Landlord-Boss Boots Injured Migrant Worker

Edgar Becerra fell off a 30-foot ladder — then landed in court this week fighting to stay in the country against a boss who first fired him then moved to evict him.

Mark DeFrancesco, who is both Becerra’s landlord and his former employer, took Becerra (now in crutches) to housing court in an effort to force Becerra out of the rental house at 200 Peck St.

After a failed attempt at mediation, the case went to trial before Judge Walter Spader Thursday. After hearing hours of arguments, the judge paused the proceedings and continued the trial until next week.

Before he did, the courtroom dialogue revealed a broader operation at play, in which DeFrancesco’s painting company recruits dozens of workers from Guatemala, packs them into one Fair Haven house, and allegedly fires them if they get injured.

Becerra said he was one of 20 migrant workers living in the three-family home DeFrancesco owns on Peck. All of them came from Guatemala on H‑2B Visas. DeFrancesco’s company — MDF Painting and Power Washing, which according to its website is based out of Greenwich — sponsored and employed all of the house’s tenants.

DeFrancesco said he and co-landlord Lauren DeFrancesco are evicting Becerra after they decided in November not to renew his week-to-week oral lease, after he stopped paying rent. They’re evicting another former employee and tenant in the house, Josue Mauricio Arana, for the same reasons.

According to Becerra, the DeFrancescos have taken both legal and illegal steps to evict him after they fired him because he wouldn’t immediately go back to work at Mark’s painting company after sustaining two serious injuries on the job.

Becerra and his attorney, Tyrese Ford of New Haven Legal Assistance Association, are arguing that the eviction is MDF’s attempt to avoid paying Becerra worker’s compensation for his injuries.

Becerra, 45, immigrated from Guatemala to the United States in July, hoping to send money back to his family. He had seen an advertisement for working at MDF, which sponsored his H‑2B Visa. The company arranged for him to live at the 200 Peck St. house, which records show the DeFrancescos had purchased two months earlier.

MDF paid Becerra $16.96 an hour, according to Ford.

Becerra lived on the house’s third floor with five other MDF employees, including Arana. 

He said that everyone slept on the floor. ​“There was nothing between my body and the floor,“ he told Judge Spader during the trial. 

A different pair of tenants was assigned to cook each meal, he said. There weren’t enough kitchen supplies or utensils for everyone to eat at once. 

He said that now, since everyone else’s Visas have expired, he and Arana are the only ones still in the house.

Two Falls, No Job, Locked Doors

MDF’s website says that all painters have to have at least three years of prior experience. Becerra said he had never worked as a painter or power-washer before. 

The website states that all employees undergo training, including OSHA safety training. Becerra said he was never trained. On his first day of work, he said, ​“to be sincere, they took us to the place and said ​‘Start painting.’” (He spoke in Spanish as New Haven Legal Assistance interpreter Yolanda Vargas translated his words to English.) 

“We had no security, no helmets, no gloves, no cable,” he said. 

According to Becerra, he was first injured in August after falling off of a 30-to-40-foot ladder, hurting his leg and hip. He said that MDF required him to go back to work immediately, and since he needed to send money back to his family, he complied.

Then in September, according to Becerra, he was accidentally pushed out of a second-floor window. He fell to serious injuries, but MDF again mandated him to keep working.

The pain grew so severe that Becerra wound up in Yale New Haven Hospital on Sept. 26. Doctors determined that his lower spine and hip had been injured. But MDF told him that if he did not return to work on the 28th, he would be fired and sent back to Guatemala, he said.

Becerra didn’t return to work — and the DeFrancescos terminated his employment. He filed a claim with the Workers’ Compensation Commission in mid-October, two weeks before a court marshal served him and Arana an eviction notice.

Prior to launching a formal eviction against Becerra and Arana, the DeFrancescos tried to lock out the tenants. Becerra said they changed the locks to the house, forcing him and Arana to sleep outdoors for two nights. He finally called the New Haven Police Department. According to a police report of the incident, an officer required the landlords to let him back in.

“I just want everyone to know the name of this company and all the injustices they did,” Becerra said.

Landlord Contests Mystery Employee

Mark DeFrancesco appeared in court on Thursday alongside Lisa Hollingsworth, whose name isn’t attached to the 200 Peck St. property but who serves as the vice-president of MDF. 

DeFrancesco and Hollingsworth declined to speak to the Independent. 

The court proceedings offered glimpses into their perspective.

DeFrancesco’s lawyer, Josh Brown, asked him about his arrangement with Becerra and Arana. The case documents state that the tenants both had week-to-week oral agreements to live in the house.

“They would pay $75 a week,” DeFrancesco said.

“Did they relatively consistently pay?” Brown asked.

“For a few weeks, yes,” DeFrancesco said. He said that Becerra last paid rent on Aug. 29, and that Arana last paid on Sept. 19.

Ford, meanwhile, argued that DeFrancesco ​“manufactured” the nonpayment of rent in context of the fact that Becerra was was injured and subsequently fired from DeFrancesco’s company. 

He asked DeFrancesco how the rent typically got paid.

“They pay on Zelle,” DeFrancesco said. After a beat, he added, ​“Cash, check, anything.”

“Do you employ someone named Johnny Armijas?” Ford asked.

DeFrancesco maintained after multiple questions that MDF doesn’t employ anyone with that name.

Ford pulled out a print-out from MDF’s website, listing a ​“crew leader” purportedly named Johnny, which became his first exhibit. 

Ford pressed DeFrancesco on whether he still thought that MDF didn’t hire anyone named Johnny Armijas.

When DeFrancesco didn’t answer, Ford said, ​“You know what, that’s OK.”

Ford called up Becerra as a witness.

“How did you make weekly [rent] payments?” he asked.

Through a court interpreter, Becerra responded, ​“Johnny Armijas was the person who picked up cash for payments.” He identified the man photographed on the MDF website as Johnny Armijas. Arana echoed these answers in his testimony.

Ford introduced another exhibit: an information sheet about H‑2B employment at a company called ​“MDF Coatings, LLC,” listing Johnny Armijas as the ​“worker contact.”

In addition to listing current staff members, including a ​“Johnny,” MDF’s website states that the company is now hiring for six positions. ​“For Painters with Jerks for Bosses!” one job opening reads, promising, ​“At our company, we are DIFFERENT.”

The site promises that employees receive an unspecified amount of paid time off, a 401K plan, and ​“regular family events, such as bowling, summer beach picnic, etc.”

A recruiting video features smiling animated employees.

“Join a winning team that is truly an extended family,” the voice-over says.