Ex-employee's suit rips Windowizards

A former employee alleged in a lawsuit filed in state court that the owners of the ill-fated Windowizards have long used company money to pay for personal expenses, including Eagles tickets and a bar mitzvah photographer.

Richard Friedenberg, the son-in-law of one of Windowizards' owners, Barry Goodman, sued the company in April after he was laid off and denied severance pay in December 2009.

Friedenberg's suit alleges that Windowizards "has relatively little if any assets from which it can meet its monthly financial obligations," yet the Goodmans "have accumulated things such as vacation homes and expensive motor vehicles," and have used the company's "assets to pay for expensive parties for their children and relatives."

The suit was filed against co-owners Barry and Harvey Goodman, and president David Goodman, who is Harvey's son. Attorney Adam Silverstein, who is representing the Goodmans, did not return a call for comment.

Friedenberg's wife, who is Barry Goodman's daughter, is also listed as using company funds in the suit.

Windowizards quietly shuttered its operation this week, telling workers on Wednesday and Thursday that they were out of a job and leaving customers to wonder if they'll ever get their deposits back or home projects completed.

A 58-year-old contractor who supervised a team of about 35 contractors was told in the Windowizards' parking lot in Levittown on Thursday that everyone was out of work. The contractors were supposed to pick up their checks that day, which would have been worth at least $4,000.

"I'm really sad about it," the contractor said, breaking down in tears. "There's nothing we can do. We got screwed."

The contractor, who declined to give his name, said that he worked with the company for 20 years.

He said he and other contractors were collecting scrap metal from around the closed business to collect some cash.

It's still not clear how Windowizards' customers - many of whom had planned to take advantage of federal tax credits that run out this month for energy-efficient windows - will get their deposits back.

"We're extremely concerned whenever a business closes suddenly and the customer did not receive what they paid for," said Nils Frederiksen, spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office. "The best thing consumers can do right now is provide us with information" including invoices, receipts, sales arrangements and an account of what the company told them.

Anyone who has a deposit with Windowizards should call the Attorney General's Office at 1-800-441-2555 or go to its website. Employees should call the U.S. Department of Labor at 215-597-4950.

Meanwhile, David Goodman has started a new business, Bathwraps Today, which was operated out of the Windowizards' office on Bristol Pike near Green Lane, in Levittown, until about a month ago. The website for Bathwraps Today, unlike the one for Windowizards, is up and running and features a slide show of swank bathroom improvements.