NOBODY WORKS FOR FREE....UNLESS YOUR HANDICAPPED?

     Who the hell wants to work for free? Even if you're handicapped. A Rhode Island man with autism did exactly that. He worked tireless hours in an Applebee's kitchen for a whole year, but never got a single paycheck. Applebee's should be ashamed of themselves for taking advantage of this young man. 

     21-year-old Caleb Dyl was never paid once for his part-time job at the Middletown restaurant between August 2014 and July 2015. According to his father Bob Dyl, "He was enjoying the job, so we really weren't focused on the income so much, but after that amount of time, you kind of wonder what's going on." Caleb got the job through Resources for Human Development, a government-funded nonprofit that helps people with disabilities find work. Caleb first worked in an unpaid training program, but was supposed to start receiving checks after Applebee's hired him as a prep cook in August 2014. It sounds to me, this might not be Applebee's fault and it might be the fault of the RHD. 

     Bob Dyl said, "One young man told me they were lucky to have him, that Caleb just continues to work and work and he won't stop until the end of his shift." The Dyls set up a direct deposit for their son, but the money never showed up in the account. When they asked about the missing checks, RHD said Caleb's W-4 and other work forms had been misplaced. The family filled out a second set of forms in November, but the checks still never came despite the family's complaints to the RHD. Caleb stopped working at the restaurant in July. 

     Applebee's claims they were not aware of the situation until local media contacted them this month. Eleanor Clancy, a regional director of operations for Applebee's, said the chain restaurant has mailed Caleb a check for his year of work. She said, "We obviously feel terrible. We have to make this right." RHD, which gets funding from the state's Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, should have contacted the state about the issue. The non-profit had failed to do so. Now, Applebee's is paying Caleb for the 166 hours of work documented by the RHD. The Dyls estimated their son, who did not clock in or out of work and only kept hours through his work coach, worked about 350 hours.

     It sounds to me that someone at the RHD needs a beat down for doing this to the poor kid. I commend Applebee's  for doing the right thing and paying this kid some money. I don't understand that if you work in a government-funded office, how this can slip through the cracks unless someone was stealing the money that Caleb was supposed to be paid. Then again, there are some real crooks out there.