Maryland woman suing Durham-based nonprofit shares emotional, financial toll of not being paid

One of seven plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed recently against CJF America is speaking with WRAL Investigates about the impact on her life of not getting paid for the work she performed.

WRAL Investigates has reported extensively on the Durham-based nonprofit, which is accused of not paying employees throughout North Carolina and even in other states.

Krystal Glenn, who lives in Maryland, says she spent weeks working to set up a summer camp for CJF America in Washington, D.C.

"I'm a single mother," she said. "I have two children. School-aged children. A 13- and 6-year-old. This particular opportunity was going to be something that would allow me to provide for my kids."

WRAL Investigates has spoken with more than a dozen employees of CJF America, who are owed thousands of dollars each. Glenn says she is owed "several thousand."

"I turned down other opportunities," Glenn said. "So my summer and fall, and winter potentially, are dry because I let other opportunities go.

"My mental health, too," she continued. "Now I'm like how do I get through these weeks and these months with not being paid."

In a statement, CJF America previously told WRAL Investigates it had not yet been served with the lawsuit, adding: "We are prepared to defend vigorously against claims that we believe to be inaccurate or misleading.”

Court records show, as of Wednesday, the lawsuit had been served to a Raleigh address for "The Courtney Jordan Group Inc., also known as Courtney Jordan Foundation" but remained unserved against all other defendants, to include CJF America and company executives Nicholas Gallardo, Rhoda Hormenoo, and Kristen Picot.

Court records updated on Wednesday also show that an attempt to serve Courtney Jordan himself was unsuccessful. WRAL Investigates previously reported that Durham County deputies had trouble finding company executives in the past, leading to issues with others' pursuits of legal claims against them.

Glenn, along with six other plaintiffs from Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina, are represented by Philip Thomas with the law firm Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Kaufman.

"I think, at the end of the day, this case is about fairness," Thomas said. "People did the work. They deserve to be paid. And that’s just plain and simple."