Workers at one of America's biggest credit repair companies discover their new CEO's dark past... 13 days later he disappeared
- Credit.com introduced its new CEO as Rams Meijer on June 11
- All it took was a Google search to discover he was accused of sexual misconduct
Employees at one of America's largest credit repair companies stumbled upon their new CEO's alleged dark past, and just 13 days later he disappeared.
Credit.com - a conglomerate that offers to help people lower or eliminate their credit card debt by negotiating with creditors - introduced its new CEO as Rams Meijer on June 11, current and former employees told The Salt Lake Tribune.
But all it took was a simple Google search to uncover that Ramses Meijer was accused of 'increasingly sexual comments and physical conduct' by some of his past colleagues.
As news of his sexual misconduct spread throughout the workplace, some employees said they feared for their safety and several threatened to quit, according to the Tribune.
It was the last straw for many employees at Credit.com - which had been struggling for years after it was sued by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau in 2019.
Ramses Meijer was introduced as the new CEO at Credit.com on June 11, but was out within two weeks
Credit repair companies cannot charge customers until it negotiates with the creditors under a provision of the Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule.
As a result, start-up fees or advanced billing fees that Credit.com's parent company, PGX Holdins and its subsidiaries, would be illegal, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau argued.
By March 2023, a Utah federal judge barred Credit.com - a conglomerate that included Progrexion, Credit.com, CreditRepair.com and Lexington Law - from telemarketing for 10 years and subsequently ordered a nearly $2.7billion settlement.
Additionally, Progrexion faced a $45.8million penalty and Lexington Law faced a $18million settlement.
'Credit repair giants' schemed to 'pad their pockets with billions in fees,' CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in the aftermath.
'This scam is another sign that we must do more to fix the credit reporting and scoring system in our country.'
Credit.com - a conglomerate that offers to help people lower or eliminate their credit card debt by negotiating with creditors was sued by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau in 2019
After paying the hefty fines, the companies shut down their call centers and laid off nearly 1,000 people.
But matters worsened when two Utah employees separately sued Progrexion for failing to issue a WARN notice, which requires employers to provide at least 60 days written notice of impending mass layoffs.
The companies then filed for bankruptcy, which stayed the WARN Act lawsuits and stalled the settlement.
Meanwhile, company executives received bonuses, with former CEO Chad Wallace getting a $577,000 bonus in June 2023.
Months later, Credit.com Holdings LLC organized to protect interests of the lenders, bought the assets of Progrexion and related companies out of bankruptcy.
Blue Torch Finance also signed on to manage the company's assets.
Now, many of Credit.com's remaining employees are former Progrexion or Lexington Law employees.
But all together, the conglomerate that once had several thousand employees now has fewer than 200.
Even more were laid off as recently as last month.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau argued that the conglomerate violated federal law by charging customers until it negotiates with the credit card companies
To try to turn things around, Meijer was hired to replace Wallace.
But a simple search revealed a May 2023 appellate court ruling on an appeal of the sexual misconduct complaint - which was settled privately with all of the documents filed before the settlement sealed.
The ruling stated that online travel company Orbitz Worldwide (owned by Expedia Group) hired the company where the plaintiffs worked, Havas, to create an advertising and marketing campaign.
Meijer worked for Orbitz and managed the project on their end.
Former CEO Chad Wallace got a $577,000 bonus in June 2023
But as the Havas employees worked on the project, they were quickly subjected to 'frequent sexual comments and unwanted physical contact,' which escalated to alleged sexual assaults at an Expedia-sponsored event, according to court documents obtained by the Tribune.
The plaintiffs privately settled with Havas, and a trial judge ruled that the settlement meant Orbitz should pay less in a separate settlement under Illinois law.
The plaintiffs, however, disagreed and asked the appeals court to reverse that decision.
They claimed that each employer protected Meijer and enabled his alleged predatory behavior, but argued that the affects of each company's complicity were distinct and should be treated separately.
Still, the appeals court upheld the initial ruling in favor of the companies.
As the court documents spread among the Credit.com employees, some reportedly made formal complaints to the HR department while others stopped going to the office.
Some even said they would not meet with Meijer privately or at all, and several threatened to quit if he kept his position.
'This was the cherry on top,' former employee Taisia Auston told the Tribune.
'I felt like the universe is saying something, saying "You should go."'
Finally, just 13 days after introducing the new CEO, Lee Hastel, a partner at Blue Torch and a Credit.com board member, told the staff Meijer was leaving the company.
He claimed the board did not know about Meijer's past, and announced that Scott Mackley would serve as the interim CEO, according to the Tribune.
Some of the employees said they believed Hastel and took his statement that he took them seriously, and claimed there are still things worth fighting for.
Kensey Slone, for example, said she is proud of the culture she and her colleagues helped foster, which she said is supportive, uplifting and diverse.
'We really care about one another.'
DailyMail.com has reached out to Credit.com, Meijer and the company he now works at, WerkMagic, for comment.
