Employees of San Diego-based Puragain Water say they have struggled with missing, delayed and incomplete paychecks, while customers of the residential water treatment company report difficulties getting service and repairs.
The company’s owner acknowledges financial disruptions but says most affected employees have been paid. Meanwhile, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office is reminding San Diego County workers that they can file wage theft claims to recover unpaid wages and potentially receive additional penalties.
Alexander Denney and Romulos Perez say it’s been tough getting through each month without a regular paycheck.
Workers describe financial hardship from missing paychecks
Alexander Denney, an installer for Puragain Water, said he wasn’t paid for the first half of September and that his next paycheck arrived more than a week late. He said the payroll problems have left employees struggling to meet basic financial obligations.
“There’s people that I know that are struggling to pay rent. I’m one of those people. A lot of our coworkers are going through it,” said Denney, who was eventually furloughed.
He added that employees continued working in hopes that the situation would improve but struggled to get clear answers from management.
“We don’t have clear, solid answers, and anytime we ask, everyone gets a different story, or it’s always tomorrow, we’re figuring it out today or tomorrow,” Denney said.
Romulo Perez, who works in inside sales for the company, said his paychecks have been as much as 50% short of what he was owed.
The financial uncertainty has also disrupted his plans to purchase a home.
“We were going to buy a house. We had the money saved up and everything. And now, guess what? I got to keep renting for $2,500 a freaking month spent. It’s driving me bananas like we were that close to buying a home,” Perez said angrily.
Puragain Water owner responds to payroll complaints
NBC 7 reached out to Puragain Water owner Lonnie Larson about the employees’ concerns.
In a written statement, Larson said:
“The company recently experienced a significant management and operational disruption that created financial challenges and resulted in delays in employee payroll.
Since regaining control, our priorities have been stabilizing the company, restoring normal operations, and brining affected employees current. This and getting to our clientele needs has been our primary focus. We have made substantial progress, and the vast majority of affected employees has now been brought current. We are actively working to resolve the remaining individual matters as quickly as possible.
We appreciate the patience of our employees and they have been amazing through all this. And our customers are our primary focus as we continue getting the operational staff back up and going.”
NBC 7 then asked Larson what caused the disruption and financial challenges. He responded:
“The temporary disruption arose in connection with a divorce and related changes in the company’s operational and financial control, which affected our ability to process payroll on its normal schedule.
Prior to this disruption, Puragain Water had never been late on payroll since the company started. This was an extraordinary situation and is not representative of our normal business practices.
Almost all affected employees have now been brought current. We are actively working to identify and resolve any remaining individual payroll issues, including any payments or applicable penalties that may still be outstanding, so that all affected employees are made whole as quickly as possible.”
Larson declined to sit down with NBC 7 Responds for an interview.
“Right now, my full attention needs to be on our employees, our clients, and getting the company back on track.
What is happening today is only one chapter of a much larger story. Puragain Water has a long history—how we built the company, the relationships we’ve built with our employees, clients and vendors over the years, the challenges we’ve overcome, what brought us to this point, and now the work we’re doing to rebuild.
I believe that when we get through this, the story of how this company responded, recovered, took care of its people and continued serving its clients will be much bigger than what can be told about this moment alone.
When we’re on the other side of this, I’d be willing to sit down with you and tell that entire story. Right now, though, I owe it to our employees and our clients to keep my focus on the business.”
Denney and Perez say, their patience has ran out. Denney filed a wage claim with the state to recover unpaid wages and any additional penalties he may be owed.
How to file a wage theft claim in California
Elsa Saiz, regional manager and senior deputy labor commissioner with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office in San Diego, said employees have options when employers fail to pay them properly.
Elsa Saiz from the Labor Commissioner’s Office explains the wage claim process for California workers.
“When a worker is not getting paid, we consider that wage theft,” Saiz said, adding that workers can file a wage claim as soon as the day after a paycheck fails to arrive as scheduled.
She also emphasized that California law protects workers who speak up about unpaid wages.
“Employers cannot retaliate against workers for asking about unpaid wages or filing a claim or exercising their workplace rights,” she said.
Wage claims can also result in financial penalties paid to affected workers, depending on the circumstances. “And that penalty is $200 plus 25% of the wages that were owed to them,” Saiz explained.
What qualifies as wage theft in California?
Missing paychecks are not the only potential wage theft violations.
According to the California Labor Commissioner’s Office, other examples include:
Unpaid overtime
Failure to provide required meal and rest breaks
Failure to provide final paychecks
Unlawful paycheck deductions
Failure to reimburse business expenses
Failure to provide paid sick leave
Workers may be able to recover wages going back as far as four years for certain claims, depending on the circumstances.
Employees seeking to recover unpaid wages can find information about filing a claim, including the required documentation, through the California Labor Commissioner’s Office.
Puragain Water customers also report service problems
The company’s financial difficulties appear to extend beyond its workforce.
Dozens of customers have posted online reviews in recent months complaining that they have been unable to reach Puragain Water for service or repairs to their home water filtration systems.
One customer questioned the company’s future, asking, “Is this company going under?”
Denney said some customers have contacted him directly because they haven’t been able to get answers from the company.
“There are people reaching out to me personally that I did the company work for them and they’re calling me going what’s going on?” Denney said.
He added customers continue reaching out to him about unresolved issues. “I still have customers calling me because no one’s answering them.”
What customers can do if a company stops responding
Customers having trouble obtaining service or repairs from Puragain Water or another company can take several steps to protect themselves.
Review your contract. Check the terms of your service agreement to determine whether you can hire a third-party provider to service or repair your system if the original company fails to respond.
Document every communication. Keep records of phone calls, emails and other attempts to contact the company. Note when you reached out and whether you received a response.
Keep track of missed appointments. Document any scheduled service visits that the company failed to complete.
These records can help support a formal consumer complaint if the company continues to be unresponsive.
Employees hope to recover unpaid wages and move forward
For Denney and Perez, the priority remains getting the money they say they are owed and moving on from the company.
“Just give me what I owe, we can kind of wash our hands and go about our lives,” Denney said.
Perez said the uncertainty is especially troubling as he considers his long-term financial security and retirement.
“I’m old enough where I’ve saved a little money, you know what I mean? I’m not necessarily paycheck to paycheck, but now all of a sudden what’s about to happen to me is all the money that I’ve saved is going to start dwindling down. And I’ve got to retire someday.” Perez said.
For workers facing similar situations, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office says filing a wage claim can be an important step toward recovering unpaid earnings and determining whether additional penalties are owed.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.