Jobfox owes me $1,230 and they will not pay McLean, Virginia

Jobfox owes me $1,230 for two months of work, but it appears they have no intention of paying their writers the money they are owed. Contrary to their email of April 6th stating that their resume business was being phased out they are still conducting business exactly as they were when I worked for them.

This is the final email the writers received from Jobfox on April 9, 2012 (forwarded from Sarah Sullivan, Jobfox Vendor Manager) in response to a deluge of requests for payment.

"I realize our recent problems paying the resume writers has made life very difficult for both you and the resume writers.  I truly understand that these payments are vital to the resume writers, many of whom rely on us for their only source of income. It is my hope that this email, which you are free to forward to the writers, will provide clarity on the situation."

"In January of this year Jobfox was approached by a much larger company who was interested in buying our company. While we cherish our independence, we ultimately concluded that being part of a larger and more established company would be better for our employees, partners, and shareholders."

"We accepted the offer, and began to facilitate the acquirers due diligence process. Unfortunately, the acquirer turned out to fit the corporate raider stereotype, and over the course of three months implemented tactics that put Jobfox in a very difficult financial position. Clearly their goal was to drive us into a cash crunch, then ultimately drop their acquisition price when we were in a perilous financial position. They also revealed that they wanted us to close our resume writing business. This company is backed by a large Private Equity firm, and we later learned they often use unethical
tactics to pay a lower price."

"We ultimately had to walk away from the acquisition. While we regained our independence, we were left operating a company in a very serious financial situation.  We are now doing two things: 1) Trying to find an alternative acquirer for Jobfox, and 2) Raising the capital required to pay off our outstanding payables to the the resume writers.  Seeing the resume writers get paid is the #1 objective on my list."

"While I know you and everyone would like and answer yesterday, sadly I cant provide an answer that quickly. I am working with banks, venture capitalists, and alternative acquirers and this process will take time. I realize everyone wants to yell and scream at us, or call their lawyers, although the only answer I can give is that were working 18 hours per day to get them paid.  Please assure the resume writers we understand the problem, and were doing everything we can to get them paid. I will communicate new information when I have it."  Sincerely, Rob McGovern, CEO, Jobfox

Not sure what this diatribe has to do with the former writers, but as of August 1, 2012 Jobfox maintains an active website, soliciting resume rewrites and doing business as usual.  Rob says he feels our pain, but things are looking pretty rosy for him.  He also owns CareerBuilder and is in the process of starting another online company.  Hmm, wonder where he got his grubstake for the new venture?  Could it be all the money he saved by not paying his writers?