November 16, 2006
The state of Illinois has filed a lawsuit charging that a New York company placed misleading employment advertisements in the Chicago Sun-Times and other newspapers.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan's lawsuit names two defendants: Mercury Net Com, Inc., a New York Corporation, and Oliver Oziel, a principal of Mercury Net Com, Inc.
According to the allegations in the lawsuit, beginning in at least March 2005, the defendants placed ads in the Chicago Sun-Times and other newspapers that stated:
HOSPITAL JOBS
Support Service Entry Level
Laundry, Janitorial, Food Prep
Building attend. Supplies & Other
Immed Apply.Bnfts. CH Metro.
$15.00 per call. 312-xxx-xxxx
Madigan claims that the advertisements directed consumers to call a Chicago-area telephone number to obtain more information and led consumers to believe that the information would describe specific jobs. A consumer call to the advertised number resulted in a $15.00 charge to the consumer's local telephone bill.
The complaint contends that despite the cost of the call, consumers heard nothing more than a recorded message that provided them with a list of hospitals in the Chicago area at which they could apply for jobs.
For each hospital, consumers received only the following information that they could have easily obtained by for free: the hospital address, website address, and the hours of the Human Resources Department.
The lawsuit charges the defendants with violating Section 2 of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and with multiple violations of the Illinois Job Referral and Job Listing Services Consumer Protection Act.
"Misleading advertisements like this take unfair advantage of people who are searching for better employment options," Madigan said. "Unfortunately, consumers need to be very wary of advertisements services that charge them to obtain information on job listings."
Madigan's lawsuit asks the court to prohibit the defendants from advertising, selling, operating or promoting a "job referral service," and from further violating Illinois' consumer protection laws.
It seeks a civil penalty of $50,000 and additional penalties of $50,000 for each violation found to have been committed with the intent to defraud. and asks the court to order the defendants to pay restitution to consumers and to pay all costs for the prosecution and investigation of this case.
