Attorney General charges business owners with theft of more than $33,000 from house cleaners

Some of the former employees are owed thousands of dollars in back pay

OLYMPIA — The Attorney General’s Office has filed felony criminal charges against two former Auburn residents, alleging they failed to pay more than $33,000 in wages to 24 employees of their house cleaning businesses in 2017 and 2018. Several employees are owed thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.

The Attorney General’s Office charged Travis A. Jackson and Marissa Bond with three counts of second-degree theft, a felony, and 21 counts of third-degree theft for the withheld wages. In addition, the couple is charged with a felony count of employer’s false reporting for failing to deduct worker’s compensation insurance premiums from paychecks and for failing to pay the premiums to the Washington Department of Labor & Industries (L&I).

The charges are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

According to documents filed with the state, Jackson and Bond co-owned Advanced Cleaning Solutions, created in March of 2017, and Washington Cleaning Solutions, formed in April of the following year. The companies provided cleaning services to residents along the I-5 corridor in King County. Homeowners purchased cleaning services from the companies, which in turn hired house cleaners to perform the work at an hourly rate. However, they failed to pay 24 employees for their services.

L&I began receiving wage complaints from the companies’ workers in June of 2017.  After receiving multiple wage claims, L&I referred the matter to the Attorney General’s Office for a joint investigation.

The Attorney General’s Office alleges the couple failed to pay workers their wages and, at times, gave workers checks that could not be cashed.

In addition to potential time in jail, Jackson and Bond face thousands of dollars in fines, as well as restitution, and repayment of unpaid premiums to L&I with interest.

The Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the case at the request of the King County Prosecutor’s Office.

Assistant Attorney General Tienney Milnor is handling the case for Washington.

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The Office of the Attorney General is the chief legal office for the state of Washington with attorneys and staff in 27 divisions across the state providing legal services to roughly 200 state agencies, boards and commissions. Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.

Contacts:

Brionna Aho, Communications Director, (360) 753-2727; Brionna.aho@atg.wa.gov