More than 60 security guards on O'ahu and the Big Island said their Texas-based employer stopped paying them four months ago, and the guards are seeking ways to collect the money owed them.

Superior Protection Inc. of Houston hired the guards after getting contracts to provide security at three city refuse centers, the federal Defense Reuse Material Office at Barbers Point, the University of Hawai'i-Hilo and a condominium in Mililani. The 65 guards were hired in 2004 and last year.

But Superior Protection stopped sending paychecks at the end of May and many earlier checks bounced, said Lorraine Keopuhiwa, Superior Protection's former regional manager in Hawai'i. Keopuhiwa said she resigned her position in May because she was unable to resolve the financial matters with her employer.

On average, she said, each guard is owed about $2,000 in back pay. Many worked until early July expecting to be paid, she said.

Keopuhiwa said that when the checks began to bounce, Superior Protection blamed it on the company that handled the payroll. But she said the problem continued, and then the checks stopped coming altogether.

"It's hard, because they're in Texas and I can't just walk into their offices," Keopuhiwa said. "I tried all the numbers that I had, but they just shut them all off."

Superior Protection's phone number in Texas was not in service yesterday.

Guard Michael Greenwood replaced Keopuhiwa in June, but said he was never paid during his tenure as regional manager. He said he is owed about $3,000.

"It put us back on our rent, our house payments, our car notes. It put a lot of us back," Greenwood said.

At least 14 former guards at UH-Hilo and the city refuse centers have filed complaints with the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, said James Hardway, department spokesman. Hardway said it may be possible for the guards to obtain their lost wages from the city and UH-Hilo.

As the contracting agencies, Hardway said, they should still have the funds that were earmarked for Superior Protection before the contracts were canceled. He said the labor department is working with the city and UH-Hilo, and he encouraged the former guards at Barbers Point and the condominium to file complaints.

To file a complaint, call 586-8844.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.