Late and unpaid bills are nothing new for Justice and his family businesses

The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., is owned by Gov. Jim Justice, and ran by his children, Jay and Jill. (Chris Jackson | West Virginia Watch)

Last week we learned that union officials say The Greenbrier Hotel Corporation has been taking money out of employees’ paychecks for health insurance for four months, but that money hasn’t been going to the health insurance company.

The Greenbrier Hotel Corporation owes about $2.4 million in delinquent contributions, and if it’s not paid by the end of the month, employees will lose health coverage .

Gov. Jim Justice, who owns the Greenbrier, has denied there are problems, saying at his weekly briefing on Thursday: “Insurance payments have been made and were being made on a regular basis just like we’ve done in the past in many ways.”

On Monday, I checked with Ronald Richman, an attorney from Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP representing the Amalgamated National Health Fund, the health care provider for Greenbrier employees. His emailed response: The payments are “[s]till four months delinquent.”

Justice takes credit for “saving” the Greenbrier from bankruptcy in 2009, but now that it’s facing foreclosure says he’s not involved with the day-to-day business. He reminds reporters that his children are listed as directors for the Greenbrier Hotel Corporation.

He’s also said that his children are running all his businesses and are fulfilling all of their financial obligations, though he admitted “they’re probably a bit behind” on several payments.

He lists the properties as assets on mandated financial statements, but doesn’t accept any responsibility for unpaid bills and fines — despite the fact that most of them are not in a blind trust.

Keep in mind that most people sell their businesses or put them in a blind trust when they take political office in order to avoid a conflict of interest or to prevent any distractions from their official duties.

Justice said he would do that after he won his first term as governor, but only managed to do so for seven of his 111 businesses .

Now that he’s running for the U.S. Senate, he was asked again if he would willingly put his businesses in a blind trust if elected in November. He said “probably not.”

If that’s the case, he needs to not turn a blind eye to what’s going on.

If Justice’s children don’t start paying the bills, their employees are going to lose health insurance and it’s possible his children could face jail time.

According to West Virginia state law , if an employer deducts an authorized amount from an employee’s paycheck for insurance — as the lawyer for Amalgamated National Health Fund alleges is the case here — but fails to pay that amount to the designated authorized plan, the deduction is illegal.

But that’s not all — it’s also a federal crime . According to U.S. Code, anyone who steals assets of a health care benefit program is violating the law, and can face up to 10 years in prison.

Paying that money is just part of the Justice family’s financial woes. The Greenbrier was slated for the auction block because the loan on it is in default, but the auction was put on hold until at least October. Justice said they had the money, but was tight-lipped about where it came from.

Justice keeps claiming that banks wanting him to pay back the money they loaned his companies is political. I don’t hold any sort of office, but if I don’t make payments on my home loan, I’m pretty sure the bank will come after me. Loans are meant to be paid back — that’s the deal you make when you sign the paperwork.

One thing to remember is that Justice’s financial troubles aren’t new. Let’s look at a few of the lawsuits that were filed against his companies before he was elected governor:

• October 2015 — Justice owed $3.5 million in delinquent taxes to Kentucky, and started paying some of the thousands he owed in delinquent taxes to West Virginia counties.
• November 2015 — Cornerstone RPO filed a lawsuit against The Greenbrier for owing

$422,837 from a 2011 contract.

• July 2014 — Justice’s coal mines were cited for more than 250 environmental violations in five states with unpaid penalties of about $2 million.
• 2013 — The Associated Press reported there were at least nine lawsuits filed against Justice’s coal companies between late 2011 and June 2013 with business owners claiming they were not being paid for work at Justice mines.
• 2011 — Delta Airlines sued The Greenbrier over breach of contract for not paying $4 million it owed the airline.
• 2010 — Two landscaping companies who did work for The Greenbrier sued the resort for $1.4 million in damages.

I think you get the point.

The employees of The Greenbrier deserve better. All is not good in their neighborhood, like Justice said it is in his.

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