|
Staffing Lawsuit Halts "Ghost" Postings While Unfair Competition Case Proceeds
Online advertisements that appear to be placed by employers seeking new employees "but are instead posted by an Elk Grove staffing company looking for job-seekers" are prohibited under a court agreement approved last month.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne Chang signed a preliminary injunction June 3 that required The Johnson Group Staffing Co. Inc. to take down all Internet postings of this nature within five days.
Court action on the controversial advertising approach came as a lawsuit filed against The Johnson Group by a Maryland staffing company that does business in Sacramento winds its way through the court system toward trial, now scheduled to begin in March.
Aerotek Inc. sued former employee Michael Ponce in November 2007, accusing him of taking trade secrets when he went to work for Christopher Johnson, another former Aerotek employee who started The Johnson Group.
Aerotek previously sued and settled with Johnson.
Aerotek is a $2.5 billion-plus company based in Hanover, Md. A subsidiary of Allegis Group Inc, it specializes in architectural, engineering and environmental staffing for various industries, including construction.
The Johnson Group is a local staffing firm that focuses on the same sectors.
A second lawsuit filed by Aerotek alleges breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, interference with contractual relationships, unfair competition and false advertising. It names Ponce and Johnson, who have denied the allegations.
The preliminary injunction against so-called false advertising orders The Johnson Group to refrain from this practice through the conclusion of the trial.
The court found no wrongdoing. The Johnson Group agreed to discontinue the practice while the case is litigated, said Sacramento attorney Jennifer Duggan, who represents the company. The ruling is not binding on the trial judge, she added.
Chang determined 'good cause' existed to grant the injunction for unfair competition, court documents show.
The ruling suggests so-called 'ghost posting' is 'generally unfair competition to any other staffing company that has legitimate jobs and a pool of people to place," said Aerotek group general counsel Jeff Reichert.
'Ghost posting' occurs when a staffing firm posts ads on the Internet written as if they were posted by an employer.
As a result, unsuspecting job-seekers are led to believe they are interacting with an employer, when they are actually dealing with a staffing firm.
"It's not common, but it has come to our attention over the years," said Ed Lenz, counsel to the American Staffing Association in Alexandria, Va.
"The association code of ethics calls for a high level of integrity of advertising, and certainly something that misleads an applicant to think a job opening is with an employer and not a staffing agency ... is not consistent with our code of ethics," Lenz said.
"It does depend on the wording," he added, stressing that he cannot comment on a specific case.
The practice may be OK if the company is well known to the reader as a staffing firm, Lenz said.
But others that try to woo people for temporary assignments should disclose it in the ad, 'so people don't take the time and effort to go to the staffing office ' and find out there isn't a job.'
Johnson blasted the entire litigation as a "classic David versus Goliath scenario."
'This is just another attempt by Aerotek ... to crush our small business. Instead of competing for clients by providing great service, they spend their time and money trying to crush our two-person firm,' he wrote in an e-mail.
'They have tried this since 2006, (but) we still survive,' Johnson wrote. 'I look forward to the day that my case is heard by a Sacramento County jury. Aerotek only hopes I don't survive that long.'
|
