DANVERS — Like a lot of Americans his age, 55-year-old Jorge Cruz Hernandez lost his job at a commercial cleaning company and found himself facing hard times.
After more than two years out of work, in 2010, Hernandez was forced to apply for benefits from the Department of Transitional Assistance, what used to be known as welfare.
That's when he discovered his Social Security number was being used by someone else — and that it was his former employer, Danvers-based SJ Services, that had given it to another employee, a lawsuit filed yesterday in Salem Superior Court alleges.
The owner of SJ Services, Shawn Shea, did not return phone calls left by The Salem News at his office yesterday.
"Our suspicion is that they were using my client's Social Security number for someone who may have been undocumented," lawyer Josef Culik said yesterday.
Hernandez, of Lynn, is originally from Puerto Rico and is an American citizen.
"Since Mr. Hernandez doesn't speak English, they felt they could take advantage of him," said Culik, a Woburn attorney.
Hernandez worked for SJ until 2008.
Two years later, when he applied for benefits, he got a letter denying them because state records showed that he worked for SJ until Sept. 30, 2010.
He subsequently learned SJ had allowed another employee to use his Social Security number to report income to the Department of Revenue and the IRS, the lawsuit says.
The SJ manager who told him that, Jose Sanz, also suggested that he ought to file taxes for 2009 and 2010 for that income earned by the other worker, offering to send him the documentation he would need, the lawsuit alleges.
Reached for comment yesterday, Sanz said Hernandez had worked for him but when asked about the allegations, said, "I don't know nothing about that," and referred further questions to Shawn Shea, the owner.
Phone messages left for Shea was not returned yesterday afternoon.
Culik said in the complaint that Hernandez told Sanz he did not want to file tax returns for income he never earned or received.
He also has no idea how much money the other employee was paid or whether his name was also used.
Months later, Sanz sent Hernandez a letter, addressed "To whom it may concern," saying Hernandez had left in May 2010, two years after he actually lost his job.
Culik said he has reported the situation to the IRS by filing an affidavit of identity fraud but hasn't heard of any actions that were taken.
He also tried, without success, to obtain a copy of Hernandez's personnel file, something to which Hernandez is legally entitled.
The lawsuit seeks damages for violations of the state's privacy and anti-discrimination laws and Hernandez's civil rights, and for negligence on the part of the company.
Hernandez, financially, is "still in limbo," his lawyer said.
Since he began looking into the matter, Culik said he's learned of another former employee who had his personal information used by a different employee. That worker died, however, before he could pursue the matter.
"What my client would like is to be sure there aren't more people going around with his identity," Culik said.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis may be reached at 978-338-2521 or jmanganis@salemnews.com.
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