Howroyd-Wright Employment Agency v. Springboard Solutions CA4/2

FACTS

A. The Staffing Agreement and Placement Fee Provision

Springboard is a company that provides debt solutions to individuals and

businesses. In 2013, it sought AppleOne’s staffing services and signed its “Conditions of

Service” (the staffing agreement). The relevant provisions of that agreement are

paragraphs 7 and 8.

Paragraph 7 provides: “[Springboard] understands that AppleOne employees are

assigned to [Springboard] to render temporary service and, absent an agreement to the

contrary, are not assigned to become employed by [Springboard]. [Springboard]

acknowledges the considerable expense incurred by AppleOne to advertise, recruit,

evaluate, train and quality control its employees. [Springboard] will not, without prior

written authorization by AppleOne, hire an AppleOne employee, interfere with the

employment relationship between AppleOne and its employee, or directly or indirectly

cause an AppleOne employee to transfer to another temporary help service.” (Italics

added.) Under paragraph 8, Springboard agreed that if it did cause an AppleOne

employee to transfer to another staffing agency, it would “pay AppleOne a fee in

accordance with AppleOne’s direct…