Caleb Dyl, a 21-year-old man from Rhode Island with autism, has been found to have worked for Applebee's for a year without getting paid. Dyl's father, Bob, says that his son has worked at Applebee's kitchen from August 2014 to July 2015 without receiving a single paycheck, reported ABC News.
"He was enjoying the job, so we really weren't focused on the income so much. But after that amount of time, you kind of wonder what's going on," Bob said.
Caleb was able to acquire the job at Applebee's through Resources for Human Development, a nonprofit government-funded organization that aims to provide people with special needs an opportunity to find work. Though Caleb's initial job at Applebee's under the supervision of RHD was unpaid, he was supposed to start getting paychecks as soon as Applebee's hired him as a prep cook, which started in August last year, reported the Daily Mail.
Despite his parents setting up a direct deposit for their son, Caleb's paychecks never came. When the issue was brought into the attention of RHD, the organization stated that the young man's W-4 and other work forms have been misplaced. The family submitted the second set of forms to RHD in November 2014.
Still, the paychecks never arrived. Caleb Dyl quit Applebee's in July.
The restaurant was not aware that Caleb was not being paid for his services, according to an Applebee's spokesman.
"In this case, a series of unintended errors resulted in Caleb not being paid for approximately seven weeks of part-time employment. This is unacceptable, and once notified, our restaurant owner quickly ensured a check was sent to Caleb's home," the spokesman said.
Applebee's states that the company is continuing to investigate Caleb's case, though as of writing, several clerical errors have already been spotted in the young man's records. For now, though, Applebee's has sent Caleb a check for 166 hours, as per the records of his work coach in RHD, according to the New York Daily News.
However, Bob believes that his son has worked far more than the hours that were recorded. Nevertheless, Caleb's family states that Applebee's has handled the issue well.
In fact, Bob states that Caleb is even thinking of going back to his old job, this time being fairly compensated, of course.
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