This entry breaks an unwritten rule to which I’ve held myself. In the years since I began this blog in August of 2003, not once have I mentioned the name of my employer. I’ve talked about them without naming them, in order to chronicle their influence on my life, and I don’t regret that. Naming the company would have crossed a line, making potentially negative information available to anyone with access to Google.

Some of you know I’ve now resigned from my job, and that the reason for that resignation was the company’s failure to pay salary. Rather than laying off their three remaining employees, they chose to keep us working and stop issuing paychecks, promising that payroll would be caught up “soon.” When “soon” stretched into months, I’d had enough and decided to cut my losses. I filed a lawsuit soon after to recover my back pay, as did the two employees, but the legal system moves slowly. The company has until late January to file an answer.

The German parent company, we were told, was purchased by another, larger German company. The new owner had lofty goals for turning the company’s dive into a zoom-climb by injecting new capital and changing management. I was told that I, along with the two employees who are still working, would be receiving a wire transfer just before Thanksgiving to reconcile back pay. For me that amounts to many thousands of dollars. It didn’t happen, and I am ashamed to have been surprised. Excuses have been made, e-mails inquiring as to the status of the wire transfer have been ignored, and nothing has actually happened.

That brings us to yesterday — Monday, December 20, four days before Christmas. I have finally become angry, infuriated that a heartless jerk in Germany has essentially ruined the holidays for me and left me in a rather dire state.*

The following letter was sent to Andreas Gruettner, president of the “new” Klotz Digital AG, parent company of Klotz Digital Audio Systems, Inc., my former employer. He is also a director of United Screens Media, the company we were told has purchased Klotz Digital AG.

From:	Scott Johnson
To:	ajgruettner, A.Gruettner
Subj:	Trust

Herr Gruettner,

I really tried to believe you when you said you’d be wiring money before Thanksgiving, nearly a month ago.

I tried very hard to believe you when you finally, after more than a week, claimed it wasn’t sent because you needed more information.

I wanted to believe that Klotz was finally in capable hands, and that I as well as Mike and Terri would get real answers instead of more excuses.

I made an effort to give you the benefit of the doubt when you repeatedly told Michael you would get in touch with me, and failed to do so.

It is now Monday, four days before Christmas, and no wire transfer has taken place.

Michael tells me that you have expressed an interest in working with me when the company is on firmer ground. I have heard this from Michael only, not from you. If that is something you truly want to happen, then I would urge you to take immediate action with respect to the money which Klotz already owes me.

I invested my time, my energy, my knowledge, and my expertise in keeping KDAS alive, just as Mike and Terri have. This isn’t a handout we’re asking for. It’s money that you owe us, money that we have worked hard to earn, and money that is needed to turn a very grim holiday season into a hopeful, joyous one. If Klotz Digital AG and United Screens Media together cannot manage to stand up and do what’s right by balancing that debt, then you will truly be the Grinch who Stole Christmas. That will destroy what little trust remains and make it impossible for us to work together going forward.

It’s your decision. I hope you make the right one.

Scott Johnson

It will surprise no one that at the time of this writing, 36 hours after the e-mail was sent, there has been not a hint of a reply. Even Mike, my friend and one of the two remaining employees, has been strangely silent even though he was cc’d on the e-mail.

Merry Christmas, Klotz. Without using profanity, I can say no more.

* Georgia

Update — February, 2009

A week or two ago, Klotz wired most of the money they owed me. They continue to owe me around a thousand dollars, plus the costs incurred in filing and pursuing my lawsuit, so it still appears I’ll have to take them to court to be made whole. Thomas Klotz, the founder of Klotz Digital, and Hans Reinisch, a “consultant” who was entrusted with handling the US division’s finances, have since resigned and all but disappeared. Based on what I know of their recent activities, I can guess why, and losing them might be the best thing that ever happened to the company.

Meanwhile, Herr Gruettner either found or was directed to this blog entry. I’m told he thought it might be bad for business, an assessment I find entirely accurate. Instead of contacting me, unfortunately, he contacted my friend Mike, who is still in his employ, and asked him to speak with me about it. My response was that Mike didn’t need to be put in that position, and that if he objected to what I had written, he should contact me directly. Predictably, he didn’t.

Since everything in the letter and the blog entry that accompanies it is factual, accurate, and true, I see no reason to alter or remove it, particularly in the absence of any direct contact from anyone who objects to it. I’m not proud of my outburst, but none of this would have ever become public if a few people had simply acted with more integrity and less self-interest.

Update — June, 2011

Klotz Digital has renamed itself “QPhonics,” but remains the same company, with the same corporate registration number, the same leadership, and thus far the same products.

Update — February, 2012

It appears that Thomas Klotz is back in business. His new company, named Klotz Digonomics, has a web site listing some products, including a console called the “Graphite” (which looks very much like Klotz Digital / Qphonics’ “Xenon”) and a touch-screen console that has the look of something which hasn’t yet been built.