BOSTON – LEGAL – The Boston Children’s Theater (BCT), which provided children with professional training for theatrical performances for close to 70 years, filed for bankruptcy last November and has had a rocky time after that, dealing with a barrage of lawsuits.
When Tobias ‘Toby’ Schine left his office where he had worked, at the troubled Boston Children’s Theater as its executive director, his departure was considered a mutual decision, by himself and his employers. However, he has come back, months later to file a suit against the nonprofit theater—which, by the way, is no longer in operation, claiming they owe him unpaid wages which accumulated during his period of working with them. The lawsuit has made Tobias to now become the fifth employee to sue the bankrupt organization, after leaving for whatever reason.
Tobias Schine stepped down as the executive director less than three weeks after Brian Burgess Clark, the BCT’s former executive artistic director, who resigned days before allegations of inappropriate behavior with students surfaced publicly. He is also being represented by the same Charlestown attorney that represented Brian Burgess Clark when he filed a lawsuit against the BCT, claiming that he was fired without cause.
On Thursday, Tobias Schine filed a lawsuit in the Salem Superior Court, seeking nothing less than $65,000, which he claims should cover all of the unpaid wages that had piled up during the three years of his working at the BCT. He also stated that the board necessitated that he deferred a share of his almost $62,300 salary, which they claimed they needed to assist in meeting the nonprofit’s payroll for a consecutive three years.
Tobias Schine did not stop there. He also wanted to be paid for treble damages on the grounds that the nonprofit violated the state’s wage and hours law, a pursue some experienced wages lawyers would suggest.
The suit called out some names from the theater: James Solomon and Daniel Antonelli, both of them had served as the theater’s president, and John Budzyna, who had worked as the former treasurer. As of Friday, none of the three men had been served with the suit. In fact, prior to the suit, Solomon had refused to discuss the departure of Schine.
Tobias Schine went on to issue a complaint against the Attorney General’s office, prior to filing the civil suit just this week.
He is also recorded as one of the creditors at the time when the theater company had filed for bankruptcy. He has also not been accused of doing any wrong, while the allegations charged against Brian Burgess Clark is still under investigation by the office of the Essex District Attorney, as well as the Beverly police.
On Friday, it was stated by a spokeswoman that there are no new developments as regards the lawsuit charged against the theater at the time of her speaking.
Daniel Blake, who was Clark’s partner and an instructor when they still worked for the theater program, alongside Clark himself and Schine, own a home, where they all reside right on Colon Street in Beverly.
An unpaid wages lawyer, Suzanne Herold, who stood for Clark and Schine, did not respond to an email that sought her comments on the lawsuit on Friday.
In late November, James Solomon had written a letter to students and parents, stating that they hoped to make refunds and asked parents to get in touch with the organization by the third of December or to make a request to the bankruptcy court.
With the slew of lawsuits being brought against the Boston Clark Theatre, it brings to question the things that went on during the nonprofit’s active days.