These reports are not a mistake, a joke, or a lie. They are absolutely true. As a former employee of Romar Group / Romar Studies / Ameru, I have had to endure verbal and emotional abuse.
On top of that, Romar apparently feels that it is completely acceptable and even professional to not pay their employees. They knowingly write NSF (non sufficient funds) checks to their employees and third party vendors (i.E. Kinko's, screen printers, dye houses, fabric houses, etc.). Lately, they have also written "Account Closed" checks - checks from bank accounts that they have knowingly already closed. As everyone should know, knowingly writing "bad" checks (which are what these essentially are) is illegal and absolutely fradulent to the point of prosecution and conviction to the fullest extent of the law.
Repeated requests to Romar to please forward payment have been met by them not even reading the e-mails or not taking phone calls. Making appointments with the supposed "executive office" which includes Erika Myles (SVP), Linda Haithcox (VP of Corporate Affairs) and Queen Udofia (Executive Assistant / PM), merely leads to them making sure they are not in the office for the appointment they had agreed to previously.
They are supposedly the #38 black-owned company on Black Enterprises list of top minority companies... They made the list by claiming $90 million in revenue.in my tenure there, I have not seen them produce any product that brought in a profit... Or for that matter, I have not seen them produce product - period. I will say it like it is - that $90 million in revenue is an out and out lie. And even if it were not (and that is a big "if"), how does a company blow $90 million in revenue so badly that they cannot even pay their employees or vendors? Therefore, either they are liars or have absolutely no idea how to run a company. And more than likely, it is a combination of both.
Over the past 2 years, the company has lost 120 employees - people who have either quit because the management is so inept at managing or because they were forced to do so due to the fact that Romar has not paid their employees for the past 2 months. Yes, it is so bad that over 120 people have left in 2 years. Considering that only 20 people are currently employed there, that is a turnover rate of 300% per year. These are not people who could not handle the job either. These are intelligent people who have top 10, college degrees - some even hold MBA's - and who came with legitimate and impressive credentials.
What makes things worse is Romar's complete unprofessionalism. Not only do they not pay their employees but to add insult to injury, upon quitting - no matter if the employee left on polite and civil terms (even though he/she had not been paid) - Romar further enjoys dragging employees' reputation's through the mud by insinuating that they could not handle their responsibilities, were dishonest in some way, or as Romar management likes to put it, they were "forced to resign" due to their inabilities. Everyone in Romar or involved with Romar knows the utter lack of validity in that statement.
The only one's who cannot handle their responsibilities are the only one's who pretend to be in charge - Romar's Executive Office including CEO Don Polk. I say "pretend" because when push comes to shove, those people "in charge" are nowhere to be found. They would rather be petty than admit their mistakes. They would rather insult than apologize. And worst of all, they would rather perpetuate their lies than honor their obligations.
I along with a number of past employees are in the process of going through legal channels to seek retribution and restitution. If you or anyone you know plans on doing business with Romar, I strongly advise against it. They are dishonest "people" who know nothing about honor and respect.
Shame on Don Polk for giving minority-owned-and-run businesses a bad name. Shame on Erika Myles, Linda Haithcox, and Queen Udofia for giving women in the business world a bad name. And shame on anyone who continues to do business with Romar as doing so only helps Romar to perpetuate the lies, viciousness, and maliciousness they show their employees and vendors.
Be advised that their modus operandi is to charge up front; take your money; and then never produce product or even achieve any goals laid out by the client and promised to the client in exchange for the up front payment. If you are even considering doing business with Romar, make sure that your agreement is for a backend payment to Romar contingent on them achieving certain goals rather than an up front payment.
At this point, Romar is operating illegally in the state of California as they have never applied for the proper licenses pertaining to garment manufacturing and distributing.
Romar is a fraudlent, dishonest and illegally run company. Is this really someone you would consider working for or doing business with?
1 of 120 former employees in the past 2 years
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