Jeffrey Kippel and Mindy Blackstien, co-owners and founders of FAME Media Group (FAME), World Natural Sports Organization (WNSO), and the Drug Free Sports Organization are running a business which has treated employees, it consumers (athletes), photographers, venues and promoters with the utmost disrespect and have acted fraudulently, by consistently writing bad cheques, refusing to pay wages earned and disregarding/dishonoring their obligations and responsibilities to ethical business practice.
Almost all staff were laid off on June 18th without notice. Pay for wages earned was not received by these employees and cheques from the period previous were not honored. The pair swiftly closed the office and moved to an unknown location, conveniently avoiding athlete phone calls as well as staff concerns after a disappointing Expo event on June 9, 10th.
Almost 6 weeks later, no employee has been paid, nor have contract workers, including venue operators, photographers and athletes who have won prizes in their events.
Athletes pay hundreds of dollars (in American funds, I might add) to compete, spend hundreds on photographs and flights and hotels in hopes of winning a trophy and a small Pro prize purse. In the end, when cheques are bouncing, venues are unpaid, photos are not delivered as services are unpaid and there are no staff on hand to deal with athlete questions, it becomes obvious what kind of business this is.
I am curious as to how they continue to offer huge cash prizes at www.wowFAME.com and ask for donations to a charity called The Drug Free Sports Association of which I cannot find a registration for on the Canadian Registered Charities website.
Employees have just recently been offered a payment schedule which hinges on "perceived" future revenues over a year interval without interest. Jeffrey Kippel also refuses to sign this document, rendering it useless in the eyes of the law anyhow. Employees have been offered supplements instead of wages... outrageous! These items are meant for athletes (paying consumers) to support their already tiny reward packages.
Bottom line: there remains many unpaid employees, both recent and from years gone by, unpaid venues, suppliers, photographers and athletes. In this country we do not work for free and we do take offense to unethical, not to mention illegal treatment of workers and consumers alike. We have an obligation to protect one another from fraudulent, unscrupulous businesses.
Justice league
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
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