Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez has the announced charges, in line with the lawsuit she has filed, against two Skokie chiropractors for a fraudulent marketing scheme. The defendants are confronted with legal action after placing a fake employment ad on Craigslist in order to recruit patient for their chiropractic clinic in the north suburban.
Doctors of Chiropractor Michel Roy and Caroline Bergeron, owners and operators of the Health Solutions Comprehensive Quality Care, LLC., allegedly violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. A lawsuit has been filed against the company for an unlawful marketing tactic, involving using an employment ad for a receptionist position in the clinic, located at 5555 W. Touhy Avenue, Skokie, Illinois. The strategy used implied false pretenses in order to employ people into group interviews, which were actually sales offerings of the clinic, including wellness and chiropractic services.
The lawsuit filed by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in June of 2013 provides a judicial order restraining the company from continuing the threatening act of consumer fraud and alleged deceptive practices. Financial restitutions are also being demanded from the Doctors of Chiropractor, as well as a fine amounting to $100,000.
Investigations revealed that in between the months of January and February of 2012, Doctors of Chiropractor Roy and Bergeron initially placed an ad for the employment of a receptionist in the clinic, offering a salary of $12 to $16 per hour. With over 275 people interested in the ad posted on Craigslist, approximately 90 applicants have been chosen and were invited to the clinic for a pretend interview.
It was reported that within the four-week period wherein the ad was continuously running on the Craigslist website, 14 group interviews were conducted by Mr. Roy. The interviews were said to consist of a 60 to 90-minute presentation, which focused on offering the supposed employee applicants services offered by the Health Solutions clinic; however, job offers were never provided to any of the 90 receptionist candidates.
Beyond the false advertisement, the clinic has also distributed gift certificates for complimentary wellness screenings to the job applicants, subsequent to the long interview. These certificates were given to encourage the individuals to redeem the vouchers within a 30-day expiration period, which therefore resulted in several successful ploys. A number of the receptionist candidates have redeemed the gift certificates and also acquired other services offered by the Health Solutions clinic, including chiropractic and wellness services.
The defendants had also allegedly contacted the job applicants by telephone to solicit for further complimentary wellness screenings. The lawsuit also alleges that the Doctors of Chiropractor Roy and Bergeron obtained from their employment applications some personal medical histories from the 90 victims, including personal identifying information.
Further investigations showed that subsequent interviews for the receptionist job opening were never conducted by the Doctors of Chiropractor Roy and Bergeron. A receptionist was also never recruited by the Health Solutions clinic through the employment ad posted on the Craigslist website. Moreover, information on the job opening, including if the position had been filled, withdrawn, or terminated, were never released to the interviewees.
Inquiries regarding the case against the Health Solutions Comprehensive Quality Care, LLC. may be sought from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Consumer Fraud Unit at (312) 603-8700. Citizens who may be the victim of consumer fraud are also highly recommended to contact the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Consumer Fraud Unit.
Updated: August 17, 2020