Complaints Against Fort Worth Company Growing After Consumer Justice Report

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FORT WORTH (CBS11) - Calls for Consumer Justice are now coming from across the country.

Delivery drivers in Baltimore and Philadelphia say they too are owed money by a Fort Worth business. The same business is accused of giving bad checks to local drivers.

Hot Route Delivery Specialists hires independent contractors to deliver packages for Amazon and other companies.

Up to 20 drivers in Baltimore said their paychecks started bouncing in January. They say Hot Route's owner, Chris Cassels, called them with excuses.

"He said his bank account got hacked," said Ron Rozankowski.

Melvin Taylor said Cassels told him, "The company was going through some transition -- there was some loans, some money that was going to be released."

Bill Kernan can relate. He works for Instant Courier in Philadelphia. He says Hot Route owes the company approximately $11,000 -- money that Cassels repeatedly assured him was on the way.

"He actually went as far as to create a FedEx envelope with a tracking number label on it and sent us a picture of it, and told us our checks are in there and they're going out," said Kernan. "I tracked that envelope. It never left his facility."

Several weeks passed without paychecks.  "We kept inquiring, kept texting, kept calling," Taylor said.  "They would give us names of people that would never answer the phone."

Rozankowski said, "I think we're all owed around $60,000 -- just for this small group."

"We're a small business," said Kernan. "It's hurting us. It's choking us."

More than a dozen drivers in North Texas say they are in the same situation. Their checks also started bouncing in January -- the same month Cassels' wife bought a new BMW, and weeks after the couple traveled to several Cowboys game.

As of Monday, Hot Route was still advertising job openings.

Cassels has not responded to inquiries by Consumer Justice about the new complaints.