After failing to deliver headstones, Chicago area company also accused of shorting employee's pay

CHICAGO (CBS) – Gast Monuments, a business that produces headstones and memorials for people's loved ones, is under fire again for not delivering on its promises.

CBS 2 has reported extensively on the company's failure to deliver headstones to several families in their moment of grief. A former employee spoke to CBS 2 about how the company also failed to provide her paychecks.

Sonja Kajohn was the administrative assistant to Katie Gast, the head of Gast Monuments, an over-century-old company that produces headstones for grieving families.

CBS 2 met Kajohn in August before airing a previous report on the company. At the time, the Blennerhassett family had been waiting for their matriarch's headstone for over a year. Barbara Blennerhassett died in January of 2022.

The monument for her cost $1,520. It was never delivered.

Gast promised a refund after the story aired in August.

But still, as of this month, "We still haven't heard anything from her," said JoAnn Blennerhassett, Barbara's daughter-in-law.

The family has since ordered another stone from a different company, which was delivered. They ate the cost of both headstones.

"She said that she had the headstone, and she wanted to deliver it," said Blennerhassett. "And we said that we no longer wanted it after waiting a year. We had ordered a new one, and even if you were to give us that one now, we don't want it."

CBS 2 later learned Gast wasn't filling orders for dozens of customers, at least 44. At the time, the Archdiocese of Chicago said Gast wasn't paying the fees necessary to deliver those stones.

Kajohn said the company wasn't paying her either.

"Do you ever have to ask your boss, 'Hey, don't forget to pay me today'?" Kajohn said. "I did."

Kajohn was friends with Katie Gast. That's how she ended up working as her administrative assistant. She said the company failed to pay her first paycheck back in July, and then when she did get paid, it was over Zelle. She was also rarely paid the whole amount she was owed.

"Every two weeks after that, I was constantly asking, 'Am I getting paid today?' It puts a strain on, you know, my life," Kajohn said. "I have a child in college. I have another child in high school. I don't work for free. That's called volunteering."

CBS 2 reviewed Kajohn's bank records and employee agreement. Despite an agreement to pay her a certain amount biweekly, Kajohn's bank records show piecemeal late payments and seemingly random amounts.

That's why Kajohn said she left the company in December and has asked for back pay.

"I just want this to be done," she said. "I mean, I have asked for it. Just give it to me. I'll walk away. You'll never hear from me again."

To help keep her family afloat, Kajohn filed for unemployment, but Kajohn said that the state had no record of her working for Gast. She said she was told Gast never paid into the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, or FICA.

"So, because my employer never paid into FICA, I am, in essence, not entitled to unemployment," Kajohn said.

The state did not confirm Kajohn's eligibility. Gast did not answer multiple requests for comment, and her attorney declined to comment on the record.

"If she doesn't have any money to pay her employees, I doubt that she's going to be able to pay us," said Blennerhassett.

Families missing headstones and refunds have little hope they'll receive either.

But they received something else.

"I want Gast customers to know that I'm really sorry that I didn't believe them, that I acted the way I did," said Kajohn. "I was following a friend, and I know better."

The Archdiocese of Chicago told CBS 2 that families continue to contact them about their orders with Gast, but the company has not responded to their emails or phone calls.

Illinois Attorney General added that they've received 60 complaints about the company.