checks and promises -- which you can say you will cover any penalties and late fees -- but from a credit report standpoint -- the damage is already done.

I was told that HR wanted me and several others involved that day "evacuated" from the building ASAP -- but at least my manager decided to give me some dignity by allowing me to say "Good-bye" to my fellow co-workers and allowing me to pack up and digest what was happening at that time. But, I will say -- any communication beyond that point was like "extracting a wisdom tooth" -- it was very slow and painful. I could never get any one from HR -- or even my previous manager -- to return my calls. I had to "dog" the issues -- and then wound up talking to some HR Temp who helped me thought the process. These actions spoke volumes to me . . .

So, I will only say -- I am so very sorry to hear what every one is dealing with here. I often felt an "uneasy tinge" in the pit of my stomach involving the ways things were being handled within this company -- but like I said previously, we always banked on the fact that this was a Christian based organization -- and above any type of questioning when it came to how they would take care of their employees -- because we were all family. No one should ever feel embarrassed for hanging on as long as they did -- because we all made to believe this was something that would never be an issue otherwise.

My Paradigm Experience

My story is about the same as every other story with one main exception. I worked for the company for 10 years (to the date that I was fired). When I started with PE, their office was in their home, and I worked from mine. I was a single mom struggling to make ends meet, and they offered me a contract job to help pay my bills. J & K were great to me and my son, helping us whenever we needed something.

Sometime in the last 10 years, I feel that they lost sight of God and were more interested in their own "good works". I struggled with whether I should quit, because I felt that I owed them something. I had decided that I would quit on February 1, 2008. But they beat me to the punch. They fired me on January 4, 2008. They fired me because I have a family member who was in upper management, who quit to start his own company. I still have not worked for that family member like J & K thought I would.

I was suppose to take a week of vacation the second week of January, and I was told by my supervisor, that they needed my PC and other equipment while I was on vacation because they were short equipment. I knew with all the shrinkage in employees that they were over run with equipment, so I e-mailed my supervisor and asked what was going on. Next thing you know I am kicked off the PE server and recieve an e-mail from K telling me that this is an at will state anf they can fire me any time without a particular reason.

I refused to give back the equipment until I recieved payment, and they threatened to file theft charges against me. I have since file a lawsuit. I may never get any money, but I feel out of some kind of warped obligation, I was faithful to them longer than I should have. I am pretty sure that I was one of only a few inspectors that wasn't sitting at home on the couch doing my insections. I want them to know that I am not going to lay down and let them walk all over me and my family.

Thank you so much for this website. Sometimes talking about things make me feel better. Good luck everyone, I hope we all get what is owed to us.

My Paradigm Experience

You may not believe in burning bridges, neither do I, regardless to fault. However, in this case, Paradigm chose to burn it. What I’m about to share is simply the truth as I recollect the events, with no added fictional drama. I have a lot on my mind and a lot to get off my chest. So sit back. This will be long.

It started out being a wonderful company to work for. We had morning devotion and prayer. For the most part, the family oriented Christian environment made it les stressful than most jobs.

During the Christmas season of 2006, we were encouraged by the owner to take time off and enjoy the season with family, as the new approaching year will bring more work and a busy season. The company was growing fast and new hires started almost every week.

By March 2007, the economy was not doing as well as expected. That would apparently set the wheels in motion for what was about to be a very bad year. Whether it is was bad judgment or mismanagement, what happened later caused hardship for a number of employees and set the company on a devastating path.

By early summer 2007, a heavy round of lay-offs struck a number of unsuspecting employees. The owners and management appeared remorseful and displayed regret for terminating the employees. But over the course of time, months later, after terminating so many employees, it appeared to become routine without the same display of remorse as before. Not only were good, faithful and loyal employees being terminated, but the company still continued to hire new employees. A lot of us didn’t understand that logic at the time.

In July 2007, after payroll distribution, a number of payroll checks bounced. I wasn’t accustomed to a legitimate business bouncing checks…and I’ve had my fair share of individuals writing me bad checks from their personal accounts, but a business…an employer….my employer?...Never. So, this was somewhat new to me. It took almost until the next payroll until they made good on that check.

As time went on, things only got worse. They fail further and further behind in payroll. They bounced many checks. One could possibly understand payroll being delayed due to a holiday or maybe delayed by mail. But it’s difficult to understand why they would write so many bad checks. It seems one would have to know that funding is insufficient prior to processing checks. Regardless, many bad checks were processed and distributed anyway. Not just once, not twice, not three times…..get the picture?

The repercussions employees suffered by those bounced checks were devastating. It caused a trickling effect. Example: Employee already behind on receiving payroll; employee behind on mortgage and car payment; Paradigm finally writes employee a check; employee assumes employer’s check is good; employee deposits check in account; employee’s bank credit the deposit; employee writes check for expenditures; several days later, check is return due to insufficient funds (nsf); checks that employee wrote to creditors bounced due to insufficient funds in their accounts; as a result, bills are late and overdue, employee’s car is repossessed or utilities are shut off or interest rate increase.

After so many occurrences, obviously, employees wanted another option to paper checks. Direct deposit was the way to go. However, the company was not offering direct deposit at that time. So many employees began taking their checks to a check cashing facility. At some point, even the check cashing companies would not honor Paradigm’s checks. After Paradigm’s checks bounced with the check cashing companies, the check cashing companies would hunt down the employee wanting to get their money back. Paradigm would eventually make the black list at a number of check cashing facilities for bad checks. So now the employee is left with a company check equivalent to scratch paper.

I witnessed one employee being told by an executive to take the company payroll check to a different check cashing facility. And use the cash they received to pay bills and expenditures instead of writing a personal check. Although that may seem practical, it sounds dishonest. It seems to indicate the person knew the check wasn’t any good and they could use the cash to pay debt and worry about the check cashing facility another time. I was thinking, if the high ranking executive instructed the employee to do that, is that indicative of how the company is operated? I also believe the employee was instructed to do that to prevent personal checks written by the employee to their creditors from bouncing. That shouldn’t have to be the responsibility of the employee. Paradigm should have sufficient funding to cover the check prior to writing the check to the employee in the first place. Ridiculous! I say again, ridiculous! No employee should have to deal with that. Furthermore, Paradigm’s own financial institution at that time would not honor the checks.

Employees pressed on through September and October of 2007, as the company was getting further behind on payroll. Sadly, more employees were laid off even though we were told no more lay-offs would occur. The remaining employees pressed on through November and depressingly went through Thanksgiving holiday without being paid. Many weren’t even informed of the status of payroll for that period. Some of us hung around waiting to hear something, but never got word. We assumed the worse, which turned out to be true. We weren’t getting paid again. More resignations began to flow in after the missed Thanksgiving holiday payroll.

By the December 2007 Christmas holiday, it was the same ol’ song. No pay. Again, many employees waited to here if we would receive a scheduled payroll for that period, since already so far behind on payroll. By this point, many of us were four, five or more pay checks behind - heading into the New Year.

Over a period of many months, the employees were told by the owners and management that everything would be alright. Employees were instructed to press on and continue to give a 100%, which they did; even though they weren’t getting paid…or weren’t getting paid regularly….or weren’t getting paid with a check with sufficient funding. Employees still pressed on for Paradigm.

Employees were told that the company would get through the storm soon and everything including company growth would be back to normal. We were often told (in a fashion that appeared to be a copy/paste from previous emails) that everything is looking up and on track. Employees were even told that no further lay-offs would take place. “Things are looking up.” That was one of the infamous statements made by one of the owners. If there is a humorous side to this, it would be the numerous emails sent to employees stating that the long awaited investment is on track and the company is doing well and things are looking up. In retrospect, it’s reminiscent of the beginning of the war with Iraq, when the former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Aziz would often report to the Iraqi people, and news organizations around the world, that “We (Iraq) are winning the war, and the Americans are on the run”. Even though American troops pressed their way into the cities, he continued to report the same. I don’t know what war he was talking about, because we were winning the war. And yes, the Americans were running - running into Iraq defeating it. That’s absurd how some people can give false hope and inaccurate information to so many. I truly don’t know how one could sleep at night. Then to behead loyal employees is reprehensible.

The New Year brought the same promises and the same disappointments through the beginning of March 2008. My heart goes out to all of the loyal and faithful employees who lasted so long. I have pity for those who sacrificed so much for the company and hung in there and gave their best, only to be suddenly terminated.

It became increasingly difficult to attend devotions, usually headed by the owners. I couldn’t swallow any more broken promises or false hope spoken by the owners. So, noticeably, I was absent more frequently from devotions. If they took row for devotion, I would be missing a lot of check marks in 2008.

Another tragic blow came at the end of March 2008 when another round of employees were unexpectedly terminated. Words can not express the heart felt pain that I experienced for the number of employees and their families who sacrifice and suffered for so long for this company….Paradigm… that just threw them away like trash. There was no option or plan to offer the employee a choice of taking less pay or unpaid leave of absence. They were just tossed away. I was one of those employees.

Furthermore, I believe the company recently engaged in a premeditated plan to abruptly modify its Paid Time Off (PTO) policy on Friday, Mar. 20, 2008 and made the policy effective immediately in anticipation of terminating an estimated 30 employees the following week. By doing so, the company would not have to pay the terminated employees their earned PTO. To paraphrase, the new policy that went into effect on Friday, Mar 20, 2008, indicates that “PTO will no longer be paid to employees who are no longer with the company on or after Mar 20, 2008. Any employee with PTO that are terminated or resign from the company will not be paid their PTO.” Is that illegal? Maybe legal counsel should be considered to find out.

Whether one sees the employees who remained with Paradigm after August 2007 as optimistic or foolish, for the most part, it was their loyalty to the company. As payroll checks were bouncing and more employees were laid-off, and office services were getting cut-off or services denied by vendors until paid, and the company not able to purchase enough needed supplies and materials to efficiently operate, etc….. Many faithful & loyal employees remained with Paradigm in hopes of the economy turning around and helping the company stay on it’s feet. So many sacrifices were made by so many of it’s employees, only to be dropped like dirty underwear. And many of them terminated with no severance or back pay.

Had the employees known the whole truth, including the management practices and decisions made by the owners behind closed doors, the employees would have likely made alternative decisions affecting them and their families. Having faith is one thing, but having faith in the wrong thing or wrong person - is unfortunate. I was one of those who hung in there for Paradigm. At one point, I had an opportunity to take a job with another company, but remained loyal to Paradigm. And I didn’t want to bail out on Paradigm during their difficult time of need. I did what I could to keep employee morale up and led by example. Even gave money to employees who were behind on basic bills or simply needed groceries.

I was deeply hurt when I was asked to step into the office for a moment, only to see an HR employee sitting in there with a folder and a letter, and hearing that I was being terminated due to a reduction in force. I was - crushed. A reduction in force, is that the new phrase from knife in the back? I was foolish not to see it coming. If you see it happening to other good – hardworking – faithful – loyal employees, then why wouldn’t it happen to me? I didn’t get a thank you for your service; I didn’t get a thank you for your sacrifices; or we’ll miss you; or a phone call, email, or a yat’aboy! Figuratively speaking, I got nothing but a good swift kick in the pants. I didn’t even get Vaseline for the royal screwing. It is said, if you’re going to screw me, at least kiss me first. I’m a single parent of four kids. A reference letter or a letter of recommendation would have been nice after all I did for Paradigm. And it seemed to mean nothing to toss me out on the street with no warning, and without even a goodbye or a letter from the owners. They had others do the dirty work for them. I’m sure they wouldn’t have been able to look me in the face.

Paradigm owes me a number of checks totaling in the thousands. Will I ever see any of it, maybe not? So I figured it was necessary to file a wage claim with the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) against Paradigm, after not receiving my total outstanding pay in-full, after the sixth day of termination, as required, per Texas law. It’s now nearly a month and it appears that no effort is being made by Paradigm to pay me all of my outstanding wages due to me in-full. Nor have I received a letter from Paradigm stating the status of my outstanding wages. It seems like Paradigm is getting away with not paying it’s past employees, and that should not be allowed to happen. If Paradigm owes you money, consider your options and act appropriately and expeditiously through the proper channels. Consider your legal options and seek counsel through a licensed attorney, if necessary.

There are so many other points I can make regarding Paradigm. I can make further comments on mismanagement; taxes, PTO, 401K, and health insurance; investors; living on my credit cards while not getting paid by Paradigm; taking out personal loans or advances to sustain basic living; my interest rates increased due to late payments because I wasn’t receiving pay; providing moral support; keeping up morale; going from a credit score of 787 to less than 727 and falling; using my personal funds to assist Paradigm by purchasing needed material and supplies; being instructed to take payroll checks to check cashing companies instead of depositing them into my personal account; owing me money for past checks; owing me for penalties & fees I incurred; and owing me for earned PTO; Paradigm appointing friends to high positions that know little about the duties, requirements, and responsibilities; questionable business practices and operations; owners having the funds and flexibility to travel and taking time off; one owner stressed to the point that they’re MIA from the facility for weeks; and additional employee hardships due to Paradigm’s decisions, policies, procedures and practices. For now, I’ve said enough. My experience with Paradigm will definitely be used as a learning experience in the future. Let this also be your lesson too. And never let this happen to you.

My Paradigm Experience

Hi I just read through your web page and I have to say excellent job! My name is Bonnie and I was an employee for about a year and a half. I live in NJ and was a field inspector for Paradigm. I was laid off about 4 weeks ago. I am in the same boat as you and I'm sure many others, they still owe me paychecks and expense checks. I filed a claim with the labor board in NJ back in Febuary. The labor board never heard a word back from Paradigm at all, even when the board submitted the docket to take them to court. The supervisor I spoke to in the labor office said he was filing to put a lein on all of Johnny Comb's property, personal and business. Being laid off was such a slap in the face "after keeping the faith" ( yea right I just didn't want to lose my health insurance, if you can even call it that). Back in January and Febuary I couldn't even afford to work because they weren't paying me to even keep my car on the road. My bank account went into the red many times just filling my car with gas to do inspections. Then in Febuary Paul Berte calls me and says he has to deduct the time I was unable to work from my PTO. I told him no way! Prior to that time I had only taken 2 days off the entire time I was employeed with Paradigm. I told him all that time I saved up by doing my job everyday and filling in for people all the time including driving to the Bronx in the evening so we wouldn't have a missed inspection (which by the way is no fun if you're a girl of 5'2" from south Jersey), I wasn't going to flush all my PTO time away because the company can't afford to pay me to effectively do my job. I asked why I should I be penalized when Paradigm is the one that can't pay me to keep my car on the road. Well I guess I'm done for now chewing your ear off on this, I'm sure it's not news to you. There's more to the story if you want to hear it. Hey if your interested in notifying any of the news media let me know. I was going to contact some local papers and people like Fox News and stuff. Even if they don't run the story Paradigm and its clients will get calls from reporters following up on what we've said. I know a few guys on our side too within C@nt@x (major home builder) if we need them in any way. It was a pleasure reading your site and I hope to hear from you soon!

My Paradigm Experience

Well just a quick update from the east coast moving forward team in Florida.

They just let go all of Florida's Sales Reps as well as a the last inspectors, Lee Royal stated to me that we will be getting our last paycheck. Well....no one got a pay check from the whole company. I think next week they are done, because no one will continue working for this mess. Well... Best of luck

My Paradigm Experience

Current employees at PE were not paid their "regularly scheduled" payroll checks today ( May 23rd).

I remember this happening during a 3 day holiday weekend last year, HMMMMM Seems like the process is repeating itself. Theres also a rumor that something big is going to happen and bankruptcy seems to be the subject. My prediction is that there will be no PE by Independence Day I will probably kiss my $8K owed........goodbye.

My Paradigm Experience

All emotion aside, this is my story:

September 05: I am hired as a Storm Water Inspector.

September 06: I am promoted to Compliance Specialist Supervisor.

July 07: Several paychecks are late. I’m training a new inspector and have to figure out a way to explain to him that paychecks are not coming on time and no one is really sure when they are coming. The new inspector works for a few weeks and quits.

July 07 to December 07: Paychecks are late. Expense reimbursements are late. 2 inspectors leave our team. One of our inspectors doesn’t have the money to put gas in his car to perform inspections. As a Supervisor, I take on his sites just to keep us operational. I lie to site contacts about the whereabouts of their regular inspector. “He’s on vacation,” “he’s sick,” “he’s having car problems.” I didn’t have the heart to tell them the truth: “he’s not being paid and has a new born baby so he’s out working part time somewhere else.”

December 07: We’re told to “hang in there” and “continue to serve our clients” because “things are looking up.” I decide that (overall) this company has been good to me in the past and I enjoy the job so I keep working. I borrow money from friends/family. I do everything in my power just to get people out to sites to perform inspections so we can keep money coming in for the company. I realize that it is a very difficult job to manage a team that is not getting paid.

January 08: We’re told that a “big investment” is coming thru soon and once it does “everything will be fine.” My teammates and I push on by filling our gas tanks and running our cars into the ground for the sake of the company.

February 08: The investment comes through. Most of us are paid back half of what we are owed. We are told that they are holding onto 3 paychecks and 1 expense check. They are to be paid back at a later date when the company begins to turn a profit. From here on out though, “all paychecks and expense checks are scheduled to be paid on time.”

March 08: More expense checks are late with no explanation. I am forced to file a claim with the Dept of Labor and Wages and the Texas Labor Workforce.

April 08: 2 other inspectors who filed claims with the Dept of Labor are seen as “unreliable inspectors” and are let go. I am very confused when we hire 2 new inspectors.

May 2008: No one gets their 5/23 paycheck. I am told that I have been laid off and my 5/23 paycheck is being sent out via direct deposit on 5/28. On 5/31 I have not been sent any money and Paradigm representatives are not answering any of my phone calls or emails. On the day I am let go I am owed $7977.46 after taxes.

Thank you so much for making this site and thanks for reading.

My Paradigm Experience

I guess my story is like everyone else's. But here goes!

I was a government employee for almost 2 years. I was asked on several occasions to come to work for Paradigm. I was interested. I won't split hairs about that. They were offering me a substaintial pay increase over my government job. They also sold me on the fact that there would be very little stress (which honestly was the 2nd reason why I decided to join the team). But what got me hook, line and sinker was the fact that they were a Christian faith based organization. I loved the fact that I would be involved in a company that would encourage "missionary" work. I bought it all. This was in August 07.

I started the day after Labor day. My supervisor came down and "taught" me how to do inspections. Upon turning on my computer on my first day- I see emails of the problems going on. The next morning, I asked my supervisor about it. He told me that I didn't need to worry because "NEW HIRES WOULD GET PAID ON TIME". At this time, I still didn't know how bad things were.

I made my inspections on a daily basis and was informed that I was not able to take PTO because I was their only Louisiana inspector. I believe that I received one of my paychecks on time. I still hung in because I wanted to give them a chance. I truly believed what I was told. I am so gullable.

I was doing inspections toward the end of November of 07 and my car died. I couldn't imagine what was wrong. It was a 2003 but it had never given me any problems. Not once. The entire electrical system was dead. I couldn't even get it in neutral to pull it. I had to go buy another car. In my mind, I still had inspections to get done! I had to trade the dead car in because I didn't have anything for a down payment and my credit was not very good. I purchased another vehicle (one step up- I had a Kia RIo, I bought a Kia Optima) Anyway, I thought about that blue power box they gave me. I took it to an instrumentation shop the next day. They hooked the box up to some machine and showed me that it was trying to pull over 40 amps off my alternator. This is more likely than not, what killed my car. But I don't have that car to prove it. It was still ok in my mind because they were going to pay me expenses and with my paycheck, I should be able to afford it. HA

I forgot to mention, I have what is called Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Stress makes everything worse. I also have 2 kids, at the time 11 and 9. Needless to say they are still late on paychecks and expenses and hear is Christmas. I begged them for my money. I told them I needed it for Christmas. THey told me that Christmas was about family and to focus on that. Try telling my kids that. My 9 year old still believed in Santa. Well Santa didn't come this year. My pain levels were at 10. (Did I tell you that I was not allowed to take any PTO?) I had to work through it.

We celebrate Mardi Gras here. I had inspections due in New Orleans on Mardi Gras Day! I was unable to do them. Everything was closed and all the streets were closed. I couldn't get in. I told my supervisor and was reprimanded that if it wasn't a state holiday that I had to go anyway. I had to explain to her that it is a holiday here- EVERYTHING shuts down. So I go do my inspections on Wednesday. It's Ash Wednesday right? Things would be calmed down. I make it to the site with no problems. I perform the inspections and go park in the sales trailer's lot to enter them on the computer and print them out. I here some "popping" sounds and look over my shoulder to see a young man with an M-16 spraying bullets into a car passing by. I freeze- I don't know what to do- until he sees me and points the gun at me. He fires at my car. I saw him and I took off. I wondered did I really have an angel watching for me. I couldn't understand why I wasn't shot. I call 911. THe operator tells me to go back and see about the person shot. I do it! (STUPID) The car was crashed into a building and the streets were lined with people. I am scared out of my mind. I call my dad. He says either go to the police or leave- not to stay in the area. I decided to go to the police. I am forced to leave my car at the site and go to the police station with a detective. Long story short, I was there until 5 that evening. I sent an email and informed them that I would no longer be going to New Orleans. They could fire me if they wanted. They seemed so concerned. I was on the phone with the Chaplain for a while. Others called to check on me. I thought I was ok and I even finished my inspections for the day just as the last light faded.

I thought for sure that they would take care of me. Right? They seemed like they cared. Things went on the same. I was in agony and I still did my inspections and I still wasn't being paid on time. My family all told me I was crazy for staying. I kept telling them that PE was going to get funding and they would get back on track. The end of March I received an email about other job opportunities. I emailed J & K and asked them if I had anything to worry about- did I need to look for another job. They responded that NO I didn't have anything to worry about. April 11, 2008 LR calls me and informs me that I am being laid off. That they will pay me everything they owe me.

Well, they still owe me $2,100 in expenses, PTO (I was not allowed to take any and I WAS NOT TERMINATED- I was LAID OFF, there is a legal difference), plus they owe me something for the car that their equipment killed. I am also looking into filing a claim against them for the above. I know I will probably not see a penny of it.

But as of today, July 10, 2008, they are still advertizing for new employees. I also can't find any information on the web about some of their supporters. Oh yeah, last thing, they didn't pay my state taxes. They forgot that I had state withholding taxes in LA because they don't have them in TX. (Even though I filled out an L1 form) So I have a large tax bill that I cannot pay. I know that there is a lot more, but I don't want to take up too much space.

Last Thought: What goes around comes around. I know that we worked hard as if unto God. I gave beyond my all. For all of us, God will bless us for our loyalty to Him. PE will never survive. I just hope that they don't take anymore of us down with them.