AG Weiser is suing PetSmart for deceiving dog groomers with training program
DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado's Attorney General (AG) Phil Weiser is suing PetSmart after saying a state investigation found that dog groomer employees were trapped into illegal contracts that made them stay with the company for years or risk paying thousands of dollars.
“PetSmart lured prospective dog groomers with promises of ‘free’ paid training, only to trap them into staying with the company, even if they wanted to find a better job somewhere else,” said Attorney General Weiser.
According to AG, PetSmart runs a program called Grooming Academy, which offers training to new employees to become dog groomers. According to officials from 2021 to 2022, the company had a large turnover rate of groomers, which led the company to offer $500 stipends to those who completed Groomy Academy, which they advertised as free.
The company used training repayment agreement provision contracts, or TRAPs, that, according to Weiser, deceptively locked workers into their jobs by threatening them with legal action if they left, to recover thousands of dollars for training that workers were told was free.
Weiser says, despite promoting the program as free, the company knew it was asking trainees to sign TRAPs that required them to stay on the job at least two years or repay $5,500 in training costs, or $5,000 if the trainee turned down a provided toolkit.
According to Weiser, a state investigation found that the company presented these contracts after enrollment in the program, presenting contracts during shifts, on breaks, or while they were grooming dogs.
An employee who left after 11 months would owe the full amount, and an employee who left after 23 months would still owe 50% regardless of the reason for leaving, according to Weiser.
Weiser says that the investigation found that former employees reported training sessions were inconsistent, overcrowded, provided little one-on-one instruction, and lacked dogs; however, groomers stayed on the job longer than they wanted out of fear of being forced to repay the training costs.
If employees left PetSmart before their second anniversary of starting Grooming Academy and did not pay within 30 days, the contracts said the company could file a civil lawsuit, including the amount owed, fees for collections, attorney costs, and interest at the “highest rate permitted by law.”
Weiser is asking the court to declare that PetSmart violated the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, to bar the company from illegal practices outlined in the lawsuit, to forbid the company from collecting on any money owed from existing TRAPs, to pay fines to the state, and to pay the state’s legal costs.
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