SAN DIEGO — A workforce recruitment and management company has filed suit against a competitor for allegedly using volunteers instead of paid employees to work at events, thereby reportedly submitting substantially lower bids for projects.
TEG Staffing, doing business as Eastridge Workforce Solutions, filed a complaint July 25 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California against Eventforce Inc., alleging that the staffing services violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) through unfair business practices and supposedly is not qualified or registered with the California Secretary of State to work in the state.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that TEG Staffing had lost numerous staffing service contracts because the defendant offers a "community service" aspect and uses volunteers to staff its jobs, which causes clients to utilize the defendant's staffing services.
The plaintiff holds Eventforce Inc. responsible because the defendant allegedly failed to pay wages and/or provide legal privileges and protections, failed to pay taxes owed and acquired an advantage over the plaintiff that constitutes unfair competition.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against the defendant, preliminary and permanent injunction, restitution in an amount in excess of $75,000, compensatory damages, attorneys' fees, costs of suit and other relief as the court may deem proper. It is represented by Thomas J. Lincoln and Danica J. Brustkern of Lincoln Gustafson & Cercos LLP in San Diego.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California case number 16-cv-01876