Professional Liability

Staffing Agencies

Staffing companies are an important link for employers in providing extra labor with qualified workers in the community.  It is important that staffing companies be aware of laws that are administered by governing agencies in multiple career fields.  Some of the problems encountered by staffing companies involve classification of workers as “temporary employee” vs. “independent contractor”.  Staffing companies use several types of contracts to conduct their work.  Disputes may arise over these contracts and staffing companies must have an agreement concerning the hours a temporary employee must work for an employer before the employer is able to hire the employee directly.  Issues of defense and indemnity in lawsuits involving temporary employees.  The supervision and control of the employee while temporarily working for the staffing companies’ client often result in litigation.  Occasionally co-employee issues arise in personal injury and/or workers’ compensation claims involving temporary employees or shared employees.

Cases of Note

  • Successfully defended staffing company accused of conspiracy and RICO violations related to recruitment and employment of seasonal workers to fill temporary positions for a videotape manufacturer. The Plaintiffs alleged the seasonal workers with H-1B visas were unfairly taking away jobs from U.S. citizens.
  • Successfully represented staffing company sued for wrongful termination after the temporary worker suffered a workers’ compensation injury. At the time the worker was released to return to work, the project at the automobile manufacturing plant to which she had been assigned and placed had been completed.
  • Successfully represented staffing company in counterclaim suit by client who failed to reimburse the staffing company for the hours worked by the staffing companies’ temporary employees on client’s records recovery project. The client asserted that the work product of the staffing company’s temporary employees was not appropriate for the job. We were able to show the client had numerous temporary employees on the job from other staffing companies, who could have just as easily caused the “alleged problems” with work product.