HomeAdvisor Suit: Drugs, Sex Harassment At Colo. Sales Offices

GOLDEN, CO – A lawsuit filed by eight home improvement contractors against Golden-based HomeAdvisor alleges that the company sells "overwhelmingly bogus leads" to contractors, and makes it difficult or impossible to cancel the service. The suit also gives testimony from former employees who say the culture at the sales offices consisted of illegal drugs and sexual harassment and that supervisors encouraged telephone salespeople to lie to contractors.

The suit, first reported by BusinessDen was filed in Denver District Court on July 16. Among the plaintiffs are Brad and Lynne McHenry, owners of Westminster-based B&B Carpentry, who said they paid about $3,500 to HomeAdvisor for leads costing between $10-$140 each. When Lynn discovered the leads included disconnected numbers, stale leads for projects that were long completed, leads for people who were not homeowners and other dead ends, she tried to cancel the service, only to be bombarded with sales calls from HomeAdvisor. The McHenrys had a bad experience with HomeAdvisor's previous incarnation, ServiceMagic in 2006, Brad told Patch.com, but they gave HomeAdvisor a try and were disappointed.

The suit, which requests class-action certification, has complaints from more than 880 "home service professionals" in many states complaining about business practices of HomeAdvisor.

Allegations of a culture of illegal drugs and sexual harassment at the Golden and Colorado Springs sites, as well as testimony that salespeople were encouraged to lie to customers are printed in the complaint. The accusations came from former employees, either directly to attorneys at Haverford, Pennsylvania-based law firm Chimicles & Tikellis or posted anonymously on jobs site Glassdoor.com.

"We learned the allegations [of illegal drug use] during the course of our investigation and had confirmation from more than one source," lead attorney Kim Donaldson-Smith wrote to Patch in an email. The suit anonymously quotes six former employees, four at the Golden site and two in Colorado Springs.

"Accounts from HomeAdvisor’s former employees paint a picture of call centers that are lifted right out of the movie The Wolf of Wall Street," the complaint said. The complaint alleges that alcohol and drug use "further cultivated the unethical and deceptive sales techniques that is cultivated at HomeAdvisor."

The suit takes quotes from several complaints about the Golden office posted anonymously on Glassdoor:

• Most of the sales managers don't care one bit, the good ones have left because they weren't part of the crew, the ones that remain are drunk or high or both. I've seen a manager drooling at his desk, and nothing happened ("Great job if you don't have a degree!", entry dated Aug. 16, 2016).
• “Drug test would wipe out half of the current sales staff.” (“Inside Sales”, entry dated May 15, 2016
• “Everyone is on drugs (Seen employees snorting substances and smoking pot in the parking lot.)” (“A call center that represents a worthless product”, entry dated May 5, 2017).
• I'm sexually harassed on a daily basis. I'm supposed to smile and pretend like its fine because it's a male dominated business and that's "how it works." Comments about my clothes (we're allowed to wear whatever we want), comments to other men when they pretend you're out of ear shot, inappropriate flirting. Management sleeping with staff, superiors sleeping with people below them. It's constant and unavoidable here. Makes for a very hard work environment. ("Company does not take sexual harassment seriously", entry dated Oct. 4, 2017.)

An employee identified as Brad Fosser, VP Sales on the Glassdoor site, vehemently denied allegations of drug use. "I always appreciate constructive feedback but your claim about drug use is completely false," Fosser wrote. A phone message for Fosser was not returned.

The Golden offices of HomeAdvisor are located at 14023 Denver West Parkway Bldg. 64 in unincorporated Jefferson County. JeffCo Sheriff's Office Spokesman Mark Techmeyer said the location had several sheriff calls for service at that address since 2010. "I have 7 reports dating back to 2010, 6 of which are warrant arrests and one theft case. I’m not seeing any drug or assault cases reported," Techmeyer said in an email to Patch.

A spokesperson for HomeAdvisor emailed the following statement:

“We don’t comment specifically on pending litigation. We strive to create a positive, successful environment for our customers, service professionals, and employees. We take all concerns seriously, and take action as appropriate.”

Read BusinessDen's reporting on the lawsuit here.

Read the complaint here.

Image via Shutterstock

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