Dot1Web owner brings lawsuit against bank

INCLINE VILLAGE - Dot1Web owner Bob DeMaio has sued his bank for bounced payroll checks issued to company employees in 2002.

DeMaio filed a complaint in the Second Judicial Court of Nevada against Nevada Security Bank listing 13 counts against the Reno financial institution he says is responsible for claims brought against him by nearly 100 former employees.

The counts listed in the document range from breach of contract to violation of privacy and confidentiality. The lawsuit outlines a series of events beginning when Dot1Web opened a business account at the bank's Incline office in November 2002.

The lawsuit alleges that shortly after the account was opened, $400,000 wired deposits were made to the account and a withdrawal of $200,000 was made from the account.

Neither Nevada Security Bank or its attorney could be reached for comment.

When Dot1Web started issuing payroll checks on the account in early December 2002, employees were told by the bank there were insufficient funds in the account to cover their paychecks.

DeMaio alleged there was approximately $133,000 in the account at the time. He said when the employees could not cash their checks, it set off a panic resulting in investors, who had already put millions in the company, pulling away from any future investing.

After Dot1Web representatives met with the bank, the bank issued the company $40,000 in a cloth bag, which the company then dolled out to employees until the money ran out, according to the lawsuit.

Former employee Jeanne Hodgins, who worked in several departments for Dot1Web, said there were three occasions when checks issued by her employer did not clear.

"Finally, later in December, I was given a check in the morning that was taken away later that same day with really no explanation," Hodgins said.

Hodgins said that in January she was paid in cash, and that's the last money she received from the company, even though she continued to work for Dot1Web into February.