Former Poseidon Ferry employees claim they were not paid
MIAMI - Miami Beach used to pay Poseidon Ferry $50,000 a month to take people from Miami Beach to the City of Miami. Now, a former ferry employee is speaking out, saying he is still owed money for hours worked.
Miami Beach stopped funding the ferry in September, about two months after it first set sail. Now, Mark Benson is saying he is still owed about $650, for the 43 hours he said he worked in August.
Benson showed some of his bank records to CBS News Miami, showing a check for July's hours.
"It's something that's a given. You work for a legitimate operation. You never think that would happen," Benson said.
He's one of three former employees who said they are owed wages.
Benson logged his hours on an app with the ferry, but now can't access his time cards.
"Something happened and I can't check my hours anymore. So, there's no proof," Benson said.
One former employee told CBS News Miami he's filed a complaint with Miami-Dade County about not getting paid. He said he's owed $390.
CBS News Miami has reached out to the county but has not gotten a response.
The Poseidon Ferry's website says it's no longer running.
CBS News Miami called, texted and emailed the owner several times, but was unsuccessful in reaching him.
"We were giving Poseidon $50,000 a month in subsidies and they were charging for tickets," said City Commissioner David Suarez, who voted to end the contract with the ferry and is looking into whether the city can do anything to help the former employees.
"We're gonna look into it and even if this has to go to the inspector general, we're gonna look into it," Suarez said.
As for Benson, he was hoping he could use his last check to fix a car he bought.
"I wanted that to go through because I need it to get the next job to get to work," Benson said.
CBS News Miami reached out to the State Department of Business and Professional Regulation but has not heard back.
Suarez said he will be introducing a resolution to pay back any riders who bought ticket packages with the ferry.
