Local workers hired by MVP Event Staffing for F1 say they haven't been paid
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- More than two weeks after Max Verstappen first crossed the finish line at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), some of the people working with a contractor at the Formula 1 Grand Prix race say they still haven't been paid.
Abigayle Winn says she was hired by MVP Event Staffing to do miscellaneous work during the race. She needed the cash to put towards grad school and was willing to put in three 15-hour days to make it happen.
But she says her, and several other people she worked with, haven't gotten their paychecks yet. Winn is owed just south of $1,000, she said.
"That's like a little more than my monthly rent," she said. "I work full time during the week also so I had taken off of work Friday to do this."
An online search of the company brings up other news stories from around the country of the same thing happening at other major events. KXAN has reached out to MVP Event Staffing and hasn't heard back.
The company's website does ask anyone with "questions about getting paid from an event" to submit a form on the website. Winn has, and still hasn't gotten a response. She also reached out to the contacts she was in touch with during the event. Her supervisor has disconnected her phone and her email bounced back, Winn showed KXAN.
"I just hope that they pay everyone what they're owed and stop responding and people are relying on this," Winn said.
She's not alone, Jenson Wenzel also worked with the same company and hasn't received his paycheck either, which was promised to be delivered no later than Oct. 28. Wenzel is a teacher.
"I was working on the weekend just to get some extra help pay for my schooling so I can provide a better education for the kids I teach and for myself," he said.
The Circuit of the Americas and F1 did not respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, the Texas Workforce Commission said if people feel their rights under the Payday Law have been violated they should file a wage claim. However, the TWC can't accept one if someone worked as an independent contractor and not an employee.