ITHACA, N.Y.— A former employee and current resident of the troubled Asteri building said he is pursuing legal action against the company that owns the building over allegations of wage theft. Three other former employees also described similar issues in interviews with The Ithaca Voice.
The downtown Ithaca building, which opened in August 2024 with promise and fanfare, introduced 181 units of affordable housing, including 40 units of housing for people transitioning out of homelessness.
However, in the year since it opened, Vecino, the company that owns and operates Asteri, has faced allegations of poor management.
The forthcoming suit over wage theft is the latest in a series of issues that have plagued the Asteri building.
Jared Bentley, who worked for two months as the building’s head of security, said he received multiple incorrect paychecks from his former employer, the Vecino Group. The company, based in Springfield, Missouri, owns and operates Ithaca Asteri. Bentley quit his job in late August.
Bentley said that he plans to pursue a lawsuit over his missing wages after he was unable to rectify the discrepancy with Vecino directly. He said that he felt that Vecino’s upper management had been unsupportive and, at times, unresponsive.
“I personally feel this was the most appropriate action for all of us because [of] the repetitive terminations without explanation, people quitting because of the severity of the issues, the hostility of the work environment and...
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