TAMPA — Timothy Roberts, founder and CEO of Savtira Corp., responded to reports of a U.S. Department of Labor's payroll investigation in a voicemail message left with the Business Review Monday night, in which he called the ordeal “a story for the ages” and “a bump in the road.”
The e-commerce company, which is located in Ybor City, sent an undisclosed number of its employees home Monday after the Labor Department issued a notice to Savtira that if it continues to work its employees without pay, it is in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The department is investigating the firm for missing payroll earlier this year. In the voicemail message, Roberts says he believes the issue will be resolved soon.
The company was lauded by Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp. last year and was promised more than $2 million in state and local tax incentives for its plan to hire 265 employees. When Roberts spoke with the Business Review in December, he said the firm had 100 employees and would meet the hiring conditions by the fourth quarter of this year.