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Willy’s Gym

    LABOR RELATIONS

    When Paychecks and Housing Don’t Mix

    Lessons on labor practices, learned the hard way

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — As business owners begin to plan for the season ahead knowing both workers and workforce housing are in extremely short supply, many will try to wrap wages and rent together into as attractive a package as they can.

    Tim McNulty, co-owner of the Lobster Pot restaurant, has some advice for anyone making those plans: if you’re offering housing and charging your employees rent, do not deduct it from their paychecks. Have them hand over rent checks monthly, as you would have any other tenant do.

    The Lobster Pot at dusk. (Photo by Paul Benson)

    It’s advice he learned the hard way, in 2020, when the state attorney general’s office fined his restaurant a total of $156,744.52 (including $132,244.22 in restitution) for “improper deductions for lodging” from 22 employees during the 2016 to 2018 seasons, according to Roxana Martinez-Gracias of Attorney General Maura Healey’s office.

    The charges against the Lobster Pot related to housing H-2B visa workers, all from Jamaica, where the Lobster Pot has recruited seasonal staff since the early 1990s. The restaurant provides employee housing to many workers, though McNulty would not say exactly how many.

    The restaurateurs deducted rent from employee paychecks for years. McNulty said he charges each employee between $3,000 and $4,000 per season. This includes all utilities, and they can leave their belongings year-round, so the dwellings cannot be rented during the off season, he added.

    Of the Lobster Pot’s 110 employees, about 35 are foreign, McNulty said. “We are not trying to be mean to anyone,” he said. “We have people who’ve worked with us for 30 years.”

    Until he hired a new attorney to handle the H-2B visas, McNulty said, he did not know it was against state regulations to deduct rent. The state allows employers to take no more than $35 per week from paychecks for housing.

    To make matters worse, because the restaurant deducted the rent from paychecks, it reduced workers’ bottom-line salaries, so that it appeared they were paid below minimum wage, McNulty added.

    The McNultys made restitution directly to 25 employees, for both minimum wage and rental deduction violations. The largest amount, $6,300, went to three employees; many others received between $2,000 and $6,000. The smallest restitution payment was $750.

    Barbara Niggel, owner of Willy’s Gym in Eastham, was also charged with labor and wage violations in August 2020.

    Her fines, totaling $101,466.80, were levied for nonpayment of wages to two employees, misclassification involving 21 employees, and two separate charges for violations of earned sick time affecting 22 employees. Martinez-Gracias said she could not comment on Niggel’s charges, however, because the gym owner has appealed and the case remains open.

    Niggel has not paid her fines or restitution to the workers, Martinez-Gracias stated by email. Niggel could not be reached for comment.

    Four other local business owners were among those cited in the attorney general’s report.

    Helen Silva, owner of Pennies Wine & Spirits in Provincetown, had to pay $24,367.74 in January 2019 for untimely payment of wages and for not paying overtime to 16 employees, according to Martinez-Gracias.

    Siobhan Carew, owner of Sal’s Place in Provincetown, was fined $10,302.06 in January 2020 for failure to make timely payment of wages to four employees, according to the attorney general’s spokeswoman.

    Clifford Hagberg, owner of the Sandcastle Resort and Club in Provincetown, was charged with failing to pay minimum wage to five employees and violating the earned sick time law. He was fined a total of $8,160.75.

    Nick Dennis, owner of the cleaning company Spotless New England, was fined $7,255 in January 2018 for nonpayment of wages and failure to furnish records to the attorney general’s office. His fines were for one employee.

    Only Niggel and Dennis have not paid the related fines and restitution.

    STOWED

    Niggel’s Storage Expansion Rejected by Planning Board

    Possible danger to groundwater cited by one board member

    By

    EASTHAM — Barbara Niggel’s quest to expand her Stow Away self-storage business at 4730 Route 6 ended at the planning board’s Aug. 18 hearing, with board member Joe Manas casting the lone no vote. Because the special permit Niggel sought required five yes votes, the expansion cannot happen.

    Manas said his concern was that the town’s water supply could be contaminated by spills at the storage units. “I don’t feel comfortable,” he said. “Accidents happen.”

    The location, at Niggel’s Willy’s World gym, is within the Eastham Corridor Special District and District J — the groundwater protection overlay district.

    Before the vote, board chair Dan Coppelman, who voted to approve the permit, told Niggel, “I think you’ve done a reasonable job in answering our concerns from the engineering standpoint.”

    The project had been reduced from the original plan to build five 14-foot-tall storage buildings, proposed in May 2020 and then withdrawn without prejudice. The proposal that was voted down on Aug. 18 would have added two sections of storage pods with a total area of 9,600 square feet.

    Noting that he needed a unanimous vote from the five board members, attorney Ben Zehnder, representing Niggel and her companies, Goeroe’s Goldens and Stow Away LLC, said at the start of the hearing that he might request a continuance if he believed he did not have the needed votes.

    “I am going to be paying particular attention to the members’ questions and their demeanor toward the project,” said Zehnder.

    About one hour later Zehnder said that, while he normally has a sense of how board members would vote, this time he was at a loss.

    “I would really hate to have this go to a vote and have one member holding an ace that I haven’t seen and we have a denial,” said Zehnder.

    Coppelman noted that, while he normally would allow a polling of board members, he did not think it was appropriate “in this particular case.”

    “I don’t know where we are,” said Coppelman. “You have a choice — ask for a vote or wait another month.”

    Zehnder asked if there were any further questions that board members needed addressed and, finding none, asked for the vote.

    Coppelman, Craig Nightingale, Jim Kivlehan, and Brian Earley voted to approve the special permit, with Manas, holding the ace, voting no.

    CONTRACTIONS

    Stow Away Storage Expansion at Willy’s, Continued

    Attorney Zehnder won’t promise not to come back for more

    By

    EASTHAM — A proposal by Willy’s Gym owner Barbara Niggel to expand the number of storage units at 4730 State Highway has been scaled back after a Cape Cod Commission (CCC) staff report indicated that the storage pods would be considered buildings, and their proposed size would have triggered an automatic CCC review of the development.

    Attorney Ben Zehnder, representing Niggel and her companies Goeroe’s Goldens LLC and Stow Away LLC, told the planning board at its July 21 public hearing that his client had assumed the storage pods were “personal property” and not buildings.

    For that reason, said Zehnder, Stow Away’s project engineer, John O’Reilly of Brewster, “went back, yet again, and redesigned to remove storage pods so that the total pod area, consisting of two sections of pods, was under 10,000 square feet.”

    storage units
    The existing storage units on the Willy’s Gym property. (Photo Ryan Fitzgerald)

    The thresholds for triggering a Cape Cod Commission review as a development of regional impact (DRI) are 10,000 square feet for building projects and 40,000 square feet for disturbed open area.

    Planning board member Jim Kivlehan pointed out the revised total area was 9,600 square feet, 400 feet short of triggering a review as a DRI.

    “What do we gain as a town if we go through the Cape Cod Commission review?” Kivlehan asked. “What would happen there? You’re trying to avoid it because, I can imagine, it’s bureaucratic.”

    Town Planner Paul Lagg replied that the CCC uses a different set of review criteria if the thresholds for a large project have been met. “They look at it not just through the lens of Eastham, but of the region,” said Lagg.

    A 4,800-square-foot storage unit building was dropped from the plan by Niggel earlier this year after an informal poll of planning board members indicated their intention to refer the project to the Cape Cod Commission.

    Zehnder commented that projects are typically engineered to come in under the DRI thresholds. “The Cape Cod Commission Act was passed in 1989,” he said. “And this 10,000-square-foot threshold — you can start in Orleans and go to P’town and count on both hands the number of projects that have been referred as mandatory DRIs.

    “There’s a presumption in the Cape Cod Commission Act in the DRI threshold,” he continued, “that if you keep under 10,000 square feet of building and 40,000 square feet of open area use you don’t have any regional impact.”

    Planning board member William Craig asked if Niggel, having avoided the DRI review by reducing the size of the project, might return to the board later with a plan for more storage units.

    “Are we going to be nibbled to death by ducks?” asked Craig.

    Zehnder replied that the Cape Cod Commission looked at segmentation and whether there was an intent to segment a proposal. “I think, in this particular case,” he said, “if the applicant were to come back and say, ‘Look, we want to add another 9,600 square feet of building on the property,’ I think it would get tagged as segmentation immediately.”

    Planning board chair Dan Coppleman asked Zehnder if he would agree to a condition that would forestall segmentation.

    “We have the right to come back and ask for it,” replied Zehnder.

    “I didn’t say you didn’t,” responded Coppelman. “We have the right to say no — if you were segmented.”

    The hearing was continued until Aug. 18. A work session was held on the project on Aug. 2.

    LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

    Fitness Training

    By

    In June 2019, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board of the District of Columbia considered a challenge to the renewal of a liquor license for the Trump International Hotel on the grounds that Donald Trump, the owner, “lacked good character.” A group of District residents including judges and members of the clergy asked the board to deny the license because, in their view, Trump “isn’t fit to run a bar,” the Washington Post reported.

    “Donald Trump, the true and actual owner of the Trump International Hotel, is not a person of good character,” the residents wrote. They reached that conclusion because of “certain lies he has told, his involvement in relevant fraudulent and other activity demonstrating his lack of integrity, and his refusal to abide by the law or to stop associating with known criminals.”

    It turns out licensing boards can and have denied or suspended liquor licenses of restaurants, clubs, and bars because of evidence of the moral unfitness of their owners or managers.

    Almost every state requires local officials with responsibility for issuing liquor licenses to examine the character of applicants. The website of the Mass. Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC) states that managers of businesses seeking liquor licenses “must be approved by both the ABCC and LLA [local licensing authority] with respect to his or her character.”

    Donald Trump managed somehow to get his license renewed. And so did Barbara Niggel, the owner of Willy’s World Wellness and Conference Center in Eastham, as we reported last week.

    When Niggel’s renewal first came up before the Eastham Select Board, its chair, Jamie Demetri, noted “multiple issues regarding … historic violations of the liquor license.” But board member Art Autorino objected to punishing Niggel for past actions. “She lost quite a lot of business,” he said, because of being shut down by the town for months. Autorino appears to have won that argument.

    The Independent has tried to report regularly on Willy’s troubles. Here’s what we know.

    Eastham shut Willy’s Gym after Niggel hosted an illegal after-hours party in the building in December 2019, when its automatic sprinkler system was broken. Willy’s had been cited for violating building, health, fire, electrical, and safety codes. That night, exits in the packed room were barricaded by furniture.

    Niggel has been sued at least 26 times by her employees and contractors for not paying them. The worst case was her refusal to pay the widow of her employee, Joe Abbott, almost $20,000 she owed him when he died of a heart attack at work. The state ordered her to do it, and she finally did.

    Niggel was indicted in 2014 for failure to pay unemployment taxes and had to pay $177,000 in restitution. After that, she was fined another $101,000 by the state for labor law violations.

    Finally, she has been credibly accused of identity fraud by one of her tenants, who agreed to drop charges after Niggel signed an agreement to pay her $100,000. After making five $2,000 payments, Niggel never followed through.

    Maybe the select board in Eastham believes that Niggel has done more than just rearrange the furniture at Willy’s but has had an actual change of heart. We’ll try to report on how it goes.

    REGULATION REPORT

    Willy’s Gets Its All-Alcohol License

    ABCC asked the town to ‘resolve any differences’

    By

    EASTHAM — The select board granted an all-alcohol liquor license for Willy’s World Wellness & Conference Center, doing business as Grateful Café, on July 12, just days before a scheduled Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) hearing on owner Barbara Niggel’s appeal of the board’s Jan. 4 denial of the license renewal.

    “The ABCC encouraged the Town and the applicant to attempt to resolve any differences so that the license could be issued,” Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe wrote in a memo to the board.

    At the January hearing, Beebe had cited the relocation of the bar and tables from an area adjacent to the kitchen to an area closer to the front entrance on the same floor as a “different license premise,” requiring an application for a new license instead of a renewal. She also argued that Willy’s was no longer functioning as a restaurant.

    Niggel’s attorney, Ben Zehnder, argued at the Jan. 4 hearing that food did not have to be hot or prepared on a “particular type of stove” and the relocated service area was within the same floor area with the same exits and entrances.

    Willy’s Gym in Eastham will now be able to expand its beverage offerings. (Photo Linda Culhane)

    Since that hearing, Niggel applied for a new food permit to allow the business to heat and serve meals. A common victualler’s license for the property was approved by the board in April.

    “We gave her the common vic because she did go through the process with Suzie [Assistant Health Agent Susan Barker], upgraded the kitchen, got the warming devices that she needed to get, and she is permitted for the food,” said Beebe at the July 12 meeting.

    Niggel agreed, as part of the all-alcohol license, that alcohol service would be confined to the 34 seats shown in the seating plan submitted to the board, that customers may not consume or possess alcohol outside the service area, that alcohol will be locked and inaccessible when not being served, that a TIPS (Training for Intervention Procedures) certified employee will have visual control over the service area and will ask the front desk person to observe the area when temporarily away, and that the hours of operation would be 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

    “Basically, we’re not asking this applicant to do anything that we don’t ask a normal all-alcohol permit to have, but it is new to this establishment, so we just wanted to make sure we have those guidelines in place,” Beebe explained.

    “I know we had concerns about where it was going to be located and make sure it was staffed and manned, and it seems those asks were presented,” said board vice chair Aimee Eckman.

    COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT

    Niggel Hits Roadblock in Storage Unit Review

    Zehnder threatens suit to challenge regulators’ interpretation of plan

    By

    EASTHAM — A new 4,800-square-foot storage unit building proposed by Barbara Niggel, the owner of Willy’s Gym, will be dropped from the project currently before the planning board after an informal poll of the members showed that they intended to refer the project to the Cape Cod Commission.

    Representing Niggel and her companies, Goeroe’s Goldens LLC and Stow Away LLC, attorney Ben Zehnder disagreed with an opinion from the commission that the new building’s area should be included in calculating the “disturbed area” of the development. If that number hits 40,000 square feet, referral to the Cape Cod Commission is automatic as a development of regional impact (DRI).

    Zehnder said Niggel had intentionally planned to locate 160 portable metal storage pods of various dimensions to cover 39,615 square feet, just below the 40,000-foot threshold, to avoid the mandatory referral.

    “I don’t think that’s a correct interpretation,” Zehnder said of the commission’s opinion. “That’s not an argument I’m going to prevail on in front of this board. That’s an argument we may prevail on in front of the Superior Court if, in fact, there’s a referral to the Cape Cod Commission based on those calculations — or we may elect to present this lower intensity proposal and then seek a declaratory judgment from a Superior Court about that mandatory DRI threshold.”

    With the building off the table, discussion focused on potential contamination of groundwater from hazardous liquids or petroleum products that might be stored in the units. The storage units would be located on a gravel surface.

    storage units
    The existing storage units on the Willy’s Gym property. (Photo Ryan Fitzgerald)

    The property, located in the Eastham Corridor Special District, is also in the groundwater protection overlay district, including the protection area for the town’s wells.

    “If the applicant wants to prove his property does not drain into the aquifer protection area, he’s more than free to do that with documentation,” said planning board chair Dan Coppelman. “I don’t believe he’ll be successful, but that’s what it does say in the rules.”

    Zehnder said leases would prohibit the storage of hazardous materials and petroleum products.

    “From what I’ve seen of self-storage facilities, nothing is regulated,” said Coppelman. “People go in and out as they wish. Nobody’s monitoring the situation.”

    Coppelman said he would ask for a monitoring program to ensure tenants are abiding by their leases.

    Zehnder said a program of inspections could be put into the leases but that it would be difficult to implement, as people put their own padlocks on their storage units. “You’re talking about us having a protocol for every key to every unit,” asked Zehnder.

    “I’m asking you to solve the problem,” replied Coppelman.

    “I don’t think there is a problem,” replied Zehnder. “We’re not allowed to store dead bodies in there either, but we’re not having a protocol of ‘Do not store dead bodies.’ ” He added that a recent Google search found no news in the last 30 years of hazardous waste being spilled from storage units on Cape Cod.

    The monitoring program could be a reporting system signed by the owners of the storage units annually, indicating there wasn’t any hazardous material in their units, noted Coppelman.

    “I will tell you, I am relentless on protecting this aquifer protection zone,” said Coppelman.

    The hearing was continued to the board’s July 21 meeting.

    BUSINESS NEWS

    Board Rejects Willy’s License Renewals

    Attorney Zehnder calls the town’s position ‘technocratic’

    By

    willys
    The sign at Willy’s touts the gym’s juice bar, but the owner is asking to renew its restaurant and alcohol licenses. (Photo Linda Culhane)

    EASTHAM — The select board voted four to one on Jan. 4 not to renew Willy’s World’s all-alcohol retail license and common victualer’s license, saying 2018 changes at the facility require a new application.

    “In 2018, the café was dismantled and it’s no longer adjacent to the kitchen,” said Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe. The bar and tables had been moved and “basically, the whole operation, except for the kitchen, was relocated to the lobby,” she said at the board’s public hearing.

    “My conclusion here is that we have a different license premise,” Beebe said. She noted that, under the state’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) rules, Willy’s should have informed both the ABCC and the town about those changes.

    A second issue, she said, was that, since 2018, the café-restaurant was no longer functioning as a restaurant.

    “The board of health has issued a retail-only food permit for this establishment for the last two years and for 2021,” said Beebe. “We did receive today a new menu from the applicant, and it looked great. So, it looks like she’s trying to make progress towards re-establishing a restaurant in the location, and that’s awesome, but, to me, that still indicates we have a new application and not a renewal.”

    Attorney Ben Zehnder, representing Willy’s owner Barbara Niggel, said the submission of the new menu was in response to “pushback at the administrative level.”

    “There is nothing that says it has to be hot, there’s nothing that says it has to be prepared on a particular type of stove,” Zehnder said of the food that defines a restaurant. “Tying this to the health approval is a technocratic way of non-renewing a license,” he said.

    Zehnder also said the serving area’s change of location was within the same floor area, and that exits and entrances haven’t changed.

    “That is what the ABCC is concerned about,” Zehnder said. “Obviously, they want to know the service area is contained and controlled.” He argued that the change “doesn’t in any significant way change the service area of the license.” And he noted the town had inspected the property annually, including since 2018, and had not raised issues over the change in service area.

    Board vice chair Aimee Eckman said that, while perhaps the town should have done something when the café switched from offering prepared food to prepackaged items, “It’s really not our problem that she’s scrambling two hours before the meeting to come up with a kitchen so we can approve a common victualer license.”

    Eckman also expressed concerns about the alcohol license: “We don’t have a plan for who’s going to be serving the alcohol, and we don’t have proof that they’re ABCC certified. There are still a lot of missing pieces.”

    Niggel pointed out that Eckman was at the facility when the fire marshal did a walk through. “You saw where the bar was,” she said, “where it has been for the service area for the bar and for the food since 2018. I’m only doing minimal. I’m not even really trying to open this during Covid, but I want my licenses. I paid for them every year. I paid for them in 2020 when we weren’t open for seven months.”

    Board member Arthur Autorino, who cast the dissenting vote, suggested the board define what the applicant needed to address within a given time frame. “What I’m trying to do is help a business succeed,” said Autorino.

    The applicant has five days to appeal the board’s decision to the ABCC, which could remand the application back to the town. Willy’s may file an application for new licenses at any time, said town counsel Jeffrey Blake.

    BACK PAY

    Gym Owner Pays Widow of Tennis Pro

    Niggel has appealed the Commonwealth’s other citations of workplace violations

    By

    EASTHAM — It took 15 months, a boycott of Willy’s Gym, and civil citations from the attorney general’s office, but Barbara Niggel has paid back wages to the widow of tennis pro Joe Abbott.

    Abbott, an instructor at Willy’s World Wellness and Conference Center, died of a heart attack on Aug. 7, 2019, while teaching a tennis lesson there.

    Only after his death did his wife, Francine Abbott, discover that Niggel, who owns Willy’s, owed her husband nearly $20,000 in unpaid wages.

    “My husband worked hard,” Francine, who lives in South Dennis, told the Independent last month. “He worked long days and he went above and beyond.”

    Many of Abbott’s students organized a campaign to persuade Niggel to repay his widow. Niggel, who has a documented history of lawsuits filed by employees and contractors who say they were not paid by her, did not return a call this week for comment.

    Following Abbott’s death, a pledge to boycott Willy’s was signed by 65 people, said Anne Sigsbee, a physician who lives in Orleans and was an organizer of the boycott. The boycott has cost Niggel thousands in tennis tournament fees, said David Bernstein, another organizer.

    On Saturday, Sigsbee sent out an email to those who had signed the pledge, telling them the news. Bruce Bierhans, Francine Abbott’s attorney, and Taylor Dauksewicz, Niggel’s attorney, both said the issue has been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. Abbott has received $17,741 in back pay.

    The gym owner also was fined $101,466 by the state attorney general’s office.

    Cooperation from Joe Abbott’s students helped Attorney General Maura Healey charge Niggel with civil citations for violating earned sick time laws, failure to make timely payment of wages, failure to furnish accurate records to the state, and misclassifying employees as independent contractors.

    Niggel, who has appealed the attorney general’s citations, has a pre-hearing phone conference scheduled for Nov. 20.

    It’s unclear how many of the tennis players will return to Willy’s. Sigsbee said she had not gone back yet.

    Bernstein, who lives in Eastham, said he will play there occasionally because he has friends who can’t drive to the Mid-Cape Athletic Club in South Yarmouth, where he is now a member. He could, he said, return to Willy’s anytime without paying a dime because he has a lifetime membership.

    UPDATE

    Willy’s Owner Appeals Restitution Order

    Niggel’s $4.6 million mortgage payoff was due on Sept. 30

    By

    EASTHAM — The owner of Willy’s Gym is appealing a state order to pay fines and restitution for various wage law violations, while friends of the gym’s late tennis pro Joe Abbott vow to continue their boycott of the gym until the money owed to his widow is paid.

    In August, the state attorney general’s office ordered Barbara Niggel to pay $101,466 for failing to furnish accurate payroll records, for misclassifying one or more employees as independent contractors, for violating the earned sick time law, for failing to keep sick time records, and failing to offer sick time to one or more employees.

    Attorney General Maura Healey also ordered Niggel to make restitution to two employees owed wages. She owed Abbott $17,741.43, according to the attorney general’s citation. Abbott, 63, died on Willy’s tennis courts on Aug. 7, 2019, of a heart attack while teaching classes. He had been moving heavy bags of construction material to redo the outdoor courts.

    “My husband worked hard,” said Francine Abbott of South Dennis, his widow. “He worked some long days and he went above and beyond.”

    Only upon his death did Francine discover that her husband was not paid for all his work. The Abbott case is similar to other complaints filed against Niggel, who has owned gyms in Eastham and Orleans since the 1980s. There have been 26 cases filed against Niggel in Orleans small claims court by vendors, employees, and contractors.

    When Abbott’s tennis students heard that his widow was owed wages, they organized a fund-raising effort and began a public campaign to get Niggel to pay Francine Abbott the outstanding sum.

    Sixty people have signed a pledge not to use the gym, even for tennis tournaments, said David Bernstein, one of the regular players. On Aug. 7, about 30 people held signs outside Willy’s to protest Niggel’s continued resistance to paying up.

    Abbott’s friends have gone so far as to write letters to GreenLake Asset Management LLC, in South Pasadena, Calif., which holds a $4.6 million mortgage on Niggel’s property. Their intention was to get GreenLake involved out of self-interest.

    “It would be a win-win,” Bernstein said. “Francine would be paid and Niggel could gain some income from people returning to use her gym and tennis courts.”

    That strategy has not worked yet, though Paul Diamond, GreenLake’s chief operating officer, did write a note back to Bernstein, stating, “Please understand that as a lender, we do not control or have a voice in the operation of the business. We have heard from several people who speak with great admiration and respect for Mr. Abbott, he surely must have been a wonderful person.”

    According to the mortgage document held by GreenLake Asset Management, Niggel was supposed to repay the entire $4.6 million loan on Sept. 30. It’s unknown if she has. No new documents have been recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds that indicate either a payoff or a refinancing, Bernstein said.

    “We are all holding our breath and wondering what is going to happen next,” Bernstein said.

    Paul Diamond of GreenLake did not respond to messages from the Independent, and Niggel refused to comment.

    Niggel has filed an appeal of the attorney general’s findings. Attorney Bruce Bierhans will represent Francine Abbott in the appeal before the Div. of Administrative Law Appeals. No hearing date has been scheduled yet, according to a spokesman for the division. The process could take a year or more, said Francine Abbott, adding, “All I can do is keep my faith.”

    ENFORCEMENT

    Willy’s Owner Fined $101,000 for Wage Law Violations

    Widow of tennis pro who died on the job will be compensated

    By

    EASTHAM — Barbara Niggel, the owner of Willy’s World Wellness & Conference Center, has been fined $101,466 by the state attorney general’s office for a litany of labor law violations.

    Attorney General Maura Healey’s Aug. 21 action came a year after Joe Abbott, the gym’s tennis pro, died on the job of a heart attack, a tragedy that prompted his longtime students and friends to stage a public protest against Niggel, who has for years been accused of repeatedly failing to pay her employees, contractors, and vendors.

    “It’s really sad, and it’s really gratifying,” said Ann Sigsbee, one of Abbott’s students, of the state’s ruling. “The outcry and pouring in of information from the community helped the attorney general seal the deal. The attorney general has said as much.”

    The fines, which are civil, not criminal, citations, are mostly to be paid to the state. But Niggel must give $18,436 to two employees as restitution for failing to make timely payment of wages from December 2018 to September 2019, according to the citation.

    Sigsbee said the bulk of that amount, $17,741, will go to Joe Abbott’s widow, Francine Abbott, of South Dennis. Another employee will get $695.

    Niggel, who has owned gyms since the 1980s in Orleans and Eastham, declined to comment.

    Abbott, 63, died on Aug. 7, 2019, while teaching classes and moving heavy bags of material to refurbish the outdoor tennis courts at the Eastham gym. After his death, his widow discovered that her husband had not been paid for about $20,000 of work, Francine Abbott told the Independent in March.

    Devoted students of the highly regarded tennis pro refused to go back to Willy’s. About 60 people have signed a letter to Niggel stating they won’t return until she pays Francine.

    It’s not clear if public attention to the dispute launched the attorney general’s action, but it certainly helped, Sigsbee said.

    The attorney general’s office found that Niggel failed to keep records of sick time earned, failed to make timely payment of wages, failed to furnish accurate records to the attorney general, misclassified workers as independent contractors, and violated the earned sick time law, according to Margaret Quackenbush, a spokesperson for Healey’s office.
    Sigsbee wondered if this latest finding will make a difference in Niggel’s behavior and the gym’s future. Niggel has had a Houdini-like resilience for years, having extricated herself and her business time and again from accusations and enforcement actions.

    In 2014 Niggel was indicted for failing to pay unemployment tax and had to pay the state $177,081 in restitution. In 2015, the electric company Eversource shut off her power because of a large unpaid bill. In 2018, the ceiling of the gym’s saltwater pool partially collapsed into the pool due to extreme moisture buildup and poor ventilation, according to the town building inspector’s report.

    She recently reopened the gym after it was closed by the Eastham building inspector, who found the gym violated fire codes, building codes, and electrical codes. Though her sprinkler system no longer worked, she hosted a large after-hours party in the gym in December 2019. When Eastham’s fire chief and the town administrator saw video of the party, circulated on social media, they shut down the gym and required the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems to be redone, along with the electrical and fire suppression systems.

    Those who signed the letter of protest to Niggel say they won’t actually go back to being customers at Willy’s until Francine has the cash in hand, Sigsbee said.

    “It’s not over yet,” she added. “Barbara can appeal.”

    DEBT OF GRATITUDE

    Friends of Willy’s Coach Press Niggel to Pay His Widow

    Remembrance and protest on the anniversary of Joe Abbott’s death

    By

    EASTHAM — About 50 people gathered outside Willy’s World Wellness & Conference Center on Aug. 7, marking one year since the death of tennis coach Joe Abbott, who collapsed at work on the gym’s tennis courts.

    They held signs remembering Abbott, but said they were also there in protest, because Willy’s owner, Barbara Niggel, has not paid Abbott’s widow the $20,000 Niggel allegedly owed Abbott when he died.

    “Be Kind, Be Decent, Willy’s Pay Joe What You Owe,” read the sign held by David Bernstein, a tennis player who started a GoFundMe campaign after Abbott, of South Dennis, died at age 63 of a heart attack on Aug. 7, 2019. The campaign raised about $40,000.

    Bernstein and other students of Abbott say they are not done trying to help Francine Abbott, Joe’s widow, as well as his six children and 12 grandchildren.

    Ms. Abbott did not want to comment about the money at the protest Friday, but said, “Everyone who is here is why Joe came to work in the morning. And they became my support system this past year. They were his family, and now, they are my family.”

    Students and friends held signs honoring tennis coach Joe Abbott in front of Willy’s Gym on the anniversary of his death. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    Niggel, through her attorney, Ed Kirk, has disputed Abbott’s claim. Kirk told the Independent in March, “If and to the extent it is demonstrated that Joe Abbott was owed any money at the time of his death, that amount will be paid. Given her long-standing relationship with Joe Abbott, my client would be of the opinion that Joe Abbott would not be happy with the allegations being made against my client at this time.”

    Bernstein said Abbott was very loyal to Niggel, who has a long history, documented by numerous small claims in Orleans District Court, of failing to pay contractors and employees, as well as violating building, health, and safety codes, which caused the town of Eastham to shut down the gym for months last December.

    Bernstein said Niggel is asking Francine to “jump through hoops” to document the money owed. He and Abbott’s other supporters say they won’t pay fees or use the newly reopened gym until the money is paid.

    Protestors also said they were upset about the way Abbott died, immediately after strenuous work to resurface the outdoor courts on a hot August day. They said Niggel had collected extra money from the tennis players to hire a professional contractor for the project.

    The day Abbott died, he had been hauling 80-pound bags of material to resurface the courts, said Betsie Lind of Eastham, a longtime student of Abbott’s. Lind said he then began her lesson, but promptly stopped, saying he was feeling too hot and needed to sit down.

    Lind said Abbott was sweating profusely. She tried to use the downstairs phone by the indoor tennis courts, but it did not work, so she dialed 911 on her cell phone.

    Lind remembered Abbott as more than a tennis instructor. “He was more like a life coach,” she said.

    Mary Gulrich, one of Abbott’s students from Eastham, added, “He treated each of us with dignity and respect and greeted us with hugs and joy.”

    “We are very saddened that it’s been a full year and we’re still waiting for Francine to be paid,” said Anne Sigsbee, another of Abbott’s students who joined the protest.

    Along with private lessons, Abbott coached several teams, including a men’s team that went on in February to win a U.S. Tennis Association national championship in Florida.

    currents

    This Week in Eastham

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take part remotely.

    Tuesday, Aug. 11

    • Conservation Commission, 6 p.m.

    Wednesday, Aug. 12

    • Finance Committee, 5 p.m.

    Covid-19 Update

    As of July 30, the number of confirmed cases in Eastham was 14. The number of cases increased from 12 last week, according to the town’s website.

    Willy’s Protest

    A protest outside Willy’s Gym is planned to begin at 8 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 7. Anne Sigsbee has organized the protest for the one-year anniversary of the death of Joe Abbott, a longtime tennis instructor at the gym.

    “It will be a year since Joe died and many of us are very aware that his family has not been paid what he was owed when he died,” Sigsbee told the Independent.

    The Independent reported in March that Francine Abbott of South Dennis, Joe Abbott’s widow, claims that Willy’s owner Barbara Niggel owed him more than $20,000 in unpaid wages and loans when he died last year. Niggel has denied this and has hired a lawyer to represent her in the dispute.

    “We felt to honor him and his family we would speak up,” Sigsbee said. “Some of us feel strongly and will not use the facilities until we learn that they’ve been paid what they’re owed.”

    The protest will be an all-day event with most people showing up around midday, Sigsbee said. She expects 20 or more people to attend, including Abbott’s family, and participants will be wearing masks and remain socially distanced.

    “Joe’s family is very supportive and will be there,” she said.

    Anyone planning to attend should wear a mask; signs are welcome.

    Nauset Schools to Reveal Opening Plan Aug. 6

    Nauset Regional School Supt. Tom Conrad will announce the district’s reopening plans for the fall at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 6.

    So far all that has been announced to parents is that the Nauset district, which spans Wellfleet to Brewster, will most likely open late, on Sept. 16, to give teachers time for training and to be ready for a school year guaranteed to include distance learning for families needing that option and a lot of hand sanitizer.

    Other than that, Conrad’s message will lay out details on whether all students go back to a brick-and-mortar school, continue “distant learning,” or a combination of both.

    To get on the Zoom call, follow these instructions: Go to nausetschools.org. Scroll down the Quick Links and select “Event Calendar” and then click on the event listed on Aug. 6. Click next on the “Description, 8-6-2020.” This will take you, finally, to the agenda and Zoom meeting link.

    Rock Harbor Open Again

    The Rock Harbor boat ramp is open again, according to Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe. She gave an update to the select board on Aug. 3 on the completion of the project to repave and replace the boat ramp in the area.

    Beebe said Harbormaster Scott Richards will be at the harbor assisting boats in and out of the area. The town waited to see what the weather was like earlier this week but planned on opening the boat ramp after Wednesday.

    “Our docks and floats are in the water and we have everything set up to receive boats at this point,” Beebe said. “The ramp portion is complete; the parking lot was repaved two days ago and is ready to be driven on.”

    The line markers for parking spaces will be drawn either this week or next week.

    Register to Vote

    The last day to register to vote in Eastham for the state primary election, to be held on Sept. 1, is Saturday, Aug. 22 at the police station. The deadline to request a mail-in AV or EV ballot is Wednesday, Aug. 26 at 5 p.m. and to request an AV or EV in person is Monday, Aug. 31 until noon.

    Early voting for the primary will be held at town hall on Saturday, Aug. 22 and Sunday, Aug. 23 from 9 to 11 a.m. and on Monday, Aug. 24 through Friday, Aug. 28 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

    The last day to register to vote at the annual town meeting, to be held on Sept. 21, is Tuesday, Sept. 1 until 5 p.m.

    Kerry Steps Down from Strategic Planning

    In a letter to the select board, Scott Kerry announced he will be stepping down from the strategic planning committee but said he would still provide input as a resident.

    “I would like to offer my services and experiences as a business owner, father of an elementary school student, and long-time resident if needed and/or desired,” Kerry wrote. “I will plan to make future meetings when my schedule permits.”

    Kerry is the new town moderator and chair of the T-Time Development Committee. —Ryan Fitzgerald

    INVESTIGATION

    Willy’s Gym Owner Is Accused of Identity Fraud

    Barbara Niggel is said to have agreed to pay for dropping of charge

    By

    EASTHAM — Virginia Reynolds was working in the summer of 2018 at Bayside Consignment, a now-defunct shop on Route 6, when, she says, Barbara Niggel, the owner of the building, came into the store and asked Reynolds for help.

    Niggel, the owner of Willy’s World gym, told Reynolds that she feared she would lose her business, and asked Reynolds if she would co-sign a loan.

    The two women have known each other since the 1980s, when they played together in a women’s softball league in Orleans. Reynolds says she was aware of Niggel’s reputation for questionable business practices and unpaid wages and loans. (See “Willy’s Makes Progress, but Snags Remain,” the Independent, March 12, 2020.) Like many others, however, Reynolds fell victim, she now says, to the martial arts master’s charm and guile.

    Reynolds says that Niggel now owes her $90,000 — the unpaid remainder of the $100,000 Niggel promised to pay in exchange for Reynolds dropping criminal charges of identity fraud against her. Through one of her many lawyers, Edward W. Kirk of Osterville, Niggel denies the charges.

    Niggel is preparing to reopen Willy’s, which building and fire inspectors shuttered for health and safety violations on Dec. 12. These included holding an after-hours party in December, even though the gym was under a special “fire watch” condition because the sprinkler and fire alarm systems were not working.

    Niggel has now, according to town officials and emails she has sent to gym members, repaired the heating and air-conditioning system and met all requirements to comply with building and fire codes.

    Tipped Off by Credit Denial

    On that day in mid-August 2018, Reynolds says, she told Niggel she would think about her request to co-sign a loan. Niggel then asked for her Social Security number in order to check her credit, Reynolds later told Eastham Police Officer Andi Williams.

    She gave her the number.

    “I was working for [Niggel] under the table, and I had to give her my Social Security number at some point anyway, so I gave it to her right then,” Reynolds told the Independent.

    A few weeks later Reynolds received letters from three different banks, informing her that they had denied her credit on a loan application — not for a business loan, but to buy a Land Rover.

    Reynolds discovered that her name, signature, and Social Security number appeared on a credit application at Land Rover of Cape Cod. Next to her personal information was the other co-signer: Harrison Niggel, Barbara Niggel’s son.

    Reynolds called the police.

    According to Officer Williams’s report, Land Rover of Cape Cod Manager Ken Cooper told police that Barbara and Harrison Niggel went to the dealership on Aug. 31, 2018 to inquire about a new car. When they filled out a loan application, Niggel told the car salesman that  “Ms. Reynolds was Mr. Niggel’s aunt and that she had agreed to be the co-signer.”

    According to the police report, Cooper told Officer Williams that Reynolds “gave verbal confirmation [on the phone] that she was agreeing to co-sign.”

    But then Cooper added that “this was probably a lie and that someone else was pretending to be Ms. Reynolds on the phone,” according to the police report.

    On Aug. 31, Niggel wrote a check for a down payment to Land Rover Cape Cod on the account of “Stowaway LLC,” one of her businesses. The check was never cashed because credit was denied. Reynolds told the Independent that she believes the car was intended for the use of Ben Niggel, Harrison’s brother, who is currently an undergraduate at Harvard and was just elected to a three-year term on the Eastham Elementary School Committee.

    At this point, the report shows, Officer Williams authorized a summons ordering Harrison Niggel to appear in court to face a charge of identity fraud.

    According to court records, the person summonsed on the fraud charge was Barbara Niggel, not her son. There is no explanation in the record for the change in respondent.

    A $100,000 Deal

    Before the charge resulted in an arraignment, Reynolds says, she received a call from Niggel, who offered her a deal: Niggel would pay Reynolds $100,000 if she agreed not to press charges against her or her son.

    Reynolds demanded a written contract, so Niggel and Matt Bober, a Chatham attorney, produced one stating Niggel would pay Reynolds $2,000 a month for more than four years, for a total of $100,000, if she would not bring criminal charges.

    They signed the settlement agreement at Orleans District Court, Reynolds says.

    “I received five payments and that was it,” says Reynolds, who now works at Walmart in Falmouth. “I got $10,000 and I was supposed to get $100,000. Her lawyer had me buffaloed; I was just using the district attorney. Once she signed the contract, I thought that was good as gold, but I guess you can break a contract.”

    This is hardly the first time that people have accused Barbara Niggel of failing to honor a financial agreement. There have been 26 claims filed against her in Orleans District Court since 2007. They came from contractors who had not been paid for their work, vendors not reimbursed for their products, and employees or business partners who had not been compensated as per agreement. Identity fraud was the only criminal charge.

    Reynolds says she must now hire a lawyer to collect the money she is owed.

    “I need $3,000 to hire an attorney,” she says. “I never should have gone on her word. I’ve known her since the 1980s, and she has not changed. I took her word and trusted her signature,” she says, adding that she now understands the signature was worthless.

    Asked to comment for this article, Niggel’s lawyer Edward Kirk stated that his client “denies the allegations.” He would not confirm the existence of a settlement agreement between Niggel and Reynolds, but wrote, “If there were such an agreement…, it is apparent from the allegations contained in your correspondence with me and with Attorney Matthew Bober that Ms. Reynolds is clearly in violation of such an agreement.”

    Attorney Bober did not respond to email or telephone messages seeking comment.

    WORKING OUT THE KINKS

    Willy’s Gym Gets Closer to Reopening

    Niggel says facility is up to code; outdoor courts to open first

    By

    EASTHAM — Willy’s Gym claims it is now eligible to reopen when all gyms and fitness centers are permitted to do so under phase three of Gov. Charlie Baker’s reopening plan. Barbara Niggel, the owner of Willy’s, said in a June 11 email to members that the gym has met all the necessary requirements.

    “I am happy to say that the facility has met all Federal, State and Local codes for a commercial business,” Niggel wrote in the email. “We are eager to move forward in a healthy, fun and relaxed environment with our members and guests and the community we love. The past months have been difficult, but my commitment to the club has never wavered. I sincerely hope that you will return with an open and positive mind.”

    A final inspection by the town’s health, fire, and building depts. was scheduled for Wednesday, June 10, according to Building Commissioner Tom Wingard. But neither Wingard nor Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe responded to multiple requests to confirm that the gym had passed inspection.

    Niggel’s emails since June 10 suggest that the gym did pass. Phase three is set to begin as early as June 29, as long as pandemic indicators support the move.

    “Once the Governor gives the ‘green light,’ which is expected in Phase 3, we will begin the opening of the indoor facilities as allowed,” Niggel wrote in the June 11 email. “This is a fluid situation, and we will continue to make on-going adjustments as necessary, and quickly.”

    Willy’s was shut down prior to the Covid-19 crisis, on Dec. 12, 2019, due to numerous health and safety violations, after Wingard posted a notice on the building. Videos on social media revealed that, at a holiday party held inside Willy’s on Dec. 7, an exit door was blocked by exercise equipment that had been pushed to the wall.

    Niggel said she planned to open the outdoor tennis courts at the facility before the gym itself, as outdoor recreation is currently permitted under phase two guidelines. In a June 14 email, she said the courts were scheduled to open “in a matter of days.”

    Those interested in playing tennis must register online. A maximum of four players will be allowed per court at a cost of $40 per hour or $60 for an hour and a half, which can be split by the players. Nonmembers must pay an additional $10.

    Players on the outdoor courts must supply their own masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, balls, towels, water, and tennis equipment, according to Niggel. The courts will be brushed by a Willy’s staff member after use. Players are asked not to touch any club equipment.

    Niggel listed a number of improvements the gym has made, including a new fire panel, new fire sprinkler system, updated plumbing and electrical systems, and a new emergency exit added to the functional training facility.

    “We appreciate your flexibility and patience with this ever-changing situation,” Niggel wrote to her email list. “It is our goal to make necessary adjustments in a timely manner while supplying you with clear guidelines.”

    UPDATE

    Willy’s Looks to Reopen

    This week’s final inspection is the last hurdle

    By

    EASTHAM — A final inspection by the town’s health, fire, and building depts., scheduled for Wednesday, June 10, could lead to the reopening of Willy’s World and Conference Center, which is owned and operated by Barbara Niggel.

    Eastham Building Commissioner Tom Wingard told the Independent that if the gym cleared this final hurdle, it would receive certificates of inspection and authenticity, and be able to reopen when Gov. Charlie Baker allows gyms to do so.

    Gyms and fitness centers are set to reopen in phase three of the state’s reopening plan, according to mass.gov.

    “All the work that we requested and needed to have done has been done,” Wingard said last week. It’s just a matter of completing the inspection that remains as the final stage. We’re hopeful,” he said.

    Willy’s was temporarily shut down on Dec. 12, 2019, because of numerous health and safety violations.

    Wingard’s notice posted outside the gym then read: “The structure has been inspected and is unsafe to occupy as described below: life safety concerns, numerous violations, including work without permits, failure to maintain equipment, etc.”

    The Independent reported in January that four weeks before Wingard’s action, on Nov. 14, the fire dept. came to Willy’s after a gym member told an employee there was smoke in a back hallway by the locker room, according to Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe. Fire officials found light smoke in a utility room and a strong electrical smell, along with an improperly vented gas heater in the sauna-hot tub area and multiple electric space heaters all over the building. They ordered them removed.

    It was also reported that a holiday party was held inside Willy’s on Dec. 7. Videos of the party on social media revealed an exit door blocked by exercise equipment pushed to the wall.

    Since the gym’s closing, Niggel has sent numerous emails to its members informing them of progress toward compliance with the town’s orders.

    In a March 25 email to members Niggel listed 20 improvements that had been made to the gym, including a new sprinkler system, new fire panel, new LED lighting in tennis and turf areas, and new heating and air conditioning throughout the building.

    “I’ve heard it’s been great work done,” Wingard said.

    “During the months Willy’s was closed, I have worked diligently to produce the best club on the Cape,” Niggel wrote in a May 19 email to members. “The club has been totally overhauled with new lights and newly resurfaced and painted courts for tennis and pickleball, new gym equipment, etc. (we will send a full list under separate cover) and many safety and health features. I have composed a manual that explicitly details the new guidelines to be implemented. At a later date, you will receive this under separate cover. The club is now a reality! But the ‘new reality’ is that I cannot open as soon as expected.”

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