Streamwood workers say Duraco owner committed perjury

The former Streamwood factory workers who are suing the factory's owners for what they say is about $300,000 in back wages they are owed now claim a co-owner at Duraco Products Inc. intentionally misled a federal bankruptcy court judge.

Attorneys for the 34 workers filed a motion claiming perjury and fraud on Tuesday morning in Chicago bankruptcy court, saying Duraco owner Kevin P. Lynch filed false reports with the court under oath, stating he was paying factory workers when he was not. The paperwork in question was filed in November 2008 when Duraco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

While workers didn't receive money at times during the 15 months Duraco remained in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Kevin Lynch paid himself, his brother Michael Lynch and Michael's wife, Kimberlee Lynch, more than $157,000, the motion states.

Gregory J. Jordan, attorney for the Lynch brothers, said he expected bankruptcy court Judge Eugene R. Wedoff to deny the motion on Tuesday, June 22.

"It appears to me, other than using aggressive language, that what they're really trying to do is embarrass (Kevin Lynch)," Jordan said. "I don't think there's anything in the motion that would justify filing, and I think there's a substantial misrepresentation that counsel made in the motion."

At one time Duraco was one of the largest employers in Streamwood with about 200 workers. The factory made plastic garden equipment, including planters. Court documents now show the company has about $2.7 million in debt.

The workers' attorney, Christopher J. Williams, called the evidence, which includes payroll and bank records, "damning" at a news conference Tuesday inside the federal courthouse.

Williams wants authorities to further investigate Duraco. "We think there's a pattern of ongoing fraud," he said.

Williams, of the Working Hands Legal Clinic in Chicago, already represents the workers in a lawsuit filed in March against the Lynch brothers seeking $200,000 to $500,000 in lost wages and damages. Workers claim they received checks that bounced while working in poor conditions at the now-shuttered factory on Irving Park Road.

When that suit was filed, Michael Lynch told the Daily Herald he and his brother did not take a salary during the bankruptcy process. On Tuesday, Jordan reaffirmed that the Lynch brothers did not pay themselves.

Jordan said if further investigation was needed, it's the responsibility of the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee to ask for one.

Three former Duraco employees and Leone Bicchieri, executive director of the Chicago Workers Collaborative, which is assisting the former employees, spoke Tuesday morning.

"It's not right and we want justice," said Brenda Rodriguez of Hanover Park.