Contracted teachers sue Baltimore schools, nonprofit LTYC over unpaid wages
Maryland teachers contracted through a nonprofit program providing arts education in schools are suing, claiming they weren't paid for several months of work, according to the law firm Hoffman Employment Law, LLC.
The law firm states that eight teachers from various schools in the Baltimore City Public School District have filed a lawsuit against the city school district and the program Leaders of Tomorrow Youth Center (LTYC) in federal court.
LTYC, based in a Mount Vernon office in Baltimore, gets contracts with school systems and other groups, then contracts with the educators.
The lawsuit claims that teachers have not been paid wages owed to them from April, May, and June, and prior paychecks were months behind.
"We're obviously quite disappointed that things have come to this point," the plaintiffs' lawyer Jordan Lieu told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. "It should never have gotten to this point, but we are half a year in without wages being paid still, and there's no indication that anything is coming down the pipeline."
Lieu said that even though the school system did not directly hire the teachers, it has a responsibility to make sure they get paid.
"LTYC may have hired these teachers and may have been the ones paying them, but as LTYC is repeatedly stated, the money ultimately flowed from Baltimore City public schools," Lieu said.
Lieu told WJZ the case shows the challenges of government entities contracting outside staff instead of hiring them directly.
"They may only be looking at the benefits where they can more easily control labor costs and more easily higher and fire at will as they need and not worry about providing benefits, but the flipside is you're exposing yourself to additional liability because you're leaving the very fundamental role of paying your employees in the hands of other entities who may drop the ball on that," Lieu said.
The Baltimore City Public School System told WJZ Investigates that, "City Schools expects its vendors to treat their employees fairly, including compensating them for their contributions."
The district also blamed LTYC, stating, "We have been clear that any failure on the part of LTYC to pay their employees is solely the responsibility of LTYC. City Schools has paid its obligations to LTYC, more than $600,000 to date, as authorized in our purchase order."
WJZ reached out to Dr. Dermell Brunson, the founder and president of LTYC, for a comment on this lawsuit, but has not heard back.
What does the lawsuit allege?
WJZ has previously covered the teachers' fight to regain the money they believe they are owed.
School districts in Maryland -- including in Baltimore City and Baltimore County -- contract with nonprofit LTYC to provide arts education in the schools.
The teachers named in the lawsuit were hired and paid by LTYC, but were working with the children across many schools.
"Although they were hired and paid by LTYC, these teachers were just like any other teacher at the school, subject to the same rules and policies, directed by school administrators, and sharing the same passion, care, and love for their students," the law firm said.
According to Hoffman Employment Law, LLC, LTYC essentially operated as a staffing agency, hiring and placing teachers on a $7.5 million contract with Baltimore City Public Schools that began in 2023 and was extended through June 2026.
"These teachers see the amount of money that has passed hands between LTYC and Baltimore City Public Schools, and they're wondering with $7 million in this contract, why you guys can't find the money to pay us for our final two months of work," Lieu said. "Yes, it is very shocking, and I think that makes this case all the more frustrating for these teachers. It seems there should absolutely be money to pay these wages, and it seems they just haven't been paid."
The lawsuit claims that LTYC, which had paid its teachers once a month on the 15th for the hours they worked in the prior month, stopped paying its teachers on December 15, 2024.
The teachers were then paid half of their owed wages several days later, with the other half paid days after that, the lawsuit says.
The teachers claim they were paid their wages later and later, until the payments ultimately stopped.
"To date, these eight Plaintiffs have never received their full wages for the month of April 2025, and have not received any wages whatsoever for the months of May or June 2025," according to Hoffman Employment Law, LLC.
The organization also operates in Washington, D.C. and Virginia.
Instructors say they are owed thousands
Several teachers told WJZ they are behind on paying bills and are even asking family members for help just to get by.
"I owe everybody right now. It's no secret. I'm behind in everything," Cedric Benning told WJZ Tuesday afternoon. "I never imagined in years that I would go to work every day like I'm supposed to and just not be paid for it."
The teachers said they continued to work without knowing if they'd be paid because they wanted to support their students. They say they were paid once a month, making it easy to fall behind quickly.
"Fix it by any means necessary, because we gave up everything," Valerie Hall-Butler said. "When I first joined LTYC, we was a family. I think that's what made it hard to realize that this would happen."
Hall-Butler said she was supporting her grandson's college tuition, but now can't afford to.
"And for him not to be able to finish, I felt like it was my fault," Hall-Butler said.
Marcus Mason said he's thousands of dollars in the hole, and after coming out with his story this summer, he hasn't been able
to find another teaching job.
"I woke up some days and all I could think about my money," Mason said. "I had to dip into my savings and now that my savings is almost depleted from bills and things like that, it's depressing."
The teachers said that despite not being paid, they continued working with LTYC to support their students, who otherwise may not be exposed to various arts programs.
"They want Mr. Benning to come to school and work, and that's what I did, believing in him thinking that he would pay us still," Benning added.
Regardless of this difficult time, the desire to continue teaching is still alive.
"I love children, so I'll be back teaching somewhere," Benning said.
"I have skills and experience that are useful inside the classroom," Mason explained.
"It was fun for me. I loved it, but it's become very stressful," Hall-Butler added.
Nonprofit's president speaks
Dr. Dermell Brunson, who founded LTYC two decades ago and is the president of the organization, was named in the lawsuit. Brunson spoke with WJZ Investigates in August to address the complaints.
"This last year has been the toughest year on record for LTYC, mainly because of the late payments from districts, but also because of just the climate for nonprofits," Brunson said.
Brunson said he understands the frustration and anger.
He said that close to 40 instructors may be owed money. However, he pushed back on claims that they are owed as much as $17,000.
"There's no one instructor making more than $5,000 to $6,000 in one month," Brunson said.
Brunson told WJZ he respects the teachers and does not want to cast blame, but he insists the delays are due to school systems and other vendors failing to pay him on time.
"We did everything we could as far as preparing the staff. We sat everyone down last August — maybe months before we started to have the real issue of the delayed payments — to let them know exactly what was happening," Brunson said.
Brunson estimated his organization is owed about $350,000, not only from Baltimore City.
"I just want to make that clear. This is not about a bash or a singling out of Baltimore City," Brunson said. "That's not what we're up to. There are multiple districts combined that make up that roughly $347,000 and some change that we're still out currently."
Baltimore-area schools respond to LTYC's payment claims
Charles Herndon, with Baltimore County Public Schools, said, "Leaders of Tomorrow's Youth Center, Inc., is an approved BCPS vendor that provides student mentoring and out-of-school arts programs. Payment times are currently 4 to 6 weeks from the receipt of an approved invoice."
The school system previously sent WJZ Investigates information about their contract with LTYC, including its initial term to the end of June 2025, worth $4.5 million.
City Schools noted LTYC served 13 schools during the 2024-2025 school year.
"This isn't the way to support these important pillars of our community," Lieu said. "Teachers have an incredible and important role in raising future generations of Baltimore City residents."