Delta Force Personal Services

This one is for you, DeltaForce Legal Staffing.
Early October, I get a call. They want an interview and want it now. I go in, ace the interview and become BFFs with the hard working professionals at DeltaForce. They set up a second interview, this one with a second headhunter, who works out of an isolated stretch of east Harlem. My antenna starts tingling. The location is not kosher and Tamara is, well, not a model of industry as she reads interview questions from her laptop while playing with her cell phone. (She also gave me a finance analysis test and while I was writing told me that I don’t have to go into too much detail.) I ace round two. They want references and want it now. I start rounding them up. They want 3, but we gotta hurry so fuck the requirements, two will do. Josh, oozing fratboy entitlement smirks that they won’t bother to check references anyway. My antenna tingles harder.
Then the shutdown happens. Ok, that’s not Delta’s fault. But the shutdown ends and I hear zip. Actually that’s not true; they tell me that they hope for news «either later today or tomorrow». But nothing happens today or tomorrow. I email them. No word. Another email. Nada. So I call recruiter two and hear that due to the shutdown the agency is putting a hold on hiring. I’ll repeat that; I found out that there’s no job by complete accident. Had I waited for them I would never have heard anything. Chew on that on your way to the interview.
I express my displeasure to josh and his boss. Now if I were DeltaForce I could play this multiple ways. I could ignore the guy. I could apologize. I could take the initiative and try to place him elsewhere. Or I could call up the guy and scream like a banshee on crack «what’s your problem?» Josh went with door number four. I don’t do well with being screamed at, so I hung up in mid rant. Josh then writes an email about how I’m «all class.» My opinion is that josh doesn’t understand the definition of the word irony.
While all this is going down, Tamara and I get to chatting. I propose contacting the boss of the government agency in question to see if we could get something going. She’s all for it; the boss naturally tells me to go through her. (The sole purpose of recruiters is to isolate people from their employees.) So the shit hits the fan. Tamara and josh come to the realization that if I can pester employers directly, they present no compelling economic argument for their jobs. So this time Tamara calls me to scream while josh gets on his legal hat and emails me a cease and desist letter. (I have no idea if his bosses have half a clue about all the shit this guy pulls.)
So lets review. I get to do everything they want, run around like a marionette on a string, pester my network for references, and they get to do zip except holler like stuck pigs when it turns out that I’m an autonomous individual with needs and not an expandable resource. To borrow a phrase, this joint is all class.

As a consulting attorney who frequently works with staffing/​consulting groups, I must admit I’ve never felt lied to and cheated by an agency like this before.
My story is pretty simple:
At the end of September, I responded to DeltaForce’s posting on Craigslist for a legal editor, charged with reviewing legal agreements that had been translated into a foreign language, to ensure such work had been done correctly and accurately. During my initial e-​mail exchanges, I was met with the pleasantness and professionalism of Maritza Murphy of the NYC office, who mentioned that she had worked at a law firm with which I was previously associated.
Just past midnight on Saturday, I signed a confidentiality agreement and gave Maritza an approximate timeframe of 6 days for completion of this work. At 9:09 Saturday morning, Maritza told me she found «4,000 words a day is very reasonable». Ten minutes later, Maritza sent me my work WITH AN EXPLICIT set of instructions («They are specifically concerned with the legal terminology content of the documents, not so much with the grammar. Once you have completed reviewing the documents and made the changes (RED LINE), please send me the document back…»). After opening my documents, I informed DeltaForce that because of the technical nature, my work «may take longer than 6 days». I never heard back from DeltaForce that weekend and proceeded to work 19.5 hours, completing one-​and-​a-​half documents and correcting numerous errors in the manner instructed.
On Monday morning, the first e-​mail that I received from DeltaForce was one attaching a timesheet and instructing me to log and submit any weekend hours worked. Maritza also requested I ask DeltaForce any questions that came up during my weekend work.
In the next e-​mail, about 30 minutes later, DeltaForce introduced the word «estimate» into our dealings, telling me to STOP work until my «estimate» was approved by the end client.
The days that ensued were cloudy and confusing. DeltaForce failed to get back to me, leaving me hanging as to the nature of the project. Maritza eventually told me that they were waiting for the client to accept the «estimate», a fact which was a bit shocking to me, since I had already been given documents, clear instructions and an order to log my time. In what I thought was a noble move, Maritza shared that DeltaForce had gotten a similar estimate of 6 days from another attorney, and that she thought her client was low-​balling.
Out of this confusion and waiting came the news that my «estimate» was not accepted by the client and that, therefore, I would not be paid for the 19.5 hours I had already worked over the weekend.
My view of the issue is simple: I’m a professional who
a. signed confidentiality and work agreements
b. received documents for editing by e-​mail
c. was given an explicit set of instructions for how to proceed working on a Saturday
d. was given a timesheet and told on the Monday following to log my weekend work
e. was NEVER given ANY indication WHATSOEVER that my work was contingent on the client’s approval of my «estimate»
AND
f. was only later told to STOP working, pending approval of my «estimate» by the client, the implication of which is that I was already working for pay
DeltaForce’s view of the issue:
a. I was never given explicit instructions and therefore would not have known how to even commence the work (In fact, I received very explicit directions via e-​mail from Maritza Murphy)
b. I was simply working on an «estimate» that required approval and, therefore, was not authorized to work (In fact, I was NEVER told about an estimate until Monday and, furthermore, was even told to log and submit my weekend hours)
c. When I demanded pay and threatened to file suit, Nicole Gable at DeltaForce became extremely defensive and took a very low, unprofessional road, fabricating «dishonest billing» and threatening to bring that into question at trial (it is clear this accusation was defensive).
In a court of law, DeltaForce would have been found liable for paying my wages. But was this worth the time, money and effort?
Paying employees in a timely and fair fashion — even if it means taking a loss — is the hallmark of a good business. DeltaForce did not live up to its agreement with me and excused itself from liability by settling for only 20% of what they legally owed me. This reeks of corruption. They are not to be trusted.