Teachers sue Baltimore City schools, nonprofit LTYC over unpaid wages

Maryland teachers contracted through a nonprofit program providing arts education in schools are suing, claiming they weren’t paid for several months of work, according to the law firm Hoffman Employment Law, LLC.

The law firm states that eight teachers from various schools in the Baltimore City Public School District have filed a lawsuit against the city school district and the program Leaders of Tomorrow Youth Center (LTYC).

LTYC, based in a Mount Vernon office in Baltimore, gets contracts with school systems and other groups, then contracts with the educators.

The lawsuit claims that teachers have not been paid wages owed to them from April, May, and June.

“To say that these teachers have been harmed by LTYC’s failure to pay wages would be an understatement,” the law firm said in a statement. “Bills and rent have now gone unpaid, loans have been taken out to make ends meet, but interest continues to accumulate, and credit scores have tanked.”

The Baltimore City Public School System told WJZ Investigates that, “City Schools expects its vendors to treat their employees fairly, including compensating them for their contributions.”

The district also blamed LTYC, stating, “We have been clear that any failure on the part of LTYC to pay their employees is solely the responsibility of LTYC. City Schools has paid its obligations to LTYC, more than $600,000 to date, as authorized in our purchase order.”

WJZ reached out to Dr. Dermell Brunson, the founder and president of LTYC, for a comment on this lawsuit, but has not heard back.

What does the lawsuit allege?

WJZ has previously covered the teachers’ fight to regain the money they believe they are owed.

School districts in Maryland — including in Baltimore City and Baltimore County — contract with nonprofit LTYC to provide arts education in the schools.   

The teachers named in the lawsuit were hired and paid by LTYC, but were working with the children across many schools. 

“Although they were hired and paid by LTYC, these teachers were just like any other teacher at the school, subject to the same rules and policies, directed by school administrators, and sharing the same passion, care, and love for their students,” the law firm said.

According to Hoffman Employment Law, LLC, LTYC essentially operated as a staffing agency, hiring and placing teachers on a $7.5 million contract with Baltimore City Public Schools that ran between February 2023 through June 30, 2025. 

The lawsuit claims that LTYC, which had paid its teachers once a month on the 15th for the hours they worked in the prior month, stopped paying its teachers on December 15, 2024.

The teachers were then paid half of their owed wages several days later, with the other half paid days after that, the lawsuit says.

The teachers claim they were paid their wages later and later, until the payments ultimately stopped.

“To date, these eight Plaintiffs have never received their full wages for the month of April 2025, and have not received any wages whatsoever for the months of May or June 2025,” according to Hoffman Employment Law, LLC.

The organization also operates in Washington, D.C. and Virginia.  

Instructors say they are owed thousands

In August, several teachers contacted WJZ Investigates about late payments by LTYC.

Cedric Benning, who has taught media arts for eight years under contracts with LTYC, said his bills are piling up.

“Everything is behind,” Benning said. “I haven’t paid the car note. I haven’t paid anything in months. I’ve been on the phone with debt collectors trying to work it out with them the best I can.”

Benning told WJZ he loved working at Baltimore’s Booker T. Washington Middle School, but he could not afford the uncertainty anymore. 

“A lot of these schools don’t have arts, so when you’re blessed with the opportunity to present them, you take full advantage of it,” Benning said.

Jermaine Melvin, who has taught dance for four years, contracting with LTYC, said he is owed about $12,000. 

“That’s not something that I’m just going to forget about and walk away. We are all here in debt because of this,” Melvin said. “Our credit is messed up. I’m behind on bills. I’m negative in my account right now.”

Camrie Hilton, a former program administrator for LTYC, said instructors are owed anywhere from $2,000 to as much as $17,000. 

“Ultimately, the children are affected. The children and the schools in our community are affected,” Hilton said.

Wiping back tears, her colleague Valerie Hall-Butler said, “Hearing this breaks my heart because they shouldn’t have to go through this. I feel like I struggle now because of what has happened. I haven’t done this since I left home on my own.”

Hall-Butler, a visual arts instructor who has contracted with LTYC since 2019, said she is owed a little more than $2,000. 

“It angers me because we stuck it out to the end,” she said. “We were committed, dedicated, and we gave everything. We left it all at the doorstep of every school that we were in.” 

Nonprofit’s president speaks

Dr. Dermell Brunson, who founded LTYC two decades ago and is the president of the organization, was named in the lawsuit. Brunson spoke with WJZ Investigates in August to address the complaints. 

“This last year has been the toughest year on record for LTYC, mainly because of the late payments from districts, but also because of just the climate for nonprofits,” Brunson said. 

Brunson said he understands the frustration and anger. 

He said that close to 40 instructors may be owed money. However, he pushed back on claims that they are owed as much as $17,000. 

“There’s no one instructor making more than $5,000 to $6,000 in one month,” Brunson said. 

Brunson told WJZ he respects the teachers and does not want to cast blame, but he insists the delays are due to school systems and other vendors failing to pay him on time.

“We did everything we could as far as preparing the staff. We sat everyone down last August — maybe months before we started to have the real issue of the delayed payments — to let them know exactly what was happening,” Brunson said. 

Brunson estimated his organization is owed about $350,000, not only from Baltimore City.

“I just want to make that clear. This is not about a bash or a singling out of Baltimore City,” Brunson said. “That’s not what we’re up to. There are multiple districts combined that make up that roughly $347,000 and some change that we’re still out currently.”  

Baltimore-area schools respond to LTYC’s payment claims

Charles Herndon, with Baltimore County Public Schools, said, “Leaders of Tomorrow’s Youth Center, Inc., is an approved BCPS vendor that provides student mentoring and out-of-school arts programs. Payment times are currently 4 to 6 weeks from the receipt of an approved invoice.”

In Baltimore City, Sherry Christian, City Schools’ public relations manager, sent WJZ Investigates information about a contract with LTYC that ran from February 2023 to the end of June 2025, worth $4.5 million. 

City Schools noted LTYC now has a contract through June 2026 and served 13 schools during the 2024-2025 school year.     

“To date, City Schools has issued payments totaling more than $605,000. We remain in communication with LTYC to address any existing payment issues related to incomplete or unsupported invoices,” the statement said. 

Baltimore City Schools also told WJZ there are “unpaid invoices from LTYC totaling $31,266. The primary reason these invoices haven’t been paid is that LTYC is performing services beyond the amount authorized in the purchase order, which is not compliant with our procurement procedures.”

“To be clear, any failure on the part of LTYC to pay its employees is solely the responsibility of LTYC. Any inquiries regarding this matter should be directed to the organization’s president and founder, Dr. Dermell Brunson,” the statement said.