I Had PTO. They Just Didn't Pay Me.

Denied pay for protected leave — and now they’re pretending it never happened.

On June 5, 2025, Venture Forthe responded to my inquiry about why I had not received my final paycheck. Payroll Administrator Anne Marie Dunning replied:

“You are not receiving a June 6 payment because you did not work during the pay period associated with that pay date (i.e., 5/18 to 5/31) and you did not use any PTO during that period.”

But what she left out is crucial.

I was on approved FMLA leave during that exact pay period — and I had requested to use my available PTO to cover those days on 5/13/25. I forwarded this request directly to Anne. In fact, as of June 5, my Paylocity portal still showed over 64 hours of PTO available. 

Their system tracked it. I asked to use it. And they still refused to pay me. This isn’t a misunderstanding. It’s retaliation.

It’s also wage theft — plain and simple. You can’t withhold earned pay during a protected leave, then claim the employee “didn’t work” as an excuse. That’s not how FMLA works. That’s not how basic ethics work.

And if they thought I wouldn’t document it — they were wrong.

-- K

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