You're owed about $25,548. Here's how you get it.

How we got the hours. Your log only shows your base hours. You worked 7 days a week, 8 to 9 hours, in 3-week stretches. Your log shows 19 weeks where you were working 4 or more days, so we counted those as 7-day weeks at 56 hours (7 × 8, the low end). At 7 × 9 it would be about $30,535. Fix any week in the overtime calendar and the total updates.

Overtime is still owed even though you agreed to $25 with no overtime. Washington law says a deal to take less than the law requires is no defense (RCW 49.46.090). Every hour over 40 in a week pays $37.50.

What each path pays:

• L&I: about $25,548 plus 1% interest a monthL&I gets you your wages and interest. It can't double them, and it can't pay for the stress or for being homeless.
• Court, with a lawyer: up to double, about $51,000, plus your lawyer's feesHolding back wages on purpose can make Bernard owe double (RCW 49.52.070), and he can be personally on the hook. Agreeing to no overtime probably doesn't stop this, because you never agreed to go unpaid. Most cases settle for less than the most you could win.
• Your hearing and eye injuries: a separate workers' comp claimMedical care, pay for time you couldn't work, and a cash award for permanent hearing loss. If your hearing or eye injury affects your mental health, that can be covered too. Tell your doctor.

What backs this up: your hours log, Bernard's 38 Cash App payments with memos like "partial pay for hours worked," his June 15 text "I don't owe you no 7," your texts telling him your hours, and John and Franer.

The wage money will take months. Don't wait on it for a place to stay or food.

• Call or text 2-1-1King County, weekdays 8am to 6pm. Say: "I'm a single adult about to be homeless in Federal Way." They connect you to shelter and housing help.
• Coordinated Entry: Multi-Service Center, 1200 S 336th St, Federal WayDrop-in Tuesdays 9am to noon, screening Wednesdays 2 to 5pm (call 2-1-1 first to confirm). This gets you on the list for rapid rehousing and transitional housing.
• Food money in 7 daysApply for Basic Food at washingtonconnection.org or a DSHS office. If you have almost no money, they must give you benefits within 7 days, with just your ID.
• Help with rent if you can't workIf your hearing or eye injury keeps you from working 90+ days, ask DSHS about HEN (rent and basic needs help). A doctor has to sign off, one more reason for the hearing test.
• Unemployment, maybeBernard never reported your pay, but you can still apply with the state Employment Security Department and ask them to look into your missing wages. Your hours log and Cash App records are your proof. Call to ask.

• Doctor: call first and tell them you lost your IDAsk Sound Provider Group what they'll take instead. An L&I claim mainly needs your name, birthday and Social Security number. Bring anything with your name on it.
• Food stamps: you can't be turned down for not having a photo IDDSHS takes other proof: a Social Security card, birth certificate, health card, or a paper from a shelter or social service. They can also confirm who you are by calling a shelter or caseworker.
• Free Washington ID card (one time) because you're homelessSince 2023, the state gives a free ID card to people experiencing homelessness who don't have a current Washington ID. Go to a Department of Licensing office and say you're homeless and applying for the no-cost ID. You still have to prove who you are, so bring any papers you have. If you ever had a Washington license or ID before, tell them.
• Your birth certificate: Los Angeles County (free when you're homeless)You were born in LA County, so it comes from the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Birth records: 562-462-2103, Mon–Fri 8am–5pm (Pacific, same as here). Mail: Birth, Death and Marriage Records Section, P.O. Box 53120, Los Angeles, CA 90053-0120.
  
  Call them first and ask: 1) "I'm homeless and living in Washington. Can I get the free birth certificate with an Affidavit of Homeless Status by mail?" 2) "Can a homeless service provider in Washington sign the affidavit?" 3) "I have no ID. How do I do the notarized statement?" (Ask about credible witnesses.)
  
  Then have 2-1-1, Coordinated Entry or a shelter here sign the affidavit with you, and mail it all in.
• Ever had a California ID or license?Even an old or expired one helps. Tell the Washington Department of Licensing and the California county office. It's on record and can make proving who you are easier.
• Ask 2-1-1 or Coordinated Entry to helpGetting ID is one of the things they help with. Tell them it's the first thing you need.

Your hours log shows your base hours. You said you really worked 7 days a week, 8 to 9 hours, in 3-week stretches. Overtime is every hour over 40 in a week, paid at $37.50 instead of $25.

Below is every week from March 2025 to February 2026. Orange weeks are the ones your log shows you were working 4+ days. You confirmed those were 7-day weeks, so they start at 56 hours (7 days × 8, the low end). Change any week to what you really worked. It saves on this phone.

Copied. Paste it in a text to Jonathan.

This is an estimate to help you remember, not proof. Proof is your texts with Bernard, his Cash App memos, and John and Franer. Those back up the weeks you change here.

Your L&I doctor: Sound Provider Group
1300 S 320th St, Suite B, Federal Way · 206-402-7106
Hours: 8am to 3:30pm
Jonathan used them for his own L&I claim and has already called them for you. They handle L&I workers' comp claims.

When you call, say: "I have permanent hearing loss and an eye injury from construction work, a jackhammer and concrete saw with no protection. I need to file an L&I workers' comp claim. Can the doctor file the L&I Report of Accident?"

• Your first visit can be any doctorAfter that, ongoing care has to be with a doctor in L&I's network. Find one at FindADoc.Lni.wa.gov, or ask, "Do you take L&I claims?"
• Hearing: ask for a hearing test (audiogram)The doctor refers you to an audiologist. Once your claim is accepted, L&I covers hearing aids and can pay a cash award for permanent hearing loss. File by Feb 20, 2028; after that it's medical care only.
• Eyes: an eye exam (optometrist)Optometrists are in L&I's network. Know the date the debris got in your eyes. That claim has a 1-year limit.
• Mental health: tell the doctor how the injuries affect youTrouble sleeping, depression or anxiety from losing your hearing can be covered by the claim. If you need a counselor right away, HealthPoint (below) has them on site.
• Apple Health: free insurance for everything elseApply at wahealthplanfinder.org or call 1-855-923-4633 (Mon–Fri 7:30–7). Single adults with low income usually qualify.

Backup for low-cost care and counseling: HealthPoint Federal Way, 33431 13th Place S, 253-874-7634. Sliding fee, usually $0 to $30 with little or no income.

The $30,000 bond pays workers' unpaid wages, but only through a court case, and only for work done in the last 12 months. Every week you wait, another week of your pay falls outside that window. With your real hours, it covers about $15,950 of your work right now, but only about $9,400 by mid-November. Waiting one month costs you about $6,500.

Washington law makes the boss pay your lawyer's fees when you win a wage case, so a wage lawyer may take it at no cost to you.

Weekdays 9:15am to 12:15pm. Lines are busy, so call right at 9:15.

What to say to CLEAR: "My boss, Cage Construction, owes me about $25,500 in wages and overtime. I filed L&I wage complaint 210477. I want to know about suing for double damages and claiming on the contractor's $30,000 bond before more of it runs out. I'm homeless because of this. I also have permanent hearing loss and an eye injury from the job."

Ask them:

1. If L&I offers me a check, should I take it or hold out for court and double damages?
2. Can you file on the bond this month, or refer me to a wage lawyer who will?
3. Can Bernard be held personally responsible?
4. Do I need a separate lawyer for my hearing and eye injury claim?

Have ready: complaint number 210477, this page, and your phone with the Bernard texts.

• License: ACTIVE through April 27, 2027L&I contractor CAGECCL843Q8, owner Kenneth Bernard Cage.
• Insurance: $1M, current to July 2027Northfield Insurance, filed July 2026.
• Bond: $30,000 with Western SuretyOn file since Feb 2025, not impaired. This is the money source for your claim.
• Workers' comp account: existsL&I notes an incomplete premium report. Your injury claim goes through L&I either way.
• Fined twice in Oct 2025 and paid both$1,200 for using an unregistered worker, $500 for paperwork. Plus a strike on his record in Jan 2026. He pays when the state makes him.

Day laborer at $25/hr for Cage Construction from 2023 to your last day, Feb 20, 2026. You worked 7 days a week, 8 to 9 hours, in 3-week stretches, but your log only shows base hours. Counting those weeks at 56 hours (the low end), you earned about $34,638 from March 2025 to February 2026, including 304 hours of overtime at $37.50, and were paid $13,083.50. Add $1,600 for early-2026 work and $2,400 from Nov/Dec 2023 and Aug 2024: about $25,548 owed. Your L&I claim was filed for $12,079, so tell L&I the new amount (step 2). On June 15, 2026 Bernard texted "I don't owe you no 7." You agreed to $25/hr under the table with no overtime, but that agreement doesn't count: Washington law says an agreement to take less than the law requires is no defense (RCW 49.46.090), so the overtime is still owed. Holding back wages on purpose can make him owe double in court plus your lawyer's fees. He may argue you agreed to no overtime, which could limit doubling that part, but you never agreed to go unpaid. Your eye and hearing injuries are a separate claim.