Aya Healthcare Falsely Advertises Itself as a ‘Genuine’ Staffing Agency, Class Action Claims [DISMISSED]

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A proposed class action claims Aya Healthcare operates a “marketing scheme” whereby it misrepresents itself as a nursing agency that provides health staffing services.

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The 20-page lawsuit alleges Aya makes false and misleading statements about its identity and staffing services to trick nursing candidates into using its business to apply for and accept jobs. Although Aya markets itself as the “largest travel nursing agency,” the company makes false claims about the number of available jobs to which it has access, and advertises vacant nursing jobs on its website without authorization from the employing hospital to post the position, the complaint says. 

The suit contends that even when Aya does manage to post a job it is authorized to list on its website, the company lures consumers into applying for positions by purposefully listing the salaries of available jobs as higher than they truly are.

“For example, if a hospital is seeking a nurse and willing to [pay] $3,000.00 per week for the candidate, Defendant Aya will knowingly advertise the job for $3300.00, and only tell prospective candidates about the salary actually being $3,000.00 weekly after the candidates have completed the application process,” the suit alleges.

According to the filing, Aya’s bait-and-switch tactics are considered “deceptive and actionable misconduct” by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). 

The plaintiff, a California consumer, says it wasn’t until after she submitted an application through Aya that one of the company’s recruiters informed her that the salary for the role had been advertised incorrectly, but the mistake remained on Aya’s advertisements and websites. 

As the case tells it, Aya’s misrepresentations tricked the plaintiff into sharing her personal information with the company. The defendant also caused the plaintiff and other applicants to lose out on other potential employment because its misrepresentations prevented them from going to agencies that had contracts with hospitals and could have actually helped them apply for a position, the suit says.

The filing contends that Aya’s interview process, which requires applicants to fill out a self-reporting questionnaire and answer three questions communicated through a robocall, further demonstrates that the company is not a “genuine” staffing agency. Per the complaint, the robocall questions have nothing to do with the relevant job position and are administered to trick consumers into believing Aya is a legitimate recruiting company.

“When a reasonable consumer sees a business and or service identified as a ‘recruiting agency,’ s/he reasonably expect [sic] that the business will perform the functions of a recruiting agency, including: have authority to advertise the jobs it is telling consumers about, and know accurate details about the employment vacancy’s salary and location,” the suit states. “Additionally, when a reasonable consumer sees a business advertised as a recruiting agency, s/he will conclude that the application process the business implements is a genuine step of the job opening’s application process.”

As the case tells it, Aya is incentivized to deceive consumers into using its services given that the company receives payment from the healthcare facilities where it places new hires, and its recruiters earn a commission when a consumer accepts a job.

The lawsuit looks to cover anyone in California who obtained Aya’s recruiting services at any time since August 31, 2018.

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