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WASHINGTON - Former employee of the now-defunct Hawk One Security company say they still haven't been paid, and District officials say the matter will likely be decided in court.

The former workers met with D.C. Council members Kwame Brown and Tommy Wells, who tried to comfort the frustrated and financially strapped.

After 30 years as a security guard, Carlene Olobayo doesn't know what she's going to do.

"Now I'm thinking I'm going to lose my home," she said.

Her mortgage is due but she can't make the payment without her paycheck, she says. She had hoped Hawk One employees received a text message saying the checks were ready to be picked up. But when they gathered outside the company's headquarters, no one was paid. Now they're turning to D.C. leaders for help.

"That's why I'm here," Olobayo said, "I want the government to tell me something, to let me know who's going to pay, who's going to help me keep my roof over my head,"

D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles laid out the complicated financial tale Wednesday. While Hawk One says it can't pay employees until the City pays it, Nickles said Hawk One owes the city and the IRS has a $4 million lien against the company. Before the workers get paid, the D.C. Department of Labor, the IRS, and the District need to figure out who owes what to whom.

"How the workers are going to fare in all of this is probably going to be determined by a bankruptcy judge," Nickles said. "It's a very complex matter and it's got to be sorted out."

Nickles proposed putting the city's money in escrow to avoid a potential lawsuit.

"We're going to try to expedite it as quickly as we can," Nickels said.

D.C.'s Department of Labor says it wants any money the city pays Hawk One to go to the failed company's unpaid workers. But it seems unlikely it will come soon enough to help Carlene and her former co-workers.

An attorney for Hawk One blamed the city for the paycheck problems, telling NewsChannel 8 Wednesday that if District hadn't cut ties with the company, Hawk One wouldn't have folded, depriving employees of their paychecks.

Hawk One says it is working diligently with the government to put money in the employees' hands because the workers deserve their paychecks.But when that will happen remains unclear.

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