A former Salt Lake City Weekly editor is suing the paper for allegedly not paying him thousands of dollars in wages.
In a complaint filed Tuesday, Enrique Limón alleges that City Weekly owed him $7,829 when the newspaper terminated him last April. He says he sent City Weekly a written demand for payment for stories that he wrote but wasn’t paid for, including nine blog posts, cover stories for multiple issues and the 2020 City Guide. Limón also says he is owed $2,000 as a completion bonus for the paper’s 2019 Best of Utah edition.
In response, City Weekly said the company owed him $1,850 and sent him a check for that amount.
Limón alleges he didn’t cash the check because it said “final settlement” on it. Instead, he filed a claim with the Utah Labor Commission Wage Unit. An investigator questioned both sides and determined that City Weekly owed Limón an additional $716, which Limón said is not accurate.
Then, City Weekly sent Limón a check for $716. Neither that check nor the one for $1,850 had any taxes withheld, according to the lawsuit. Limón endorsed the two checks and deposited them. But, a day later, Chase Bank notified Limón that City Weekly had put stop payments on both checks, according to the lawsuit.
Now, Limón says he is owed approximately $10,334 in wages and any accrued interest, as well as damages, incurred costs and attorney fees.
“Mr. Limon’s claims are simple — he wants City Weekly to pay him the compensation he is owed for working for and on behalf of City Weekly, but which City Weekly has refused to pay,” reads the lawsuit.
The newspaper’s publisher, John Saltas, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Like many other small newsgathering operations in Utah, Salt Lake City Weekly has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
