23-201. Obtaining labor by false pretenses;
civil liability; classification
A. A person who employs for wages any person in any occupation, and who at the time
of employing him does not have sufficient assets within the county in which the work or
labor is to be performed over and above all exemptions allowed by law to cover the amount
of wages accruing to the employee for the term of two weeks, and who makes false
representations or pretenses as to having such assets, and after labor has been done by
the employee under such employment, fails, upon the employee's discharge or resignation,
or for a period of five days after the wages are payable, to pay the employee, on demand,
the wages due, is guilty of obtaining labor under false pretenses.
B. Upon conviction, and in the same proceeding, judgment shall be rendered in favor
of the employee and against the employer for all wages unpaid, together with a reasonable
attorney's fee to be fixed by the court. The judgment shall also include compensation to
the employee at the same rate at which the wages were agreed to be paid, from the time
they became due until the judgment is satisfied.
C. The judgment shall be a first and prior lien against the property of the
employer upon which the work and labor was performed.
D. Obtaining labor under false pretenses is a class 1 misdemeanor.
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