DENVER — Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced Tuesday that his office is suing PetSmart for allegedly deceiving prospective dog groomers to sign contracts “that required them to stay with the company for years or risk paying thousands of dollars.”
The lawsuit filed in Denver District Court Tuesday alleges the company promised “free” paid training to prospective dog groomers, “only to trap them into staying with the company, even if they wanted to find a better job somewhere else,” Weiser said in a press release.
Weiser alleges that during the pandemic, the company was hurting for dog groomers and needed to fill positions, so PetSmart offered $500 cash stipends to those who completed a company-sponsored dog grooming program, “and to managers who enrolled them.”
PetSmart, which has 31 locations in Colorado, used training repayment agreement provision contracts, or TRAPs, to keep trained stylists employed, according to a press release from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.
“The state’s investigation found that the company presented these contracts to employees after they were already enrolled in Grooming Academy. Employees had the contracts presented to them during shifts, on breaks, or even in the process of grooming dogs,” the press release read.
Weiser’s office alleges that these contracts are illegal and violate the Colorado Consumer Protection Act and were used by PetSmart to threaten legal action to recover thousands of dollars if workers wanted to leave the company.
“If employees who left PetSmart before their second anniversary of starting Grooming Academy did not pay within 30 days, the contracts said the company could file a civil lawsuit including the amount owed, fees for collections and attorney costs, and interest at the “highest rate permitted by law.” For the groomers, who all earned relatively low wages, a $2,500-$5,500 lump sum was very difficult, if not impossible, to pay,” Weiser’s office said in the release.’
The lawsuit is asking the court to forbid any further collection efforts from the company, pay fines to the state, and cover the state’s legal costs.
Denver7 reached out to PetSmart for a response but has yet to hear back from the company.
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