WhyDoYouLie?
redkey,#2Author of original report
Wed, February 10, 2010
http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/concerns-about-CORA
Updated: Tuesday, 09 Feb 2010, 5:37 PM CST
Published : Tuesday, 09 Feb 2010, 5:37 PM CST
Denise Mundt and Terri Ryan have never met each other, but these two women are telling a very similar horror story about their time working for the same company.
"As soon as we asked for our money, we were let go," said Mundt.
"I'm hurt that they used us like that, all of us," said Ryan.
The company is called CORA. It stands for Creating Opportunities by Recognizing Abilities. Based in New Jersey, CORA was set up to provide adults with special needs the opportunity to job train and work from their homes. Most of the work is data entry and can be done on the computer.
"That's why they thought this would be a perfect fit for all of us who are disabled that literally can't be outside of our home but still feel important because we are doing a job," said Mundt.
Mundt has physical problems that prevent her from standing for long periods of time. While showing us what was her work area at her home in Fond du Lac, she broke down crying, thinking about what could have been.
"This was my perfect fit, this was my ideal job and it's gone."
Gone because Mundt quit CORA in December. She said she had problems getting paid.
"It wasn't just two days late or a week late, it was months," said Mundt.
For others, the paychecks still haven't arrived. Terri Ryan of Peshtigo quit CORA in September. She is still owed more than $1,000.
"It is my intention to pay everything that should be paid for people that honestly worked," said Ilene Morris-Sambur, CORA's founder and CEO.
Morris-Sambur said those who haven't been paid performed poorly, even saying they ruined the company's reputation.
"Many people that are disabled and I am disabled... I have 3 different disabilities... I am blown away by the fact that these people feel that they are owed something," said Morris-Sambur.
But Denise Mundt and Terri Ryan say they did good work and deserve to be paid. They're not alone.
FOX 11 has been able to track down at least nineteen other people from all over Wisconsin who worked for CORA. All are either owed money, had trouble getting paid, or received bad checks.
So, how did all these people here in Wisconsin end up working for the same troubled company in New Jersey? The answer may surprise you. They all tell FOX 11 they were found out about the job through the state Department of Workforce Development.
Not only were special needs workers being referred to CORA, the state even paid the company about $3,500 for each person hired. The money was meant to provide training and job placement with CORA or another company.
But former employees say they never received any training -- instead, claiming the company put them to work right away on CORA's contracts. They say the state's money, nearly $200,000, never went where it was intended.
"That does make me angry. If they're going to start dishing out taxpayers money for something like this it should be well investigated," said Terri Ryan.
A spokesman for the Department of Workforce Development released a statement saying "we are very concerned with the situation involving CORA" and that the state "terminated the contract in June 2009 due to the organization's failure to fulfill obligations."
While many of the former CORA employees have since found work elsewhere, they feel the need to speak out against the company and its CEO.
"What she's done is wrong. She has scammed so many people out of their money and by the time these people find out, it's too late," said Mundt.
Many say the opportunity felt too good to be true... they now say it was.
We're told there have been several hundred complaints against CORA to the New Jersey Department of Labor. Those complaints are from all over the country. New Jersey officials tell us they can't comment because the case remains open.
lemon12
Wisconsin,#3Consumer Comment
Thu, October 01, 2009
I am sure you are one of the puppets that work for them however, have you checked out how other States feel about Cora? and the reputation they are getting? It is Not good. and they are far from an A+ more like a D-.
lemon12
Wisconsin,#4Consumer Comment
Thu, October 01, 2009
I am sure you are one of the puppets that work for them however, have you checked out how other States feel about Cora? and the reputation they are getting? It is Not good. and they are far from an A+ more like a D-.
WhyDoYouLie?
redkey,#5Author of original report
Thu, October 01, 2009
I am truly happy for you that you have not suffered what we have, but I guarantee there are 100's of people that would disagree with you and have proof of what we claim. One would only have to contact New Jersey Wage and Labor Board to verify what we say.
lemon12
Wisconsin,#6UPDATE EX-employee responds
Wed, September 30, 2009
I also was an employee and the first reporter was right on. They indeed promise you would move on to better jobs, which never happened they also would post new jobs and if you applied to them they would never get back to you. Not only that but you never knew what to expect when you came to work the next day they constantly changed your job positions on an daily or hourly basis, that makes it very difficult for someone with a dissabillity, especially someone with slower issues. I was a sharp worker and I was even confused most of the time how they ran things. If you worked day and night and or offered to work for free you went to the top. But the stress of listening your higher up's yelling at you or telling you that you cannot log or you will not get paid for the days work until your work is fixed which was mostly their fault because they had changed there way of doing the specific job. They also threatened you not to get paid if you did not fill out a testimonial for the company and what ever they wanted you to do. Made you feel like a puppet.There was really NO real Management that had any organization; they made you feel like there was but after being there a while you could see that they were more interested in collecting money from new hires than anything ells. I saw the pyramid falling and got out before they started bouncing checks, I finally saw what was happening and I knew this was not fair to those who were really looking for a job and training that Cora had promised all of us. Oh and yes they did threaten to fire anyone who went to their counselors and I see now why that was, they wanted to look good so they could get more and more new hires because the counselors paid big bucks to get us into this program. I think a class action suit should follow! This is a really sad way to take advantage of the disabled and the government money! IMS does not know what she is doing except getting money from each counselors.. Shame on you Cora. I could go on and on, but the first reporter did a pretty accurate job! Shame on you Cora.
Mestemia
USA#7UPDATE Employee
Tue, September 22, 2009
I have been employed with CORA since March 2009 and I have not seen any of that.