Retarded to Sue, Saying Employer Didn’t Pay Them

Mentally retarded adults who formed janitorial crews eight months ago as part of a job-training program and then sought maintenance work are taking their first employer to small claims court in a dispute over pay.

Officials of the nonprofit Work Training Program Inc. of Woodland Hills claim that the Slim Cuisine Restaurant in the same community never paid the workers a dime for cleanup work performed from December to April.

Have a Signed Contract

Program administrators say members of the eight-person crew will go with them to the Encino small-claims court on July 8 to press Slim Cuisine for back wages totaling $625.

Harriet Rechtman, Work Training project manager, said the workers’ chances of winning are anything but slim “because we have a signed contract” with the restaurant outlining the work performance criteria and pay rates.

On Tuesday, Mike Fessinger, proprietor of Slim Cuisine, declined to comment about the pay dispute until the issue goes to court.

In the program, crew members travel to businesses and work under the supervision of job-training specialists to learn proper work habits and cleanup techniques.

They are paid on the basis of how closely their work matches that of non-retarded workers. They can earn up to $85 per month without losing government benefits that cover living expenses for the mentally retarded.

Interviewed for a March 16 Times story about the job training effort, Fessinger praised the quality of the crew’s work. Workers ranging in age from 18 to 40 were then cleaning his Mulholland Drive shop twice a week under a $125-per-month agreement.

Had Called Crew ‘Fabulous’

“They are fabulous,” Fessinger said of the handicapped workers at the time. “They’re the type who won’t leave until the job is done. Since they’ve been cleaning, I haven’t had a single problem with the health department.”

The unusual nature of the case has attracted the attention of the “People’s Court” television show, which has asked permission to televise it. Judgments rendered in cases shown on the series are binding, although both parties to the dispute must agree to substitute a TV judge for a real one.

Rechtman said Tuesday she was undecided about the TV proposal. Fessinger, however, said he would not participate in the show.

After Fessinger refused to pay, the work crew was withdrawn and assigned to other cleanup jobs, Rechtman said. Eight new companies had signed contracts with the program since the March news article.

Not Yet Told of Dispute

According to Rechtman, crew members have not yet been told about the pay dispute. She said the Work Training Program quietly paid their individual salaries for the Slim Cuisine Restaurant work.

She said the dispute could have a beneficial effect on the retarded trainees when they are eventually told about the flap, however.

“We teach survival skills here--what happens when you don’t pay your phone bill and they cut off your service, for example,” she said. “We teach responsibility.”