‘Emotional,’ devastating’: Former Bowes employees, FightBack patients discuss closures, layoffs

Being unable to pay utilities, mortgage, car payments and other households bills. Being unable to afford a caregiver and health services for their elderly and sick parents. Having to borrow money from family members just to pay for gas and groceries. Depleted savings and ruined credit.

These are only some of the hardships described by some of the more than 100 former employees of Bowes In Home Care in Crystal Lake after the abrupt closure of the company and layoffs of employees in February because of what former employees said is financial mismanagement by owner Michael Collura.

One former employee even said that because of the layoffs, they will not have the funds to visit their father, who is currently in hospice in Florida, dying from metastatic bile duct cancer.

In addition, hundreds of former patients of Bowes have had to switch service providers in the aftermath of the agency’s closing.

The closure of another company called FightBack, also owned by Collura, has forced clients to go without specialized care for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.

Bowes In Home Care, 813 Tek Drive, was plagued with issues even before it closed, including companywide bounced payroll checks, resulting in employees not getting paid for weeks of work, and laid-off employees not getting back pay or compensation for paid time off they are owed, which caused financial difficulties.

Collura declined to comment in time for publication.

On Jan. 9, staff was told by email that the scheduled Jan. 10 pay day would be postponed by a week because of a block on a line of credit. The paychecks were issued Jan. 17, but on Jan. 24 – the next day staff was supposed to receive checks – most of the checks bounced because of insufficient funds in the company’s payroll account.

Kelli, an employee who worked for Bowes as a physical therapist starting in 2015, said the bounced checks happened “multiple times.” She asked that her last name not be used so future job opportunities would not be affected.

“It was pretty clear something was going on,” Kelli said. “We weren’t being advised as to what.”

Jennifer Girardi worked for Bowes for 11½ years, her most recent position being as an intake nurse. Girardi was an employee when the company was owned by Mary Anne Bowes, before Mary Anne sold it. Things initially started looking up after Collura took over, she said.

“It was very hopeful,” Girardi said. “We grew, we became not only larger but just got amazing staff on board, great office support, administration that really guided us and cared for what was going on.”

Employees worked hard, Girardi said, to make sure the service was amazing for patients.

But then, about eight to 10 years ago, people started hearing that the best financial decisions weren’t necessarily being made, Girardi said.

It started to become obvious there were serious issues in the company two or three years ago, she added.

Court records show that Bowes had trouble making payroll and paying other expenses in the past.

In 2016, Payroll Processor LLC – which had maintained direct deposits for Bowes employees – sued Bowes after an automated clearing house payment for a July 2015 payroll period was denied for insufficient funds, according to McHenry County court records.

Genesis Rehabilitation Services, a Pennsylvania-based corporation, filed a lawsuit against Bowes in 2013 after entering into a home health agency therapy services agreement with the company. Under the terms of the agreement, Bowes agreed to pay Genesis $62,260 for rehabilitation and related health care services. Although Genesis provided the services, it argued that Bowes breached the contract by not paying. The matter eventually was settled with a payment from Bowes in the amount of $50,000.

On Jan. 31, Bowes’ administration had a meeting with employees, where Collura told the employees that the company was waiting for a $500,000 wire transfer to cover payroll and IRS obligations, and that an investor, Alan Miller, had agreed to put up $150,000 of his own money to FightBack – instead of Bowes – to make Jan. 24 payroll for all employees.

Miller said in an email to staff in February that there was confirmed funding for the $500,000 loan – at 14% payable over 36 months – that would cover some of the company’s IRS obligations and payroll.

“Based on that info, I felt the right thing to do was take $150,000 from my wife and my bank account and send it to FightBack to pay all the employees in that meeting and on the phone,” Miller wrote in the letter.

Kelli was on a conference call during the meeting in January when employees met Miller.

“On that day, we still had not been reimbursed for checks that bounced on 24th,” Kelli said.

Kelli described Collura’s behavior during the meeting as “insensitive.”

“He was joking about, ‘I should have never had my hand on the books,’” Kelli said. “[He was] making light [of the situation] while all of us had not been paid.”

Wendy Adams, a former staffing coordinator for Bowes, said it was during this staff meeting that employees were told how bad things had been financially in the company. Miller’s investment made employees feel hopeful, however, she said.

But on Feb. 3, the lender pulled the $500,000, leaving Miller without a reimbursement for the $150,000 he paid. He has yet to recover these losses.

Miller estimated that Bowes needed a $1.6 million to $2 million cash infusion to survive.

“I could not figure out how to make the numbers work and take that level of financial risk,” Miller said.

He said in an email that he truly was honored to have gotten to know the Bowes team leading up to the layoffs.

“I do not regret funding the money I did, even though it’s all gone, because it went to an amazing group of dedicated employees, [and] I truly believed the issues could be solved,” Miller wrote.

Then, on Feb. 6, Collura emailed the staff to let them know that the Tek office would be closing and the company would be downsized. He also said all Bowes patients would need to be transitioned to other agencies immediately.

“He never assisted us with transferring the patients,” said Jennifer, a former Bowes clinical manager who didn’t want her last name used because of the legal issues surrounding the case. “It was all the management team doing it, with clinical staffing.”

Later that evening, In Home Personal Services Chief Operating Officer Iris Santiago said in an email to employees that the company did not have enough money to make payroll, and paychecks would be delayed.

Getting laid off was horrifying and heartbreaking, Girardi said.

“It felt more like a death more than anything,” Girardi said. “I can’t believe how this affected every aspect of my life.”

Her fiance has had to pick up extra jobs and is “working like crazy” to make ends meet, Girardi said.

“It’s been extremely stressful for my family,” Girardi said. “I guess that hurt horribly, as well, knowing you could give so much of your life and work hard and just not be valued at all.”

Because she was laid off, Girardi had to cancel extra help services she had scheduled for her stepdad, who was diagnosed with cancer eight years ago, as she no longer was able to pay for it.

Girardi wanted to get him help around the house to do daily housekeeping things that were too much for him and her mother, who has cardiac and breathing issues.

“I kind of found it ironic,” Girardi said, as someone who has worked in health care for a long time, that “I don’t even feel like I can take care of my parents.”

Some Bowes employees worked out in the field, taking care of patients, so they were notified about the layoffs via email. Some worked in the office, meaning they were told in person about the layoffs.

Jennifer said that those in the office were “hysterically crying” when they were told about the layoffs.

“This has been extremely emotional [and] devastating for everyone, including their families,” Jennifer said. “People were extremely upset; we cared for our patients, we cared for the people we worked for.”

For Jennifer, it has been emotionally draining.

“I haven’t cried this hard since I lost my dad,” Jennifer said. “This has been one of the worst things I have gone through.”

Adams has a son in college.

“It’s been so hard to navigate life without any money,” she said.

Although her son’s tuition is paid for, Adams said, it has been hard to provide daily expenses such as food, gas and other items. When her son was sick and had to go to the doctor, she didn’t have money for his copay.

According to the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988, employers with 100 or more employees need to provide at least 60 calendar days’ advance written notice of a plant closing and mass layoff affecting 50 or more employees at a single site of employment.

Exceptions to this are if a company is actively seeking capital or business and reasonably believes that advance notice would preclude its ability to obtain such capital or business, or “unforeseeable business circumstances,” meaning that the layoff is caused by business circumstances that were not reasonably foreseeable at the time that the 60-day notice would have been required.

For many employees, despite their own financial hardships, their thoughts went immediately to their patients.

“I contacted patients I was treating. I had to help them find other agencies,” Kelli said. “That’s what everyone focused on ... how do we take care of the 300 patients we are servicing right now?”

Patients were shocked by the layoffs, as well, the employees said.

“They were crying on the phone with us,” Jennifer said.

Elizabeth, a former case manager who did not want her last name used, said one man was very concerned about his own health after learning about the Bowes closure.

“He really felt I was providing good care to him; he was very upset. He felt like he wasn’t going to get better,” she said.

In the days after the layoffs, employees worked without pay, trying desperately to get patients reassigned.

“As a nurse, we take that very strongly to do the right thing for our patients, whether we’re getting paid or not, so we did the right thing for our patients, regardless of how we felt about [it],” Jennifer said. “You don’t take a nurse’s oath to not do the right thing.”

Elizabeth said she and other employees worked throughout the weekend to make sure patients would be transferred to other agencies.

She estimated they worked about 10 to 12 hours until 10 p.m. Friday and all day Saturday, Sunday and Monday getting patients reassigned.

Clients of one of Collura’s other companies, FightBack, fear a new struggle in their lives since the closure in mid-February.

Cheryl Blaney of Johnsburg said before her husband, Jim, went to FightBack, he was confined to a wheelchair because of the worsening symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

Although some treatment programs in the Chicago area helped to wean her husband off a wheelchair, Blaney said, a month at FightBack got Jim moving around with a walker. The progress her husband was making was what made FightBack’s abrupt closure so saddening, Blaney said.

FightBack – which has a payroll that goes through Bowes – offered customized treatment programs for clients affected by all stages of Parkinson’s to achieve global improvement to motor functions. Although a person affected with Parkinson’s will not recover, the right physical therapy can help to lessen the symptoms.

The Blaneys started at FightBack last April after touring the Crystal Lake facility. Jim went twice a week and also was given an exercise regimen to perform at home between sessions. In December, the Blaneys paid for another 36 sessions out of pocket since FightBack does not go through insurance.

But on Feb. 13, with their jackets on and ready to head to Jim’s next session, Cheryl said she was notified by the office manager that FightBack would be closed by the end of the week. This left the Blaneys with 27 sessions they paid for and won’t receive, which Cheryl estimated would cost more than $1,800.

“We’re senior citizens on a fixed income, and that’s a lot of income,” Cheryl said.

Since then, Cheryl said she has reached out to the administrators at Bowes several times to get their money back but has not heard from anyone. She also wasn’t given notice about the closure until the call Feb. 13.

Cheryl said she feels like she’s been duped, and this abrupt decision is going to hurt her husband’s ability to stay ahead of his disease.

“When we first started at FightBack, I thought it was the best thing to happen to Jim,” Cheryl said. “They were just a wonderful group of people to work with, and now this has left a bad, bad taste in our mouth. They have our money, and we’re not going to get our sessions.”

Cheryl said she has resorted to home exercises to continue some form of treatment for Jim. Any occupational training recommended by trainers – such as puzzles and games to aid in coordination – were bought, as well.

“If [Jim] just sits in a chair, he’ll stiffen up, and things are going to be worse,” Cheryl said.

Beverly Larsen, 76, of Crystal Lake said she had gone to FightBack for about six months, but sporadically for the past few months because of a foot injury and subsequent surgery.

During that short period when she wasn’t on a regular therapy regimen, Larsen said her Parkinson’s symptoms already had worsened.

Since FightBack’s closure, Larsen said she has resorted to going to Lifetime Fitness, where it was suggested she attend Pilates sessions three times a week. However, she no longer will receive special therapy to improve her balance and hand, eye and brain coordination.

“I felt chagrined at such a way of handling it so abruptly with no real explanation, and it’s hard to find something like that out in this area,” Larsen said.

Larsen said she enjoyed the company of the other clients, and she commended the staff and trainers for their work.

“Everything was great, and this was a stunner,” Larsen said.

By Feb. 18, FightBack’s doors were closed, its office was emptied and employees were laid off.

Former Bowes employees have tried getting help from outside sources, such as the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office, and have submitted wage complaints to the Illinois Department of Labor and reports to the Crystal Lake Police Department.

“People’s lives have been destroyed by this man,” Kelli said.

On Feb. 19, four employees reported a civil matter to the Crystal Lake police, telling officers that they had not received their paychecks from Bowes from Jan. 24 after the company performed mass layoffs.

One employee told the officer that paychecks had begun to “bounce” with insufficient funds in November, although the company eventually rectified the issue, according to a police report. Then, the issue started up again in January, the police report stated.

According to the report, the reason Collura said there were no funds to complete payroll Jan. 10 was because the company was waiting for $4 million from Medicare payments.

About 10:30 a.m. Feb. 7, Crystal Lake police were called to Bowes on standby so an employee could receive her paycheck. The caller said he believed that the business was writing fraudulent checks.

A second call was placed to Crystal Lake police about 12:45 p.m. Feb. 7. The caller claimed that the company was going through layoffs and employees were causing a disturbance. The caller estimated there were about 60 people at Bowes and, although most were being civil, some were being unruly.

A Freedom of Information Act request to the Illinois Department of Labor for any complaints of unpaid wages or layoffs against Bowes In Home Care or In Home Personal Services was denied. The Northwest Herald will appeal that response.

Two former employees have filed lawsuits against Collura and Bowes seeking lost wages.

Still, that has not deterred Collura from trying to see patients and sending clinicians who used to work for him notes asking them if they’d like to start subcontracting with him, several former Bowes employees said.

“[Collura said] he will pay [the employees] if they sign a contract,” Jennifer said.