Former Employee, applicant, express concerns over Smosska company

A former employee of the Smosska company and a job applicant, are expressing their concerns when it comes to the company and its legitimacy.

Smosska officials say the company makes medical identification cards.

The company held a job fair in Florence in July, and charged applicants a $40.00 fee for an assessment test.

Smosska officials said the fee covered things like background and drug testing.

Smosska officials said they planned to eventually employ up to 3,000 people in the Florence area and were renovating a large facility.

The company was working out of a temporary office on Hoffmeyer Road in Florence, but were served an eviction notice in late September by Holcombe Land Development, for non-payment of rent.

The Better Business Bureau began investigating the company in July based on what they called “red flags” including the assessment fees that were charged to applicants, as well as the lack of a permanent location for the company.

Better Business Bureau officials then submitted their investigation to the state Attorney General’s office for possible consideration.

Former Smosska sales director Jackie Perez said she was brought on to create marketing campaigns and materials for the company, but was never reimbursed for her work.

Perez left Smosska on August 30th, and says as of this date, she still has not received a paycheck.

Perez said Smosska president Michelle Adams said that she was renovating and moving forward with plans for a large facility for the company.

Perez said she was helping to work on plans for that facility, while also completing various tasks out of the temporary office on Hoffmeyer Road.

She said she was led to believe in August, that the start-up company would be opening in a matter of weeks.

"I was kind of fulfilling my job duties between the two places, and waiting for the end of the month to see if I was going to get my first paycheck, which of course, never came," Perez said.

Mary Napier was among those who applied for a job at Smosska and paid the $40.00 assessment fee.

Napier said she felt the company was legitimate because she was referred to them by the local Employment Security Commission office.

ESC officials confirmed that they did refer clients to Smosska, but suspended the practice in August because they said they needed more information from the company before continuing to refer clients.

Napier said she received a letter from Smosska in August, offering her a position with the company.

Napier said she responded to the letter and was told that she would need to take a drug test, but she says after that point, she was unable to get in touch with anyone who could offer her more information on the position.

"I tried to contact (them) several times to find out when a drug test might be given, any type of information… it was always a cell phone number, there was never any office number. Any time I asked to speak to somebody higher up in management, human resources, anybody, we were always told that they were not available," Napier said.

News13 attempted to contact Smosska owner Michelle Adams on several occasions to discuss the company and to offer her a chance to respond to the claims of Perez and Napier.

Adams did respond through email saying, “There has been so much bad made out about my company when it is a real good company. I have worked so hard over the years to make this company work and less than 3 months what I have work(ed) so hard on is going out the window,” Adams said.

Adams initially agreed to an on-camera interview, but later cited a scheduling conflict.

Napier said she and others simply want some answers as to what is happening with the company.

"I'm angry, I'm very angry not only for myself but for everyone involved. I feel that it was a scam from the very beginning. My question is why?" Napier said.

Perez said she’s looking for some closure from the company and wants to be paid for the services she has provided.

Perez said she contacted the state labor board and was advised to give Adams a time limit when it came to paying for her services, and if necessary, take the matter to court.

Though Perez said she has not yet taken that measure, she would like reimbursement for herself and the applicants who paid the assessment fees.

"I kind of feel at this point in time that there's probably not a real good chance of them getting their money back…I know that I would hope to get what she (Adams) owes me, but I just don't know if that's ever gonna be possible," Perez said.

The Better Business Bureau continues to have an open investigation into the Smosska company.

It is not yet known whether the state Attorney General’s Office will do an investigation of their own.