PALM SPRINGS, Fla. — We have been getting calls and emails all week long from frustrated employees voicing concern about a recovery center in Palm Beach County that shut its doors.
Retreat Behavioral Health employees said they haven't been paid for three weeks.
When we started speaking with those employees Monday — as patients were being shuffled out of the Palm Springs facility — the workers wanted to know whether they could apply for unemployment benefits.
Even though they weren’t paid, they also weren't officially fired.
WPTV Investigates
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The proverbial pink slips arrived Thursday evening but did little to ease concerns for some workers.
"NRFL (Retreat's parent company) will close in its entirety and cease doing business on Thursday, June 27, 2024," read a letter shared with WPTV by employees.
The letter was sent to employees as an attachment to an email from human resources, telling the employees they can use the letter to apply for unemployment benefits.
"Your position permanently will be eliminated on or about June 21," the letter continues.
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That's the day police confirmed CEO Peter Schorr died by suicide.
His death sent the facility into upheaval, but many employees continued to report to work for three more days.
For one nurse, who asked to remain anonymous out of concern for her career, the Thursday email only raised more questions.
"Multiple individuals higher up cautioned us not to leave work, to abide by our schedules to show up as we would," she said. "A lot of us should not have gone to work, a lot of us put our license at risk for doing so. And quite honestly, we were not only working for free, but if we were unemployed the 21st, how are we in that building, taking care of patients and getting directions from higher management?"
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A June 21 email shared by employees, from Retreat's medical director to nursing staff, says, "We are operating as we normally would."
WPTV left a voicemail with a phone number associated with the medical director Friday but have not heard back.
A June 22 email from Chief Administrative Officer Scott Korogodsky refers to a Monday meeting and says, "We are committed to ensuring the future of retreat."
Four days later, police said Korogodsky also died by suicide.
The death of the two executives leaves just two surviving leaders. The chief financial officer tells us he was left in the dark about the closure and is still waiting for his final paycheck.
We asked Chief Regulatory Officer Chrissy Gariano for an update on the paychecks, now a week late, and how employees who worked after they were terminated will get paid for that time.
She told WPTV that she didn't want to comment.
