Owner: Floods caused payroll problems

AUSTIN (KXAN) - My Town Media owner Christian Hunter released a statement Tuesday afternoon claiming the recent payroll mess was the result of a “flood related business loss.” The statement comes two days after Hunter hired a public relations firm to help with the problems which has left employees angry and demanding the money they are owed.

Here’s the full statement:

“My Town Media recently faced a flood related business loss. This business interruption caused a number of employees to briefly go unpaid. We regret the delay, and are in the process of reconciling payroll and readying checks for distribution starting tomorrow.

“As we’ve consistently maintained, all employees will be paid in full, management is in the process of rebuilding the company, and regular updates will continue to be made online at mytownmedia.blogspot.com

“We look forward to recommencing full operations, as well as reestablishing My Town Media as a vital employer in the Austin area.”

Christian Hunter

This is not Hunter’s first payroll issue with employees.

In September 2009, a lawsuit alleges Hunter became “violently angry” and began yelling at an employee who accused him writing bad checks and not paying workers on time. The same suit says Hunter asked workers to cash checks at third-party check cashing businesses like Moneybox, however, even those businesses began refusing checks from My Town media.