
Lisa of Livingston, NJ on Sept. 26, 2004
In March of 2004 I lost my job, due to cutbacks made at my previous employer and I was desperately looking through the newspaper for employment. I answered an ad in the Sunday Star Ledger and called their telephone number - they wouldn't give me specifics regarding the company on the phone and "required" me to come in. I was introduced to a rude individual called Michael and was told he was the expert in my field. He proceeded to thoroughly insult, harrass and make derogatory comments, such as What are you poor or something? and Youre married right? So, if a good looking guy walked by you would you sleep with him? He said this when he wanted to set up a meeting with me, that conflicted with my schedule.
I told him I had an interview with a company that I found on my own. Michael mentioned that he had 3 Pharmaceutical opportunities lined up for me and that we needed to act on them right away. When someone is looking for employment, that sounds very appealing. In order to do this, Michael said I needed to sign a contract with Harvard Professional Group right away. I unfortunately signed with them because I was unemployed and vulnerable. Harvard Professional Group attempted to charge me $17,500 with an initial payment of $3,500 which was paid to them.
After numerous meetings I was finally told, that I would need to pay $3,500 upfront and the balance of my sign-on bonus (which could be upwards of $21,000) after I accepted the position. Prior to mentioning the fee, Michael told me that he had 3 positions for me already. He pressured me even further by saying, Other candidates are lined up for the position and that we need to move quickly and was not willing to give me copies of the specifics about the positions.
Michael promised that within approximately six weeks at the latest, that Harvard Professional Group would successfully place me in a position that would have paid me a bonus of $21,000. The agreed procedure was for Michael to keep in touch with me at least once a week, which Michael has not fulfilled, as well as the other things that are mentioned in the contract.