Company Refused To Pay Freelance Recruiter So He Found Jobs For 6 Of Their Top Employees & Forced The Business To Close
Be careful who you make an enemy.
Quality Stock Arts / Shutterstock There are some positions within companies that require a unique set of skills and are hard to fill. That was the exact case for a freelance recruiter who was enlisted to help a small business find a specialized machine operator in 2021.
According to that recruiter, who shared his story on the r/recruiting subreddit, he was able to secure a candidate in a week and because of the company’s size, made concessions on the price of his services.
The problem began when he invoiced the company for his services.
After fulfilling their needs, the headhunter sent over an invoice totaling $10,000, which the owner of the business scoffed at, reasoning that “All [recruiters] do is give out phone numbers.” He offered to pay the price he thought the service was worth instead: $1,000.
Insulted by the devaluation, the recruiter declined and didn’t receive one red cent for the time he invested in helping to fill the position.
Instead of taking legal action, the freelancer decided to exact petty revenge on the business owner.
In an epic display of pettiness, the recruiter started the process of poaching six employees from the small business. He explained, “It was easy as they were all underpaid and a new manufacturing plant had just opened up 20 miles away.”
After securing new employment for the six workers, the recruiter says he was able to pocket a whopping $82,000 in fees. Ordinarily, this would have been a big inconvenience to the company in question, but in this case, the ramifications were much bigger than anyone would ever have imagined.
The day the man posted his story, the company announced they were shutting down after 33 years in business.
Satisfied with his revenge, the man said that the company should have thought twice before withholding his money. Still disgruntled over the incident, he announced that he was calling the rest of the employees to help them all get new jobs, possibly due to guilt about his actions.
But in the end, he said he was considering reaching out to the owner as well. He ended the post by saying, “I want him to know it was me."
Doing good business is vital to the success of your organization.
As a business owner, it’s important that you honor your commitments and create valuable relationships with people. Turning a potential partner into a volatile enemy can have big implications for your business. Everyone reaps exactly what they sew, so make sure you are giving others exactly what you want to get back.
There is also a ton of legal risk associated with violating the terms of a contract or agreement you’ve entered into. It can cost you a lot financially, potentially causing you to shudder the doors of your company. Worst yet, dishonesty can ruin your reputation and your brand in one fell swoop.
NyRee Ausler is a writer and author from Seattle, Washington. She covers issues navigating the workplace using the experience garnered over two decades of working in Human Resources and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.