Menu

The good, the bad, and the ugly - discover what customers are saying about CORA LLC

Welcome to our customer reviews and complaints page for CORA LLC. We understand that making informed decisions about where to invest your time and money can be challenging, which is why we've created this platform for our community to share their honest feedback about their experiences with CORA LLC.

On this page, you'll find a comprehensive collection of reviews and complaints from real customers who have used CORA LLC's products or services. Our reviews are authentic and unbiased, providing you with a complete picture of the company, its products or services, and their customer service.

Whether you're considering doing business with CORA LLC, or you've already had an experience with them, our community's reviews and complaints will give you a valuable perspective on what to expect. Our goal is to help you make informed decisions about where to invest your time and money, and we hope that our platform will be a valuable resource for you.

Please feel free to browse our reviews and complaints and share your own experience with CORA LLC. Your feedback is an important part of our community and will help others make informed decisions.

ComplaintsBoard
A
6:21 pm EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

CORA LLC Treatment, Pryroll

Cora llc, cora or cora works. Three differnet names for the same company, on my heir date I was told by cora I will receive a weekly paycheck for the hours I work, what a dam lie, they were over 2 months behind in paying employee's the day they heired me.

Now I was told by a cora maneger, to take a few weeks of to cool and and when I think I can handle working again to notify hr dept and continue working, funny how I was told this after making some complaints about payroll.

I just hope that I will soon get paid, I am going on over a month now with no pay and I could lose my place and have utillitys turned off because of cora not paying me on time, it is not my fault that cora is unperfessional and keeps on heiring disable people to work for them and cora excepts them to work and wait to get paid, and if you make any complaints they will fire you or tell you to take time off, like they did with me.

I am going to write a list of names of the last people payed, now to my knowlege these have been the last ones paid, if there has been knew people added to this list, it has been done since I have stoped working for cora,

Update on checks mailed 8/21 - 8/25:

Stickels, v
Ryan, t
Schwab, g
Boggs, d
Goldstein, j
Matthews, k
Cordova
Goodroe, e
Bennett, c
Womack, k

Funny how these peopl are cora llc managers!

Read full review of CORA LLC and 2 comments
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
2 comments
Add a comment
W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Nov 01, 2009 6:30 pm EST

Just wanted to let CORA survivors; past, current, and future know that we have a new website community set-up that will allow you to vent, communicate, share, laugh and cry with others that share common-grounds. Share your stories, share your life, share your future...all are welcome!

http://www.corasurvivors.com/

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 18, 2009 8:49 pm EDT

That is really unfortunate, but not unusual for CORA/IMS. This is something that they are continuously doing over and over again without any thought to what they are putting their employees through. Notify VR/VA counselors, NJ Labor and Wage Board, as well as your state's Labor and Wage Board and document everything, it will help if needed in the future. We have a website for CORA survivors to band together and support each other. Everyone is welcome.

http://corasurvivors.forumotion.net/login.forum?connexion

ComplaintsBoard
A
2:55 am EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

CORA LLC stop covering

To address some of the comments made by jeff, I know for a fact there is more then a few people on a fulough and one of the them was done with out any notice to any one untill the day before. Some of us x employees put are heart and soul in to this and to only have it crushed. You know as well as I do you can train people on one job or project and then turn around and train them on another and think they are going to make any kinda of quotas when they have 50 states to look for what ever projec they are doing have they have look at the state for months and think that they are going to get any where or the times that the porject changed 4 times in one week. Or when you get told one thing and it is never happens. How is it fair that we did what we were told and then find out it was not good enough or to find out they wanted you gone cause you knew to much. Or to get told you to take more meds cause you not thinking right. How is it fair to the vr office when they are told one thing to only find out it is untrue to I was told my lap top would work for cora only to find out after my 90 days that we were have to have 2nd life and you guessed it my lap top could not by up graded and I with my own money had to get a brand new desk top then after you but it get told in an email that there is no work we will send and email I wait for that email for one hold month not doing any thing but waiting. Then to find out they want me back as an ra when I had worked my way up to 30 hours plus and was a project manger and did a great job at it better then they thought I could do listed below is my reason why I qiut. I so had my heart set on this thing too but we are just not a few x-employee upset with cora we are more then I think you will know and one day jeff your day will come were you are not the poster boy you will miss up and you will be furlough with out notice too... Once you start askind the wrong?'s you will be next.

The list of my reasons!
You cant promise people the work and the money then pull the rug out form them

May 15, 2009
Ilene morris-sambur
Cora, llc ceo
541 berkshire valley road
Wharton, nj 07885
800.571.2397

Dear ms. Morris-sambur,
I am writing this with a heavy heart. I came to work for cora in august 2008. I was extremely excited about my job. I was told that after I proved myself that I would be making $9.00 – $13.00 an hour and up to 40 hours per week. I was to be working making cold calls, to the chamber of commerce in whichever state I was given. After making calls for two days, I was given the position of ra. Within one week I was made team leader. After one week of being a team leader I was asked if I had any qc experience. I stated; that I felt based on my previous work experience that I did have the qualifications. When I was put into the qc department I was made supervisor. I was given 30 hours a week and got a dollar an hour raise. Because qc was only open from 8:00 am – 1:00 pm, I was not getting my 30 hours a week. I was able to make up the hours in the sales department doing research on old leads that had come through before the qc department was established. My job entailed making calls to see if the phone numbers were valid, verifying addresses and contact persons. During all of this time I never received any formal training that was discussed with me and my dvr. My job in qc lasted about four months and the qc department was made null and void, as the company was changing direction.
When the qc department closed, I was made a project manager for the remote worker program. I had to make calls to those that were on hold, due to needing equipment or it access. The people that were able to either work on a computer, at a location other than their home or using an older computer, I would then send emails with the links needed to work. Once this was done my team would then train the people on their new position as an ra. I brought in so many people able to work that we were training on four different projects.in addition to the remote worker program being put on hold, I was assisting in cleaning up the database when the furlough was put into place and my hours were cut. They went from 30 to 15 to 0. I was sent an email on march 31th stating “due to reconstruction (cora and projects) there will be no work today. We will advise you later today/tonight for any new updates.” the email came in a half an hour before I was to begin my shift. To this day, the email has never come about returning to work.
I have had several phone calls in the recent weeks asking if I was coming back to work. Each time I stated that I wanted to speak with mary jo or anyone in upper management in the hr department, to find out why things have turned the way they have with no explanation. I did find out that my new position was to be a sales consultant. I went from being head of qc to a project manager to a caller, with no explanation, rhyme, or reason. On top of that no one from upper management will speak to me about this. Being out of work for a month and a half with no explanation has made feel as though the company does not really care about the disabled workers, as they claimed by cora management. No one ever bothered to call and find out if I was doing ok, let alone talk about coming to work.

Because of the lack of communication, financial distress, and emotional hardship this has put on me, I am tendering my resignation effective 29 may, 2009.

Sincerely,

Tammy wieting

As for who is another cora surviors is well it is me tammy wieting im not afarid to my name here

For the one that seem to love cora sooooooooooo much and want to down grade the ones that have complained or think we dont the a mind to know what was done to us I want to know have you gotten your checks are you bills being paid in a timely matter and if you have your bill paid for the work you have done then why is that some are owed 1, 000 of dollars from cora and it should not matter what we spend our money on it is our money we worked for it I also know that some of you dont need the money as your have others in the home that help you. So untill you have been told by hr that you have to wait your turn and your turn never comes. You still have pay your bill now matter what they are but you cant cause you have a company that cant even get their story straight.

Read full review of CORA LLC and 3 comments
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
3 comments
Add a comment
W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Nov 01, 2009 6:31 pm EST

Just wanted to let CORA survivors; past, current, and future know that we have a new website community set-up that will allow you to vent, communicate, share, laugh and cry with others that share common-grounds. Share your stories, share your life, share your future...all are welcome!

http://www.corasurvivors.com/

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 17, 2009 1:01 pm EDT

CURRENT/FURLOUGHED/TERMINATED/RESIGNED EMPLOYEES OF CORA!
We have started a support site for CORA Survivors and you are welcome!
We look forward to seeing you there.
http://corasurvivors.forumotion.net/forum.htm

D
D
Declara
Olympia, US
Sep 15, 2009 3:03 am EDT

STOP ARGUING ON THE INTERNET AND SUE CORA LLC. YOU HAVE THE LAW ON YOUR SIDE. RUN WITH IT, YOU NINNY!

ComplaintsBoard
T
2:48 am EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

CORA LLC get your story straight

For the one that seem to LOVE CORA SOOOOOOOOOOO much and want to down grade the ones that have complained or think we dont the a mind to know what was done to us I want to know have you gotten your checks are you bills being paid in a timely matter And if you have your bill paid for the work you have done then why is that some are owed 1, 000 of dollars from Cora and it should not matter what we spend our money on it is OUR MONEY WE WORKED FOR IT I ALSO KNOW that some of you dont need the money as your have others in the home that help you . So untill you have been told by HR that you have to wait your turn and your turn NEVER comes. YOU still have pay your bill now matter what they are but you cant cause you have a company that cant even get their story straight

TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE COMMENTS MADE BY JEFF, I KNOW FOR A FACT THERE IS MORE THEN A FEW PEOPLE ON A FULOUGH AND ONE OF THE THEM WAS DONE WITH OUT ANY NOTICE TO ANY ONE UNTILL THE DAY BEFORE. SOME OF US X EMPLOYEES PUT ARE HEART AND SOUL IN TO THIS AND TO ONLY HAVE IT CRUSHED. YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO YOU CAN TRAIN PEOPLE ON ONE JOB OR PROJECT AND THEN TURN AROUND AND TRAIN THEM ON ANOTHER AND THINK THEY ARE GOING TO MAKE ANY KINDA OF QUOTAS WHEN THEY HAVE 50 STATES TO LOOK FOR WHAT EVER PROJEC THEY ARE DOING HAVE THEY HAVE LOOK AT THE STATE FOR MONTHS AND THINK THAT THEY ARE GOING TO GET ANY WHERE OR THE TIMES THAT THE PORJECT CHANGED 4 TIMES IN ONE WEEK . OR WHEN YOU GET TOLD ONE THING AND IT IS NEVER HAPPENS. HOW IS IT FAIR THAT WE DID WHAT WE WERE TOLD AND THEN FIND OUT IT WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH OR TO FIND OUT THEY WANTED YOU GONE CAUSE YOU KNEW TO MUCH . OR TO GET TOLD YOU TO TAKE MORE MEDS CAUSE YOU NOT THINKING RIGHT . HOW IS IT FAIR TO THE VR OFFICE WHEN THEY ARE TOLD ONE THING TO ONLY FIND OUT IT IS UNTRUE TO I WAS TOLD MY LAP TOP WOULD WORK FOR CORA ONLY TO FIND OUT AFTER MY 90 DAYS THAT WE WERE HAVE TO HAVE 2ND LIFE AND YOU GUESSED IT MY LAP TOP COULD NOT BY UP GRADED AND I WITH MY OWN MONEY HAD TO GET A BRAND NEW DESK TOP THEN AFTER YOU BUT IT GET TOLD IN AN EMAIL THAT THERE IS NO WORK WE WILL SEND AND EMAIL I WAIT FOR THAT EMAIL FOR ONE HOLD MONTH NOT DOING ANY THING BUT WAITING . THEN TO FIND OUT THEY WANT ME BACK AS AN RA WHEN I HAD WORKED MY WAY UP TO 30 HOURS PLUS AND WAS A PROJECT MANGER AND DID A GREAT JOB AT IT BETTER THEN THEY THOUGHT I COULD DO LISTED BELOW IS MY REASON WHY I QIUT . I SO HAD MY HEART SET ON THIS THING TOO BUT WE ARE JUST NOT A FEW X-EMPLOYEE UPSET WITH CORA WE ARE MORE THEN I THINK YOU WILL KNOW AND ONE DAY JEFF YOUR DAY WILL COME WERE YOU ARE NOT THE POSTER BOY YOU WILL MISS UP AND YOU WILL BE FURLOUGH WITH OUT NOTICE TOO ... ONCE YOU START ASKIND THE WRONG ?'S YOU WILL BE NEXT.

THE LIST OF MY REASONS !
YOU CANT PROMISE PEOPLE THE WORK AND THE MONEY THEN PULL THE RUG OUT FORM THEM

May 15, 2009
Ilene Morris-Sambur
CORA, LLC CEO
541 Berkshire Valley Road
Wharton, NJ 07885
800.571.2397

Dear Ms. Morris-Sambur,
I am writing this with a heavy heart. I came to work for CORA in August 2008. I was extremely excited about my job. I was told that after I proved myself that I would be making $9.00 – $13.00 an hour and up to 40 hours per week. I was to be working making cold calls, to the Chamber of Commerce in whichever state I was given. After making calls for two days, I was given the position of RA. Within one week I was made Team Leader. After one week of being a Team Leader I was asked if I had any QC experience. I stated; that I felt based on my previous work experience that I did have the qualifications. When I was put into the QC Department I was made Supervisor. I was given 30 hours a week and got a dollar an hour raise. Because QC was only open from 8:00 am – 1:00 pm, I was not getting my 30 hours a week. I was able to make up the hours in the Sales Department doing research on old leads that had come through before the QC Department was established. My job entailed making calls to see if the phone numbers were valid, verifying addresses and contact persons. During all of this time I never received any formal training that was discussed with me and my DVR. My job in QC lasted about four months and the QC Department was made null and void, as the company was changing direction.
When the QC Department closed, I was made a Project Manager for the Remote Worker Program. I had to make calls to those that were on hold, due to needing equipment or IT access. The people that were able to either work on a computer, at a location other than their home or using an older computer, I would then send emails with the links needed to work. Once this was done my team would then train the people on their new position as an RA. I brought in so many people able to work that we were training on four different projects. In addition to the Remote Worker Program being put on hold, I was assisting in cleaning up the database when the furlough was put into place and my hours were cut. They went from 30 to 15 to 0. I was sent an email on March 31th stating “due to reconstruction (CORA and projects) there will be no work today. We will advise you later today/tonight for any new updates.” The email came in a half an hour before I was to begin my shift. To this day, the email has never come about returning to work.
I have had several phone calls in the recent weeks asking if I was coming back to work. Each time I stated that I wanted to speak with Mary Jo or anyone in Upper Management in the HR Department, to find out why things have turned the way they have with no explanation. I did find out that my new position was to be a sales consultant. I went from being head of QC to a Project Manager to a caller, with no explanation, rhyme, or reason. On top of that no one from Upper Management will speak to me about this. Being out of work for a month and a half with no explanation has made feel as though the company does not really care about the disabled workers, as they claimed by CORA Management. No one ever bothered to call and find out if I was doing ok, let alone talk about coming to work.

Because of the lack of communication, financial distress, and emotional hardship this has put on me, I am tendering my resignation effective 29 May, 2009.

Sincerely,

Tammy Wieting

Read full review of CORA LLC and 4 comments
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
4 comments
Add a comment
W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Nov 01, 2009 6:32 pm EST

Just wanted to let CORA survivors; past, current, and future know that we have a new website community set-up that will allow you to vent, communicate, share, laugh and cry with others that share common-grounds. Share your stories, share your life, share your future...all are welcome!

http://www.corasurvivors.com/

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 17, 2009 1:02 pm EDT

CURRENT/FURLOUGHED/TERMINATED/RESIGNED EMPLOYEES OF CORA!
We have started a support site for CORA Survivors and you are welcome!
We look forward to seeing you there.
http://corasurvivors.forumotion.net/forum.htm

C
C
Cora Survivor
Anywhere, US
Sep 15, 2009 12:35 pm EDT

Dear Declara...

For your information people are consulting with attorneys however it is not that easy in getting one! If you think it is that easy then please help us ! Phone calls and emails are being sent out but the more voices we have the sooner something can be done about this!

Here goes some information for you to HELP US since you seem so knowledgeable about the laws and seemed so deeply concerned for us in this situation...

...From our decision, you should not conclude that you do not have a cause of action. We urge you to bring your case to other attorneys to see if you can find someone more local to represent you.

We encourage you to immediately consult with as many other lawyers as you wish without delay. CORA, LLC is based in New Jersey. Here is a link to the New Jersey Bar Lawyer Referral Services: http://www.njsba.com/lawyer_referral/. You can ask them for a New Jersey attorney who handles employment class actions. Here is a phone number to one of the NJ Bar referral services: [protected]

D
D
Declara
Olympia, US
Sep 15, 2009 3:01 am EDT

FOR CHRIST'S SAKE. SUE THEM!

Firing whistleblowers = illegal.
Withholding pay = illegal.

Other various offenses are present as well, such as supervisors harassing and demeaning their subordinates, taking work without pay, violating an employer contract, etc. etc. You don't need money, the scandal is enough! The news will eat this up!

ComplaintsBoard
T
10:49 pm EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

CORA LLC Atrocious Treatment of Disabled Employees

Atrocious-awful, dreadful, terrible, unspeakable, abominable, painful...
All of this and more is what I suffered at the hands of Cora's Ceo. I have been disabled for 10 years now and thought I would never be able to go back to work, all hope was gone for me due to severe spinal diseases that there is no cure for. And then there is more and more speculations of employment via the internet that allows you to work at home, woo-hoo, this is right down my alley, I can do this, so once again, there is hope. I got with my VR counselor and we set up a plan for me to return to the workforce, although a little unorthodox to some, just perfect for me. This would allow me to once again feel like I have a reason to get up in the mornings, feel worthy, resourceful, regain some self esteem and just plain feel like I have a purpose again. So for $3500.oo of the taxpayers money from the state of TN. Cora scooped me right up and put me into, what i thought was going to be my saving grace. Little did I know that I was stepping right into a small piece of hell on earth. Please, let me explain. Not only I, but many others joined this company with promises of great training, 90 day mentoring, job placement (internal and/or external). Little did we know that none of this would be true at the end of our "90" days, or shortly thereafter we were put on "furlough", yes that's right, "furlough". At that time we were told that because of some "trouble makers" within Cora, and the lies that were reported to some Voc. Rehab. Counselors, the money that Cora counted on to pay it's employees was not there, severly cutting into their monetary resourses. Well, you should have heard the things that Ilene Morris-Sambur, Ceo of Cora, was saying outright about some people within the company; although she was not calling people out by name, she was however, calling people that had spoken to their VR counselors, liars, trouble makers, deceitful, problems, etc. She would say that these people obviously had mental issues and hoped they would get help, that they just don't understand that not paying employees is a normal part of business, that these people are contemptuous and have no respect for their employer and I could go on and on, but I think you get the behavior that was being directed at some of us employees. And yes, I was one of the employees that had spoken to my counselor, I had discussed how I and others were being treated there. I was not, however, one of her "orginal troublemakers", but you can put me in that classification now. I am not going to set by and listen to anyone, much less an empoyer, put others down the way she did. I do have a voice and I will speak for others if they cannot. She has disgraced many of us, and yes, even though she never came out and said any names, I took it very personally because she did speak these words in open forum, wrote them on open communication boards and made many of us feel as though we were not worthy of being in "her" company much less have the right to speak the truth against it. If any question was raised about not getting paid, which happened on a regular basis, some were scolded to the point that they thought they were doing something wrong by just asking for what was rightfully theirs. I for one had to demand for my pay on several occasions. She was not going to make me feel ashamed for asking for it. I earned it and [censored] I needed it. I did not connect with Cora to give the Queen a hand out. So I demaned for my pay right up to my termination on the 27th of August. Yes that's right, I was not going to let the Queen run me off and quit just so she could have the satisfaction to say that I was another one that could not handle this type of work and didn't have "what it takes to work for Cora". I stayed and demanded answers from her and demanded my pay until she had no other choice but to terminate me. She did however, after my posting in the Q&A, say that I obviously had a comprehension problem because I had taken some of the things said the wrong way. Well how in the hell do you take, SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP, YOU'LL GET YOUR DAMN MONEY! I think I took it just like it sounded and when I called her out on that and demanded an apology, not only to myself but to the entire company, she said that I had comprehension issues that needed to be addressed. Well address this Queen Ilene, those of us that have been scorned by you and yours, that have been made to feel worthless by you and your words and writings, that you thought you were controlling, that has gotten out of the grasps of your ruthless hands and demeaning stature and HAVE moved on and althought you have planted the feelings of loss again, have taken away the self esteem of some, have made some feel hopeless again, I am here to say YOU HAVE NOT WON! These disabled people including me, will find other endeavours, and will connect with other employers that will see us for what we are worth, for the good sense and skills that we possess and we will be treated with the respect that we deserve and we will know that we do not have to stand by and allow you or anyone else treat us with the disrespect and contempt that we found within Cora. We are disabled and no one then nor now are asking that anyone "coddle" us, as you put it, we just demand that we be treated with the dignity and the upmost sense of importance that we deserve.
I hope all of you that worked in Cora have the best of luck and become everything that you desire, YOU ARE WORTH IT, don't let anyone tell you or make you believe otherwise. I am not affraid to give my name, it is Melissa Sadler, and I am here hoping to have my voice heard and hopefully help others see that all the bad seeds that Ilene planted in the them will not grow unless we give them energy. Turn your hurting thoughts into positive thoughts and do what you have to do to clear your mind of Cora and at the same time follow your dream; there is still hope out there and many other opportunities. Let's put the "fire" to work that Ilene lit in all of us, and not let her win, we will prevail. My best to you all.

Read full review of CORA LLC and 15 comments
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
15 comments
Add a comment
M
M
Michael S Morris
Mesa, US
Feb 11, 2010 8:43 pm EST

I worked for CORA since Feb. '09. They furloughed me in Nov. '09. To date they still owe me $158.72. The entire company is a scam. They take money from states to train people then seem to be keeping the money.

I don't see any pymts. in the future.

Michael S. Morris
Arizona

A
A
Amy Miller
Brillion, US
Aug 25, 2011 5:25 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Dear Daniel,
I was a manager at CORA, although IMS did invest alot of money in Second Life the majority of the money went to pay off Mr Fauzy a injured vet that she duped out of alot of money. December of 2008 she was ordered to pay Mr Fauzy $400, 000 in restitution, this is when the influx of DVR Consumers began, she needed the money to settle this dept. It is also suspected she had transfered alot of the monies to a off shore account in the Philipiens through a bank in California. Her son Chris has a wife in the Philipians. And yes you are right our government that is suppose to protect us did absoultely nothing but help her succeed in this mass scam.

Amy Miller

U
U
User4987234
, US
Aug 25, 2011 1:27 am EDT

Ms. Hunt:
It's Damien Collins... I was quite possibly the last person paid by CORA. I was fired the moment I asked questions about how my job was supposed to be effective. The big problem was, IMS invested the monies that were promised to us in Second Life. It was a gigantic gamble, that I and the rest of the IT Staff tried to inform her would not work. I started to notice that things were going south when they moved me from doing software installations to calling everyone in the Company to ensure they had a program that would barely operate on the budget PC's that they bought for you guys. The moment I voiced my concerns (through the proper chain of command), I was told I would meet with the proper people at 8:00 am the following morning. I proceeded to wait for 12 hours in a chat room until I was finally told that I was being fired, not for misconduct, or insubordination, but for taking time off after having 24 teeth removed from my head. What saddens me the most is that she played all of us, and walked away without a scratch, and the GOVERNMENT DID NOTHING ABOUT IT!

A
A
Amy Miller
Brillion, US
Apr 18, 2010 4:27 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Ilene stop blaming others for a situation that you yourself created way before Carrie was an employee, way before many of these people were employees. The simple fact is you tried to steal money from Veterans as they were recovering from there wounds they received after fighting to protect your rights and one brave soul fought back and won!in December of 2008 you had to pay that Vet a very hefty settlement in the amount excess of $300, 000. That is when you started the influx of disabled VR Consumers in a attempt to make up the money. But we all know the the end result to that. CORA was never a real company it was only a smoke screen that you made up to take money from the States because you no longer could take it from Walter Reed and the Veterans. How many more facts would you like me to post here for you Ilene? I can back up all of this information with solid evidence, which I have for the Government and their investigation against you. I have much more, do you wana play?

I
I
Ilene Morris-Sambur, Former CEO
Wharton, US
Apr 16, 2010 6:16 pm EDT

This young lady was one of the first to start trouble for CORA. She was paid in full also. At least she posted her real name.

And Carrie... if I"m The Queen, that must make you the Court Jester? It's perfectly fine that you are abusive to me in this posting isn't it Carrie? Please stop slandering and let's post the facts. YOu can find our blog at: http://coraworks.wordpress.com It will take a few days for me to pull your communications, but they will clearly identify the real issues here, and it's not Queen Ilene Carrie.
==================================================================================

AMEN to that too! I have never in my life worked for a company where the owner is so deceitful, and abusive towards the employees! > abuse = To assail with contemptuous, coarse, or insulting words; revile; Improper use or handling; misuse: abuse of authority; Insulting or coarse language: verbal abuse.

Funny how Queen Ilene speaks of us as if we are the ones with the mental challenges and telling us we need to go seek counseling and be put on meds when we rightfully ask for our paychecks – I took her “advice” and asked my counselor and even went to go see a psychiatrist about it – I told them what was happening and why I was having so much trouble with anxiety and suicidal thoughts and then read to them the writings posted by Queen Ilene on the Staff Communications… turns out BOTH mental health professionals were appalled by her behavior and abusive words and they urged me to quit for my own safety!

Queen Ilene for slander as she has threatened again and again. Feeding into this persons fear creates difficulty in understanding that what they need to do for themselves is out of self preservation, and instead they choose to sacrifice their well being for the preservation of the company.
I really wanted myself to believe that things would work out! I really enjoyed working again – yet when I saw just how much of a doctrine Queen Ilene believes she has over people in August by posting “Let me make it perfectly clear that no employer owes you a living.”

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Nov 01, 2009 6:33 pm EST

Just wanted to let CORA survivors; past, current, and future know that we have a new website community set-up that will allow you to vent, communicate, share, laugh and cry with others that share common-grounds. Share your stories, share your life, share your future...all are welcome!

http://www.corasurvivors.com/

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 17, 2009 1:04 pm EDT

CURRENT/FURLOUGHED/TERMINATED/RESIGNED EMPLOYEES OF CORA!
We have started a support site for CORA Survivors and you are welcome!
We look forward to seeing you there.
http://corasurvivors.forumotion.net/forum.htm

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 15, 2009 11:59 pm EDT

I have actually researched Mr. Romano and while his credentials are impressive, it's obvious he has no idea how bad CORA has spiralled out of control. I challenge Mr. Romano to look closely at the "books", listen to the webinars and GoTo meetings, pull up quickbase chat rooms and see what kind of treatment employees were subjected to on a daily basis. Look closely at financial statements and see where the money was going and why there's 400 + people without the promised training, mentoring, and solid employment (be it direct hire or indirect hire). One would hope it is not in name only and that he will take over CORA and turn it into an organization that can truly help disabled people and not degrade disabled people. An organization that doesn't ridicule it's employees because they are upset at not being paid for months.

You cannot "throw" a business plan together in one day and expect it to save the company. You cannot expect people to come back to "help" the company pay back-wages first and then hope to get commission pay eventually. You can't ask for donations for a company that isn't being managed correctly. You can't sell "service vouchers" to companies without having your employees pre-trained for those positions. You are only setting your employees up for more disappointments. Disabled people have enough disappointments in their lives without having to be subjected to another one.

C
C
Cora President Info
Wharton, US
Sep 15, 2009 11:16 pm EDT

Want to learn more about the President of CORA? Go to:

http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Romano_Neil_696863070.aspx?PersonID=696863070&lastName=Romano&firstName=Neil&id=696863070&searchSource=page&page=3

Just copy and paste in the location bar

L
L
lots of work
sss, US
Sep 15, 2009 9:11 pm EDT

Any person can look into the specs for Contract Law. In a nut shell, it is my understanding that CORA can use NJ law for its business. However, if employees sign their individual agreements/contracts in other states, such as WI, OH, etc.; the state where the agreements/contracts were signed are also brought into the matter.

Therefore, the normal procedure to introduce the "long arm of the law" statute into play means the dollar value would have to be $75, 000.01 or higher for the case to be heard outside the NJ jurisdiction.

I wonder if the VA, VR, and employess file class-action suits in each state if these cases can and would be brought into different district courts, rather than using the NJ courts only for the smaller dollar amounts.

I for one could never be paid for the emotional damage CORA caused me, which has turned my physical condition upside down.

I am no lawyer; however, I am a very good researcher and will continue my quest to help others. Good luck all...god bless.

ComplaintsBoard
A
12:17 am EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

CORA LLC I am tired of working for nothing!

I have been working for CORA for 90 days and want my money! I am sick of the brow beating, the sneaky pete comments about how everyone should be sooooo grateful to have a job considering... Considering what?! Considering the fact that we are unfortunate enough to have limitations? Our brains are working just fine. Otherwise, we would not have been hired...I guess. Isn't the goal to hire disabled people who may not be able to work in a regular building or storefront but do have the ability to be successful with some technological assistives and modified work places. Why is there always a feeling that people are doing us a favor?! CORA is a good idea but they don't seem to believe their own hype. Does CORA believe that we are really an untapped resource or just a bunch of cash cows to the tune of $3500 per head?

This is a bad situation and something needs to be done about it. The management is a gang of incompetent, puffed up bullies, running around blaming the very people they are making their money off of instead of solving the problem. And listen very carefully, Ilene and friends, the "tattle tales" are not the problem. Telling the truth about a bad situation is not a problem. If more people told the truth about a bad situation during WWII, maybe Hitler could have been stopped much, much sooner. The problem is bad management, mismanagement and no management. What does that say about the brilliant abilities bragged about so often everywhere you look? I have never seen a company so badly managed. It's like a farm full of headless chickens. But you know what I want the most...my golden egg. I need to get paid. We need to get paid. NOW.

Read full review of CORA LLC and 5 comments
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
5 comments
Add a comment
W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Nov 01, 2009 6:36 pm EST

Just wanted to let CORA survivors; past, current, and future know that we have a new website community set-up that will allow you to vent, communicate, share, laugh and cry with others that share common-grounds. Share your stories, share your life, share your future...all are welcome!

http://www.corasurvivors.com/

D
D
denise mundt
Fond du Lac, US
Oct 26, 2009 12:01 pm EDT

ok i have worked for this company for ten months and it has been totally awful i got furlough in june supported this company all the way then got called back for a piolet project for walgreens and started october 3rd with this came a wage agreement that we would get paid weekly guess what it didnt happen alot of us have left and are filing a wage claim there is a fellow that came from it and he is owe over four thousand dollers granted his claim is more then mine mine is five hundred but i am disabled and have worked sat every day six hours a day to work for a big fat zero and i even went so far as to work saturdays .left with empty promises and left with being belittled by ims and her nag protel know she is opening this up to our soliders wifes who are gonna be left with a big fat zero this is so wrong i got info from a goverment source that so far there is 273 claims for non paid wages this is serious please dont set yourself up for a fall i have cried and felt useless because of this company i have filed with the disability councel as for being dis against please if u decide to work for her be prepared to get burned

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 17, 2009 1:04 pm EDT

CURRENT/FURLOUGHED/TERMINATED/RESIGNED EMPLOYEES OF CORA!
We have started a support site for CORA Survivors and you are welcome!
We look forward to seeing you there.
http://corasurvivors.forumotion.net/forum.htm

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 15, 2009 12:54 am EDT

For those that don't know, my name is Candy M. and I am not ashamed to put my name here. I resigned my position with CORA for the following reasons taken directly off my resignation letter:

"I am writing this letter to inform you of my decision to resign my position with C.O.R.A.. and hence tendering my resignation.

After more than 6 months working with this company, things have not been up to my expectations and I feel it is time for me to look for other opportunities.

I believe that working in any organization involves a mutually beneficial relationship that requires the worker performing at his/her best and the company providing a happy and productive work environment for its employees. Unfortunately, that has not been the case with me. I have had issues with the inefficient, rushed, and disorganized training on a daily basis from the very beginning. I have noted my concerns in written form and through discussions with various members of management. Promises of degreed teachers and mentoring have not happened. Promises of 30-day, 60-day, 90-day reviews have never happened. Promises of permanent, part-time and full-time employment have not happened. Promises of 100's of jobs have not happened.

Employees were told not to contact their VR counselors with any company problems. My concern would be that if employees followed the rules and chain-of-command with their company concerns and nothing is satisfactorily resolved, they should have the option to speak to their VR counselors without any fear of reprimand or termination.

Payroll delays, payroll checks being returned for insufficient funds and management going back on their word in regards to reimbursing employees bank charges because of those delays are one of my many reasons for resigning.

I have performed my job exceptionally, given the chaotic and often little amount of training received. I have never been written up or in any way told I was not performing my job well. When I brought up the payroll issues and advised that I would be unable to work until I received all checks owed to me and that they have cleared the bank, suddenly my "work" quality came into play. If there were any concerns with my "work" quality, they should've been mentioned and addressed well before me bringing up the payroll issues.

I would like to stress that I did my best to familiarize myself with the work culture in the organization and make myself a good team player. In the end, I conclude that staying longer is not a win-win solution. Because of the issues mentioned above, I feel that I am in a hostile work environment and cannot continue to be a productive employee and am tendering my resignation effective June 23, 2009.

If some of the words here in any way have caused any inconvenience to you, I regret and apologize, but I tried to write with all honesty."

The complaints that have been posted here are valid and can be backed-up with documentation.

Stop playing the blame game IMS/CORA! Pay your employees and stop blaming them for CORA's problems. Accept responsibility and provide the training, mentoring, and job placement (whether directly or indirectly) you promised your employees and their VR/VA counselors.

I sincerely hope you turn this around and "listen" to the suggestions you've been given. CORA had a real opportunity to make a difference in our lives and we have been let down. Honesty and kindness would've gone a long way in this situation. May God bless all the past/current furloughed employees of CORA.

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 12, 2009 11:15 pm EDT

I too was an employee of CORA. CORA made many promises of training, mentoring, and job placement that NEVER happened. CORA also advised they had 100's, sometimes 1, 000's of jobs for us and that NEVER happened. Training was a joke! You can't switch people from one job to the next on a daily basis and expect them to excel. I moved my way through the ranks; Assistant Team Leader, Team Leader, Project Manager, Administrative Assistant, ect. I was privy, first-hand to the disgusting, often abusive treatment that IMS and upper management would subject it's employees to on a daily basis. I became more and more disillusioned as the treatment and expectations grew worse. I expressed my concerns to management, team leaders, and in written form. Then May began and the delay of checks and if you were lucky enough to receive one several weeks later...it would bounce. No apologies have EVER been made to any employees. At first IMS would blame employees saying they filled time cards out incorrectly and that was the reason checks were delayed. Then she blamed it problems with the time card company. Then she stopped direct deposit and said checks would be mailed. I new this meant they could blame it on the mail system (which they did many times, "We cannot control the mail.") Then she blamed it on vendors saying THEY were the ones sending them "bad" checks. Then it was again the employees fault for complaining to their VR counselors about not getting paid and that the states were withholding payments.

IMS would threaten employees with termination if they went to VR counselors with concerns. HELLO! We followed chain-of-command...expressed concerns in written form on Employee Board, we expressed concerns with team leaders, managers, management...guess what? It is our right to go to our VR counselors at that point! IMS and CORA NEVER addressed our concerns sufficiently. After waiting for NSF reimbursement and several checks, talking with VR counselor, Senator, ect., I gave my notice and was advised that the situation would be investigated.

You know what is truly sad? I believed in CORA and what they promised. I trusted CORA and IMS to fulfill what she had promised to her employees and their VR counselors. I do know that you can't run a business by threatening, degrading, and humilating your employees. I do know that positive encouragement goes further than negative criticism on a consistent basis. I do know that you must keep new employees in a position longer than a day or week or even month if you expect them to do a good job. I do know that before you get a new client that you should make damn sure you have trained those employees appropriately before throwing them into a position that welcomes failure. You can't train a person in 20minutes to do a good job. Lastly, you must PAY your employees on time as promised! You cannot expect employees not to be upset working for free, while you verbally abuse them and talk badly about others. That's just BAD management. We are now in September and I know for a fact that furloughed employees are owed up to 5 or more weeks of pay and are still waiting. Why do I know this? Because we form bonds with each other and develop friendships outside of work and unlike CORA, we mentor and support each other in a crisis.

I hope that CORA gets their act together and takes this critism and if they are to survive in the business world assisting disabled individuals, please take some classes on the appropriate to manage and critic your employees without being verbally abusive.

ComplaintsBoard
N
5:31 pm EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

CORA LLC Despicable behavior towards employees

The definition of despicable as stated in Wickapedia is "Fit or deserving to be despised; contemptible; mean; vile; worthless." That is the way I would describe the behavior with which CORA treats its employees. Knowing that most (or all, I am not sure) of their employees are disabled gives them a great advantage because in some cases, disabilities can zap a person's strength and keep them from being able to fight for their rights as readily as a more able bodied or physically well person.

Even more despicable is the emotional destruction caused by broad beating, criticizing, belittling and undermining employees for no other purpose than to keep people from complaining, in many cases.

Employees have waited weeks for paychecks which affect their benefits, even if they don't get the money. Employees have worked for weeks with no pay and are told that they should be thankful to be employed when they ask for it. New employees are hired when existing employees remain unpaid. Employees are pulled from department to department, upgraded and downgraded, used and overused according to the whim of one or two out of control people. Do they really believe that it is legal more or less ethical or moral to do this.

Very simply, when a company hires someone and they work for the company, the company pays them. The fact that the employees are disabled does not matter. The fact that they work from home does not matter. The fact that the company is not prospering does not matter. If CORA has to take out a loan, go into to personal funds or cut some of the executive salaries to do this, that is what is right.

I have been with the company for just over a year and have met some wonderful people. The employees are unique, genuinely compassionate people. The management also probably has the best intentions or had them. However, those in control simply don't seem to know how to run a business or made some bad decisions or just came from Mars or whatever. Doesn't matter. An employee deserves three things: (1) respect, (2) clear direction and (3) payment for completed work. CORA, give the people what they deserve.

Read full review of CORA LLC and 5 comments
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
5 comments
Add a comment
W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Nov 01, 2009 6:36 pm EST

Just wanted to let CORA survivors; past, current, and future know that we have a new website community set-up that will allow you to vent, communicate, share, laugh and cry with others that share common-grounds. Share your stories, share your life, share your future...all are welcome!

http://www.corasurvivors.com/

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 15, 2009 12:53 am EDT

For those that don't know, my name is Candy M. and I am not ashamed to put my name here. I resigned my position with CORA for the following reasons taken directly off my resignation letter:

"I am writing this letter to inform you of my decision to resign my position with C.O.R.A.. and hence tendering my resignation.

After more than 6 months working with this company, things have not been up to my expectations and I feel it is time for me to look for other opportunities.

I believe that working in any organization involves a mutually beneficial relationship that requires the worker performing at his/her best and the company providing a happy and productive work environment for its employees. Unfortunately, that has not been the case with me. I have had issues with the inefficient, rushed, and disorganized training on a daily basis from the very beginning. I have noted my concerns in written form and through discussions with various members of management. Promises of degreed teachers and mentoring have not happened. Promises of 30-day, 60-day, 90-day reviews have never happened. Promises of permanent, part-time and full-time employment have not happened. Promises of 100's of jobs have not happened.

Employees were told not to contact their VR counselors with any company problems. My concern would be that if employees followed the rules and chain-of-command with their company concerns and nothing is satisfactorily resolved, they should have the option to speak to their VR counselors without any fear of reprimand or termination.

Payroll delays, payroll checks being returned for insufficient funds and management going back on their word in regards to reimbursing employees bank charges because of those delays are one of my many reasons for resigning.

I have performed my job exceptionally, given the chaotic and often little amount of training received. I have never been written up or in any way told I was not performing my job well. When I brought up the payroll issues and advised that I would be unable to work until I received all checks owed to me and that they have cleared the bank, suddenly my "work" quality came into play. If there were any concerns with my "work" quality, they should've been mentioned and addressed well before me bringing up the payroll issues.

I would like to stress that I did my best to familiarize myself with the work culture in the organization and make myself a good team player. In the end, I conclude that staying longer is not a win-win solution. Because of the issues mentioned above, I feel that I am in a hostile work environment and cannot continue to be a productive employee and am tendering my resignation effective June 23, 2009.

If some of the words here in any way have caused any inconvenience to you, I regret and apologize, but I tried to write with all honesty."

The complaints that have been posted here are valid and can be backed-up with documentation.

Stop playing the blame game IMS/CORA! Pay your employees and stop blaming them for CORA's problems. Accept responsibility and provide the training, mentoring, and job placement (whether directly or indirectly) you promised your employees and their VR/VA counselors.

I sincerely hope you turn this around and "listen" to the suggestions you've been given. CORA had a real opportunity to make a difference in our lives and we have been let down. Honesty and kindness would've gone a long way in this situation. May God bless all the past/current furloughed employees of CORA.

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 13, 2009 6:15 pm EDT

Again, you are spot on in your analysis Nancy. It's time for people to stand up and be heard. It's time for CORA to do the right thing! Let me reiterate Nancy's fine points:
"An employee deserves three things: (1) respect, (2) clear direction and (3) payment for completed work. CORA, give the people what they deserve."
If an employee has those things, they thrive and the business soars! If they don't...well, just look at the sad situation we are in now. Heartbreaking!

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 12, 2009 11:09 pm EDT

I too was an employee of CORA. CORA made many promises of training, mentoring, and job placement that NEVER happened. CORA also advised they had 100's, sometimes 1, 000's of jobs for us and that NEVER happened. Training was a joke! You can't switch people from one job to the next on a daily basis and expect them to excel. I moved my way through the ranks; Assistant Team Leader, Team Leader, Project Manager, Administrative Assistant, ect. I was privy, first-hand to the disgusting, often abusive treatment that IMS and upper management would subject it's employees to on a daily basis. I became more and more disillusioned as the treatment and expectations grew worse. I expressed my concerns to management, team leaders, and in written form. Then May began and the delay of checks and if you were lucky enough to receive one several weeks later...it would bounce. No apologies have EVER been made to any employees. At first IMS would blame employees saying they filled time cards out incorrectly and that was the reason checks were delayed. Then she blamed it problems with the time card company. Then she stopped direct deposit and said checks would be mailed. I new this meant they could blame it on the mail system (which they did many times, "We cannot control the mail.") Then she blamed it on vendors saying THEY were the ones sending them "bad" checks. Then it was again the employees fault for complaining to their VR counselors about not getting paid and that the states were withholding payments.

IMS would threaten employees with termination if they went to VR counselors with concerns. HELLO! We followed chain-of-command...expressed concerns in written form on Employee Board, we expressed concerns with team leaders, managers, management...guess what? It is our right to go to our VR counselors at that point! IMS and CORA NEVER addressed our concerns sufficiently. After waiting for NSF reimbursement and several checks, talking with VR counselor, Senator, ect., I gave my notice and was advised that the situation would be investigated.

You know what is truly sad? I believed in CORA and what they promised. I trusted CORA and IMS to fulfill what she had promised to her employees and their VR counselors. I do know that you can't run a business by threatening, degrading, and humilating your employees. I do know that positive encouragement goes further than negative criticism on a consistent basis. I do know that you must keep new employees in a position longer than a day or week or even month if you expect them to do a good job. I do know that before you get a new client that you should make damn sure you have trained those employees appropriately before throwing them into a position that welcomes failure. You can't train a person in 20minutes to do a good job. Lastly, you must PAY your employees on time as promised! You cannot expect employees not to be upset working for free, while you verbally abuse them and talk badly about others. That's just BAD management. We are now in September and I know for a fact that furloughed employees are owed up to 5 or more weeks of pay and are still waiting. Why do I know this? Because we form bonds with each other and develop friendships outside of work and unlike CORA, we mentor and support each other in a crisis.

I hope that CORA gets their act together and takes this critism and if they are to survive in the business world assisting disabled individuals, please take some classes on the appropriate to manage and critic your employees without being verbally abusive.

C
C
Can you help?
Boston, US
Aug 29, 2009 9:58 pm EDT

I agree with Nancy. I have been hurt by CORA to an extent that I could never explain. CORA made me think I could take back control of my life, overcome my disabilities, and plan for the future.

I never expected to be disabled at this point in my life. I was fired from CORA for telling the truth on a message board.

If anyone can help us (the disabled being taken advantage of), please look into to CORA for the following reasons and more:

No pay for employees who have worked.

Paystubs cut without employees being paid.

The disabled must report income, which is not being received.

New workers must have someone pay a $3, 500 fee for working at CORA; now the people are not being paid for the training period.

CORA claims to have "over 400 employees." Please ask CORA's CEO, "How many employees are actually working and receiving pay?"

How many weeks of back pay does CORA owe employess and how many employees are owed back wages?

If CORA has over 400 employees and over 1, 200 open positions, why is anyone laid-off and/or not being paid.

How many previous employees of CORA have been placed in "long-term successful employment."

Who are the people that wrote the testimonials for the current CORA's new website? When did they actually work for the company? Do they still work for CORA? Can these people be contacted?

I think the federal government, state governments, V.A., and other agencies need to investigate this matter. Also, no employee whether disabled or not, should be treated in such a manner by a company and beg for wages owed, have power turned off, or have no food to eat because an employer won't distribute paychecks. It made me very sick to see people thank IMS for send a paycheck, so he or she could eat, feed children, and/or pay bills.

Someone has got to help, please.

Thank you.

ComplaintsBoard
C
1:47 pm EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

CORA LLC UNPAID WAGES

Unpaid Wages and Payroll Problems
I truly believe in the original mission & purpose of Cora, LLC – and still do to this day, even though I am no longer there. I too am very upset by the matters occurring within the company. When I first started I thought it was going to be great to be able to have a little extra money in my pocket to help meet the needs of my family. I spent money to create my office space, and had internet service hooked up – and where did my investment go? Nowhere… it left me further behind in my bills and struggling even harder to survive. It took time away from my family and they became upset when I had nothing to show for it in the form of a paycheck. Most people believe that when you get a job and go to work – you get paid – and you shouldn’t have to ask and beg for your paycheck. It is something you are legally entitled to especially when you have signed agreements and contracts to work for the employer. I find it disturbing to think that the CEO of this company seems to think that “no employer owes you a living” - and they can’t seem to understand why people are so upset and making such negative comments. People are upset because they believed they would have a job and get paid on a weekly basis as in outlined on Cora LLC’s payroll/timecard policy statement, and are told during the interview process. Instead people end up being faced with having to beg for their checks and sending in emails crying hardship and destitution to the payroll department- and many of them have gone unheard – as I have spoken to one individual who is owed over $2000 in paychecks, and another is owed at least $1000, for more than two months of work – they sent in emails – and no one has gotten back to them. Oh and another thing – the CEO had the dandiest of ideas to post the employee’s name of who would be issued a check for the week on the company dashboard – what a great way to breed more hostility amongst the employees, as some would get upset because their name was not on the dashboard, and end up bad mouthing their co-worker receiving a check, no matter how big or small that check was.
I really don’t want to get into a tangent here and start “bashing” the company – truthfully I really loved it there – but could no longer tolerate the poisonous atmosphere being generated by the fact very few have gotten their checks. It truly is an awful and sad situation for so many great and talented people that have worked there and still work there. I have been wondering about a comment though in the past few days and that is the comment by the CEO written in words across the internal company dashboard… “Your actions have made me realize, my dream will not be accomplished as I once thought.”… Does the CEO expect people to work for free and not abide by the contractual obligations as set forth and advertised through the vocational rehabilitation agencies across this country? I don’t think these agencies have been told the truth as to why they have paid the $3500 fee per person to be “hired” by this company. If they knew they were paying that amount of money to help one person accomplish their “dream” they would be mad too… The “dream” is a great idea, but people need their paychecks.
My final message here … if you find yourself in the position where you are completely frustrated by Cora LLC, and need some help and don’t know where to turn, I believe I can find help you find the help you need. Don’t become a victim by what has happened here, be strong, and become a survivor… please feel free to email me at [protected]@rocketmail.com . Thank you.

Read full review of CORA LLC and 4 comments
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
4 comments
Add a comment
W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Nov 01, 2009 6:31 pm EST

Just wanted to let CORA survivors; past, current, and future know that we have a new website community set-up that will allow you to vent, communicate, share, laugh and cry with others that share common-grounds. Share your stories, share your life, share your future...all are welcome!

http://www.corasurvivors.com/

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 17, 2009 1:02 pm EDT

CURRENT/FURLOUGHED/TERMINATED/RESIGNED EMPLOYEES OF CORA!
We have started a support site for CORA Survivors and you are welcome!
We look forward to seeing you there.
http://corasurvivors.forumotion.net/forum.htm

C
C
Cora Survivor
Anywhere, US
Sep 13, 2009 2:36 pm EDT

I FEEL LIED TO ALSO!

EVEN THOUGH...I still to this day truly love the mission that Cora originally founded itself upon... but there have been horrible mistakes that have gotten far out of control and so many people have been hurt! Yes, the ecomony is bad, and even state and federal employees are being furloughed also to help compensate their budgets - however those employees are paid up to date! I find it incredibly fustrating that "the company" will still try to parade around and pretend like nothing is wrong to the outside world!

The latest news I saw is that Ilene Morris-Sambur has made the following request to help Neil Romano for an event that he will be lecturing at... JAN’s 25th Anniversary at the US BLN Conference September 15-18, 2009... this was request was written by IMS very recently as follows;

If any employee has experience making short videos, please contact me immediately at isambur@coraworks.com

We need to make a 3 minute video for Neil Romano to show as keynote speaker at a conference which will include 5, 500 businesses!

We can use gotowebinar to record if all else fails. Video must be completed by noon tomorow.

Thanks for your help in advance,

IMS

*******

You have got to be kidding me! The due date from the time she posted that was less than 48 hours away! It takes alot more time than that to put together a good quality 3 minute video! And why was this not planned further in advance when the conference date was posted on August 12, 2009 on the JAN Blog (Job Accomodation Network) with it already set that Neil Romano was going to be speaking? http://www.jan.wvu.edu/blog/?p=119

Nothing about this company is ever thoroughly thought out and planned and things are always disorganized and requests are always made at the eleventh hour before something important needs to be taken care of!

Well, I hope this event really helps Cora I really do! But find that the following needs to be addressed at this conference and I hope that someone inquires about it...

...Several individuals are perplexed and would like to inquire as to why Mr. Neil Romano has been labeled the CEO for Creating Opportunites by Recognizing Abilities (CORA) for this event? When we worked for CORA we were given the information that Ilene Morris-Sambur is the CEO and that Mr. Romano is the President… even the www.coraworks.com website advertises Ilene Morris-Sambur as the CEO and founder of CORA and that Mr. Romano is the president of this company.

Now to report a situation about CORA… CORA has “furloughed” many individuals and CORA has printed many checks with check numbers and not sent these checks out to the employees because CORA claims to have no money. Employees are being evicted from their homes, getting their utilities shut off, even losing a great deal of weight because they can not afford to buy food. This is a very sad and tragic thing happening with this company… and someone needs to shed light on the situation.

Many individuals are reporting when they try to contact the Cora Payroll/HR department in the form of an email about the whereabouts of their checks (they can also get this information about these paychecks online to see when they were processed) no one responds to them. Some people have checks that have not been sent to them that go as far back as May of this year, and many people are reporting this company and filing complaints to their State Labor Standards Bureau about their past due paychecks.

We sincerely hope that this event will shed some light and truth on what is taking place with CORA. And we also hope the people who worked for this company will finally get their paychecks that have been processed weeks ago, sent to them.

Please don’t mistake us for disgruntled employees… all of us enjoyed working for this company… we just want and need what it due to us according to what we have in our records and that is our checks. If Mr. Romano is actually the CEO of CORA – could someone associated with this event inquire about the status of the employees paychecks and why they are not being sent out? Thank you!

******

Now I don't know if this will help or hinder the situation at hand... but the people deserve the truth!

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 12, 2009 11:10 pm EDT

I too was an employee of CORA. CORA made many promises of training, mentoring, and job placement that NEVER happened. CORA also advised they had 100's, sometimes 1, 000's of jobs for us and that NEVER happened. Training was a joke! You can't switch people from one job to the next on a daily basis and expect them to excel. I moved my way through the ranks; Assistant Team Leader, Team Leader, Project Manager, Administrative Assistant, ect. I was privy, first-hand to the disgusting, often abusive treatment that IMS and upper management would subject it's employees to on a daily basis. I became more and more disillusioned as the treatment and expectations grew worse. I expressed my concerns to management, team leaders, and in written form. Then May began and the delay of checks and if you were lucky enough to receive one several weeks later...it would bounce. No apologies have EVER been made to any employees. At first IMS would blame employees saying they filled time cards out incorrectly and that was the reason checks were delayed. Then she blamed it problems with the time card company. Then she stopped direct deposit and said checks would be mailed. I new this meant they could blame it on the mail system (which they did many times, "We cannot control the mail.") Then she blamed it on vendors saying THEY were the ones sending them "bad" checks. Then it was again the employees fault for complaining to their VR counselors about not getting paid and that the states were withholding payments.

IMS would threaten employees with termination if they went to VR counselors with concerns. HELLO! We followed chain-of-command...expressed concerns in written form on Employee Board, we expressed concerns with team leaders, managers, management...guess what? It is our right to go to our VR counselors at that point! IMS and CORA NEVER addressed our concerns sufficiently. After waiting for NSF reimbursement and several checks, talking with VR counselor, Senator, ect., I gave my notice and was advised that the situation would be investigated.

You know what is truly sad? I believed in CORA and what they promised. I trusted CORA and IMS to fulfill what she had promised to her employees and their VR counselors. I do know that you can't run a business by threatening, degrading, and humilating your employees. I do know that positive encouragement goes further than negative criticism on a consistent basis. I do know that you must keep new employees in a position longer than a day or week or even month if you expect them to do a good job. I do know that before you get a new client that you should make damn sure you have trained those employees appropriately before throwing them into a position that welcomes failure. You can't train a person in 20minutes to do a good job. Lastly, you must PAY your employees on time as promised! You cannot expect employees not to be upset working for free, while you verbally abuse them and talk badly about others. That's just BAD management. We are now in September and I know for a fact that furloughed employees are owed up to 5 or more weeks of pay and are still waiting. Why do I know this? Because we form bonds with each other and develop friendships outside of work and unlike CORA, we mentor and support each other in a crisis.

I hope that CORA gets their act together and takes this critism and if they are to survive in the business world assisting disabled individuals, please take some classes on the appropriate to manage and critic your employees without being verbally abusive.

ComplaintsBoard
A
2:22 pm EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

CORA LLC Non payment

I have been employed with CORA for 3 months. In that time, I have seen people bullied publicly and worked nearly to death. Most or perhaps all of the people employed are disabled and these people are taunted, treated with hostility and generally mismanaged by a host of clowns that Ringling Bros couldn't have thought up. Also, I have not been paid in 6 weeks and when I was paid, it was very little. I heard that most of the people working here either had not been paid or were paid so little, it wasn't worth mentioning. After begging for several days because of lack of food and medication, one person received a check for $7.00. I also heard that a person was unable to buy their cancer medications because of CORA's non-payment. Maybe the rest of this is rumors but I know I haven't been paid and I wonder why not. Isn't CORA getting government assistance from the Vet's administration and the local voc. rehabs? Where does that money go? It certainly doesn't go to pay staff or at least I haven't seen what I am owed.

I am unsure what to do about this but want someone to tell me who should hear about this. Even though I work here, I'm really not working so I think they should be shut down for treating people this way.

Read full review of CORA LLC and 8 comments
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
8 comments
Add a comment
T
T
truthandliberty
Toledo, US
Aug 24, 2009 3:50 pm EDT

This is my take on CORA, as someone who lived through it. It is my opinion of the reality of CORA. This company claims to help the disabled by training them for work and placing them in jobs that they can do from home. It is a wonderful idea and a great path for any company, however CORA is mismanaged and it damages the employees terribly. In my time at CORA, I observed management speaking to these disabled people in cruel and unprofessional language. I observed them blaiming brand new employees for the failures of the company in a financial sense. I observed the CEO put down all of the disabled employees and bash them openly, damaging their already low self-esteem. I listened as the CEO threatened us all with termination on a regular basis, told us she expected us to "volunteer" and work without pay, and I listened as she gruoped disabled indeviduals under descriminatory and cruel catagories. We were told we were lucky just to have a place to work. we were told that the CEO was "sick of babying all of you just because you are disabled" and she also made the comment that, "you should be grateful for CORA just giving you a job." Currently, employees are still wiatting for paychecks from as far back as June, and though we are getting a check here and there, we have been instructed to send emails to the payroll department, begging to be paid. We were told to outline any hardships we had, and that they would then decide who would be paid, how much, and when. They monitored our email and when an employee purchased undergarments with her pay, they made fun of her in front of hundreds of employees at a company meeting. So many of these employees are injured war vets, the deaf or blind, and many many other types of disabled peoples. Many were only looking for some meaning in their lives, and searching for a reason to get up in the morning. Instead, they got blaim and ridicule and cruel treatment. Others, like myself, really needed jobs to help our families to survive. We worked, and we gave it our best, but we were cussed at, made fun of, and ultimately either not paid for our work at all...or paid weeks and weeks late. Later, we were all layed off. I can't understand why the government pays thousands of dollars to CORA and their CEO. CORA gets thousands of dollars for each disabled person they take on, and then they treat them horribly and dump them once payment is complete. That is only my opinion, take it or leave it. Also, many many good managers work at CORA. Nice folks who want to work hard and help others, and they were kind and helpful to the employees. Unfortunetly, their influence is small, and it is washed away by the hurtful treatment poured out by the CEO and others.

B
B
Boyer, Carrie
ALL OVER, US
Dec 28, 2009 4:28 pm EST

FOR THOSE THAT WORKED FOR CORA, LLC a/k/a Creating Opportunities by Recognizing Abilities, OR YOU KNOW SOMEONE THAT WORKED THERE – IF YOU ARE STILL OWED MONEY AND HAVE NOT FILED A CLAIM FOR YOUR BACK DUE WAGES YOU CAN FILE YOU CLAIM BY SENDING THE FOLLOWING FORM TO THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF LABOR…

http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/forms_pdfs/lsse/mw-31a.pdf

THE SAME WOULD APPLY TO THOSE THAT EVEN WORKED AS AN INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR ALSO. THERE IS LOTS OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE ABOUT HOW EMPLOYEES ARE MISCLASSIFIED AS INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS, AND HERE GOES A LITTLE SOMETHING FROM THE IRS JUST TO GET STARTED…

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1779.pdf

AND FOR THOSE WHO ARE WORRIED ABOUT W2’S OR 1099’S ETC – IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE ANYTHING FROM CORA, OR IF THE FORMS YOU RECEIVE ARE INCORRECT FILE THIS…

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4852.pdf

NOW FOR THOSE THAT ARE AFRAID OF BEING LABELLED AS A TROUBLEMAKER, OR IF YOU FEEL THE RELATIONSHIP YOU HAD WITH CORA TURNED SOUR BECAUSE IT WAS YOUR OWN FAULT… THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT FEEL THAT WAY. AND AS IT TURNS OUT IF YOU HAVE COME ACROSS THIS INFORMATION BEFORE…

http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-dcdce/case_no-1:2008cv00083/case_id-129288/

AND IF YOU WERE WONDERING WHAT IT WAS ABOUT. YOU CAN REGISTER FOR PACER FOR FREE TO VIEW THE RECORDS AT 8 CENTS PER PAGE.

(you will be billed later by Pacer for the records you viewed, not at the time you view them and I accrued less than $10 in charges)

http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/psco/cgi-bin/register.pl

I READ THE ABOVE DOCUMENTS REGARDING THE CASE AND IT WAS SHOCKING – YET VERY WELL WORTH THE 8 CENT PER PAGE COST - EVEN THOUGH I WAS SO APPALLED BY WHAT I READ & CRIED FOR DAYS! I HAD TO ACCEPT AFTER READING THE DOCUMENTS, THE TIME I INVESTED INTO CORA TO TRY AND MAKE IT WORK WAS FOR NOTHING OTHER THAN TO LINE SOMEONE ELSE’S POCKETS.
IF YOU STILL DOUBT THE FACTS – CALL THE NJ DOL YOURSELF AND VERIFY JUST HOW MANY CLAIMS HAVE BEEN FILED ON THIS COMPANY. READ THE COURT RECORDS ABOUT THE LAWSUIT THE CEO HAD FILED ON HER IN 2017. ASK THE NJ DOL IF THE CEO HAS RESPONDED TO THEM – IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THEY THE NJ DOL HAVE TRIED TO CONTACT THE CEO SEVERAL TIMES AND THERE IS NO RESPONSE. JUST LIKE THE REPORTS OF MANY PEOPLE THAT HAVE SENT EMAILS TO THE COMPANY WONDERING WHEN THEY WILL BE PAID – THERE ARE NO ANSWERS THERE EITHER, IT’S LIKE EMAILS JUST ENTER INTO A BLACK HOLE. THERE HAVE BEEN ONLY FALSE PROMISES OF WEEKLY UPDATES ABOUT THE PAYROLL SITUATION LIKE THE ONE SENT OUT BY THE CEO ON NOVEMBER 2ND 2017 WHERE IT STATED - We will continue to issue weekly updates such as this. THERE HAVE BEEN NO WEEKLY UPDATES.
IN THE END, BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF RESPONSE FROM THIS COMPANY, AND FAILURE TO USE PROPER COMMUNICATION SKILLS THE CEO HAD BURIED THE COMPANY INTO DEEPER DEBT BECAUSE THE CHARGES FOR THE PENALITIES BY NOT RESPONDING TO THE NJ DOL ARE WAY MORE THAN WHAT IS OWED IN BACKWAGES TO THE PEOPLE. THIS JUST PROVES THAT THE CEO IS NOT THE BUSINESS PERSON THEY CLAIM TO BE…

http://www.isp-planet.com/news/2017/coraworks.html

HOW COME IT SAYS THE WORD “SUBCONTRACTED” INSTEAD OF “SENIOR MANAGEMENT TURNAROUND CONSULTANT”?

K
K
Karen Sterwerf
Cincinnati, US
Feb 10, 2010 8:59 pm EST

Hello,
My name is Karen S and I live in Ohio and I started working for CORA In January of 2017. I thought that this was a beginning to a bad time from being disabled and my hopes were high for a great future with CORA, but that was not the case. We were put through more humiliation and inexcusable verbal abuse that I have never had in the real world working 3 different jobs at once and for over39 years of service I was never intimidated as we all were at CORA in only my 6 months employment. It only seemed to make our disabilities worse, by making us feel inadequate and stupid, we were treated like we had no brains and the CEO was the only one whom had any at all. After the furlough I sat back and thought about all of us and what had happened and I became furious about this because CORA made and told us that she was sent people whom were unable to work by the Vocational Rehabilitation Services which was totally wrong and disrespectful of all of her employees.
I have worked in management myself and we were all used to changes but working for CORA we had changes everyday and it was always our faults for not doing the work right that we were taught. The problem lied in the fact that the processes were not thoroughly thought through, we worked on making a CORA manual for newcomers and then the golden oldies were laid off and told we were not as good and the new employees.
I am glad it is over with, but I want to tell Neil Romano that if he is still for CORA, we need to find someone in the government to back us up and find us jobs that we have lost. To believe that government officials were working with CORA and then finding out that the Vocational Rehabilitation Services were also totally screwed for paying $3500 for a contract per each employee and that was never fulfilled my question is this ?
Who do we trust in helping the disabled find legitimate work and support all of us in an efffort to regain a normal life in work at home positions, that we were all looking forward to getting and being productive as we were with CORA.
All the turmoil and suffering each of us has been through by working for CORA, is not helping the goverment get back on their feet if we cannot find employment thru work at home jobs, and before we enter into any others it should be definitely clear that all is above board and we will have a stable postions for the company. We want to work and need to work like all of the unemployed, but I was told we would be the last to find work and that is legally an unfair act. We are proud to be Americans and as the CEO stated at CORA. We want to STAND UP AND BE HEARD! WE ARE IN AMERICA FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
I would like to take this opportunity to tell all my fellow employees that I miss working with them we had a GREAT team and no matter what teams we were put into the employees gave more than 150% and all worked in harmony and I would be proud to work with them again.
I feel that CORA must pay all the employees she took on and that have not been paid regardless of how she feels about the work we did that to her was not worthy of pay. We did our jobs and we are entitled to get paid for work done. NO EXCUSES! I have been paid and I feel bad about the ones that have not because I still get e-mails from some of them and the terrifiying fears of losing all they have because of it.
We need to get the goverment involved and to back us up and get us back on the map of employment and not be told we will be the last to get jobs.

CORA needs to be closed down and any other companies with the same ideas !
We may be in a recession but the people whom really depend on salaries are not just the people whom are able to go out and work it is also and most importantly the DISABLED.
Thank you

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Nov 01, 2009 6:38 pm EST

Just wanted to let CORA survivors; past, current, and future know that we have a new website community set-up that will allow you to vent, communicate, share, laugh and cry with others that share common-grounds. Share your stories, share your life, share your future...all are welcome!

http://www.corasurvivors.com/

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Nov 01, 2009 6:37 pm EST

Just wanted to let CORA survivors; past, current, and future know that we have a new website community set-up that will allow you to vent, communicate, share, laugh and cry with others that share common-grounds. Share your stories, share your life, share your future...all are welcome!

http://www.corasurvivors.com/

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 17, 2009 1:05 pm EDT

CURRENT/FURLOUGHED/TERMINATED/RESIGNED EMPLOYEES OF CORA!
We have started a support site for CORA Survivors and you are welcome!
We look forward to seeing you there.
http://corasurvivors.forumotion.net/forum.htm

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 15, 2009 12:54 am EDT

For those that don't know, my name is Candy M. and I am not ashamed to put my name here. I resigned my position with CORA for the following reasons taken directly off my resignation letter:

"I am writing this letter to inform you of my decision to resign my position with C.O.R.A.. and hence tendering my resignation.

After more than 6 months working with this company, things have not been up to my expectations and I feel it is time for me to look for other opportunities.

I believe that working in any organization involves a mutually beneficial relationship that requires the worker performing at his/her best and the company providing a happy and productive work environment for its employees. Unfortunately, that has not been the case with me. I have had issues with the inefficient, rushed, and disorganized training on a daily basis from the very beginning. I have noted my concerns in written form and through discussions with various members of management. Promises of degreed teachers and mentoring have not happened. Promises of 30-day, 60-day, 90-day reviews have never happened. Promises of permanent, part-time and full-time employment have not happened. Promises of 100's of jobs have not happened.

Employees were told not to contact their VR counselors with any company problems. My concern would be that if employees followed the rules and chain-of-command with their company concerns and nothing is satisfactorily resolved, they should have the option to speak to their VR counselors without any fear of reprimand or termination.

Payroll delays, payroll checks being returned for insufficient funds and management going back on their word in regards to reimbursing employees bank charges because of those delays are one of my many reasons for resigning.

I have performed my job exceptionally, given the chaotic and often little amount of training received. I have never been written up or in any way told I was not performing my job well. When I brought up the payroll issues and advised that I would be unable to work until I received all checks owed to me and that they have cleared the bank, suddenly my "work" quality came into play. If there were any concerns with my "work" quality, they should've been mentioned and addressed well before me bringing up the payroll issues.

I would like to stress that I did my best to familiarize myself with the work culture in the organization and make myself a good team player. In the end, I conclude that staying longer is not a win-win solution. Because of the issues mentioned above, I feel that I am in a hostile work environment and cannot continue to be a productive employee and am tendering my resignation effective June 23, 2017.

If some of the words here in any way have caused any inconvenience to you, I regret and apologize, but I tried to write with all honesty."

The complaints that have been posted here are valid and can be backed-up with documentation.

Stop playing the blame game IMS/CORA! Pay your employees and stop blaming them for CORA's problems. Accept responsibility and provide the training, mentoring, and job placement (whether directly or indirectly) you promised your employees and their VR/VA counselors.

I sincerely hope you turn this around and "listen" to the suggestions you've been given. CORA had a real opportunity to make a difference in our lives and we have been let down. Honesty and kindness would've gone a long way in this situation. May God bless all the past/current furloughed employees of CORA.

C
C
corasurvivor
anywhere, US
Aug 20, 2009 1:48 pm EDT

I truly believe in the original mission & purpose of Cora, LLC – and still do to this day, even though I am no longer there. I too am very upset by the matters occurring within the company. When I first started I thought it was going to be great to be able to have a little extra money in my pocket to help meet the needs of my family. I spent money to create my office space, and had internet service hooked up – and where did my investment go? Nowhere… it left me further behind in my bills and struggling even harder to survive. It took time away from my family and they became upset when I had nothing to show for it in the form of a paycheck. Most people believe that when you get a job and go to work – you get paid – and you shouldn’t have to ask and beg for your paycheck. It is something you are legally entitled to especially when you have signed agreements and contracts to work for the employer. I find it disturbing to think that the CEO of this company seems to think that “no employer owes you a living” - and they can’t seem to understand why people are so upset and making such negative comments. People are upset because they believed they would have a job and get paid on a weekly basis as in outlined on Cora LLC’s payroll/timecard policy statement, and are told during the interview process. Instead people end up being faced with having to beg for their checks and sending in emails crying hardship and destitution to the payroll department- and many of them have gone unheard – as I have spoken to one individual who is owed over $2017 in paychecks, and another is owed at least $1000, for more than two months of work – they sent in emails – and no one has gotten back to them. Oh and another thing – the CEO had the dandiest of ideas to post the employee’s name of who would be issued a check for the week on the company dashboard – what a great way to breed more hostility amongst the employees, as some would get upset because their name was not on the dashboard, and end up bad mouthing their co-worker receiving a check, no matter how big or small that check was.
I really don’t want to get into a tangent here and start “bashing” the company – truthfully I really loved it there – but could no longer tolerate the poisonous atmosphere being generated by the fact very few have gotten their checks. It truly is an awful and sad situation for so many great and talented people that have worked there and still work there. I have been wondering about a comment though in the past few days and that is the comment by the CEO written in words across the internal company dashboard… “Your actions have made me realize, my dream will not be accomplished as I once thought.”… Does the CEO expect people to work for free and not abide by the contractual obligations as set forth and advertised through the vocational rehabilitation agencies across this country? I don’t think these agencies have been told the truth as to why they have paid the $3500 fee per person to be “hired” by this company. If they knew they were paying that amount of money to help one person accomplish their “dream” they would be mad too… The “dream” is a great idea, but people need their paychecks.
My final message here … if you find yourself in the position where you are completely frustrated by Cora LLC, and need some help and don’t know where to turn, I believe I can find help you find the help you need. Don’t become a victim by what has happened here, be strong, and become a survivor… please feel free to email me at corasurvivors@rocketmail.com . Thank you.

ComplaintsBoard
R
10:23 pm EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

CORA LLC Employees haven't been paid in nearly 2 months, CEO threatening to fire people for complaining about the company.

This company only hires disabled people to work remotely for many of us this is our only chance of employment. The CEO says it's a privilege for us to work there and be paid. The president/CEO of our company is Neil Romano, who is the former Assistant U.S. Secretary of Labor Neil Romano, who has never once stepped in to intervene, or even address anything going on in the company, in fact no employee I know has ever seen, heard, or spoken to the man. In the past when the CEO(Ilene Morris Sambur) was angry at employees she stopped sending checks for at least 2 weeks. None of the employees have been paid since early June, and the issue wasn't even addressed until 2 weeks ago, most of us have had bounced checks. We were told people who left complaints on our quickbase site would be terminated, and also if you asked too many questions, or emailed about paychecks, and other company problems that you would also be terminated. Since we haven't been paid, they continue to hire new employees through vocational rehabilitation offices every week. During a webinar with the entire company after someone’s check bounced, which bounced their own checks, she said she shouldn’t have to pay that person back because they were buying frivolous things from a specific store, which is absurd we should be able to spend our money on anything we want because we earned it, but she acts as if we didn’t even earn the money, but she had to pay us. They finally put most of the employees on furlough until further notice, but expect employees to work in volunteer positions. It is insisted upon that we have good company morale, and if we choose to go against this she threatens termination. Since our paychecks started bouncing, and we stopped receiving checks she continually tells us that this is a normal course of business, and not to tell our vocational rehabilitation counselors (their biggest client). These people are taking advantage of the fact that we are all disabled and most of us can't even employment, or unemployment, some of us can't even get disability. Ilene Morris Sambur told us while we're on furlough to apply for unemployment, which is ridiculous, because she won't let but a few employees (the higher ups) work more than 15 hours a week, and in most states you can't get unemployment at such low hours. We were promised that at the end of our 90 day training period that we would be placed in positions, however there weren't jobs to put us in, so instead she put us on furlough (but some of us haven't worked in 2 months) while every Monday she starts to train a new batch of people that the company is paid $3, 500 a piece from the government vocational rehabilitation department. During this time of furlough we are expected to attend daily webinars, one of which is a prayer meeting for a terminally ill employee, and wants us to work on a volunteer basis in the meantime. She treats her employees, and the business itself as if they are there to benefit her and her alone, disregarding any ill effects of that her actions have on the lives of her disabled employees. This does not just effect me this effects hundreds of disabled destitute individuals, their children, and their families. We can't put gas in our cars, food on our plates, buy school supplies for our children, and so far no organization that has been contacted has attempted to assist.

Read full review of CORA LLC and 47 comments
Update by RaggedyAnn
Aug 18, 2009 10:49 pm EDT

Thanks to all of you for your support, and to all you puppets, go ahead and run your mouth, immediately after filing complaints I was terminated. For your information I didn't post my name because it's not anyone's business, especially yours. Here's the latest on Ilene opening mouth and inserting foot.

From IMS:
There are a few of you that have posted unacceptable remarks about your employer. Let me make it perfectly clear that no employer owes you a living. You earn the right to work for an employer, meaning if you cannot do the work, why would the employer retain you as an employee? Especially if you were openly negative and complained about your employer on a corporate intranet.

I'm sure the rest of you also earned your pay, just like me. And by the way I've heard so many people are just itching to know who shops at Frederick's of Hollywood, so I'll give up the ghost, it was me, I, who am well endowed, must purchase my brassier at Frederick's of Hollywood, I know I only owned two bras and one broke so it was a very frivolous purchase...

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
47 comments
Add a comment
B
B
Brett2210
sasksdkd, CA
Dec 17, 2010 5:21 pm EST

By the way, this is [censor]ing redicoulous, I [censor]ing lol'd when I came across this thread on the internet. This thread reminds me of a grade school food fight for some reason lol.

B
B
Brett2210
sasksdkd, CA
Dec 17, 2010 5:13 pm EST

RaggedyAnn
If what you say is true, contact your labour board and file a complaint. You also may want to get ahold of an attourney. There are MANY labour laws being broken if your paragraph is telling the truth.

What I noticed...
alida gamberella
Shawn Lehrke
Barbara Poe
JMuilenburg
Bryan Corum

Notice how they all start their paragraphs the same way... (Hi i'm...) How all of them want your name... and how they all format their paragraphs the same way? Me thinks this is all the same person... managment trying to get your name so they can fire you maybe?

MAKE SURE TO CONTACT THE LABOUR BOARD... don't let them scare you into thinking what they're doing is ok. if your checks are bouncing they owe you cash no matter what. THIS IS AGAINST THE LAW

T
T
Tammy Thompson
Superior, US
Oct 04, 2010 6:27 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I would like to say I was a former employee of this company and was very hopful when I started I work my rear off and became a Placement coordinator. I was in charge of 2 states West Virginia- who we were still tring to get to work with us and Wyoming who wanted almost nothing to do with us because of past mishaps. By the way that had NOTHING to do with MY work performance. When IMS decided that we all needed to be making 10 calls per hour I wrote a email to her explaining why I was not and could not meet that quota. I never recieved a responce but I was covering my own back. I did finally manage to get our foot in the door of WV ( and yes there where other people that had worked on it before me but it was MY persistance that payed off) and within 2 weeks of that I was put on furlough for not complying with quota. WV I was only allowed to contact 2 employment specialists per the head of dvr. and WY had a whole slew of issues. This severaly limited my ability to do my job. I did ask for other work and did help out when needed. I was out for a week with some major back issues, and the day I came back I was told I was put on furlough. It took me 3 DAYS to find out why! And I had to ask around nobody contacted me. Needless to say it is now oct of 2010 and I still have not recieved my last 2 paychecks and the money they took for a garnishment from march of 09 to july of 09. I also want to say I DO NOT EVER EXPECT TO SEE IT EITHER! I didn't have a bad thing to say about CORA other than there buisness practices are what I would call less than desireable. CORA dosn't OWE me a job, but they DAM well OWE me what I EARNED! Pay your former employees IMS, and you won't see blogs like this being written thats just a given. Tammy Thompson ( no I'm not afraid to put my name on here either)

I
I
Ilene Morris-Sambur, Former CEO
Wharton, US
Apr 13, 2010 10:45 pm EDT

Hello Former Disgruntled Employees and The Real CORA Staff that have tried to protect the Company and Founder - It's time to find all your accusations, compliments, slanderous remarks and state the facts. Many of you have stepped over the line and continue to hurt others. Hopefully those of you will come out from hiding with your real names and meet me on our new CORA blog where all the facts will be stated. That address is: http://coraworks.wordpress.com

This is actually the first time I've looked at what was written by some of you. Based on these postings, I'm sure the public will be able to make an informed, intelligent decision about accusations and slanderous comments once it is pulled together with facts. Everyone is entitled to your own opinion, but when you make accusations that aren't backed up by facts and ruin employment opportunities for others, hurt other people and continue to spread your lies, enough is enough as a group of you continue to derive some sick pleasure inflicting pain on others. The Company should have all the backup necessary to disprove accusations and identify the real reasons for these vicious lies and attacks on my integrity and professional abilities. We have recorded webinars, instant messages, chatroom logs, emails, employee reviews, outside employee evaluations, etc. I'm sure some of you are even aware that several people actually stole corporate records and thought nothing of it per their emails. There is something very wrong with this picture when those that point the blame finger think nothing of taking illegal actions to justify their entitlement attitude.

I have worked in the corporate world for over 30 years now and have never, ever dealt with such disrespect, irrational behavior and outright lies. Let's post the facts in one place and stop hiding behind alias names and secure roast CORA websites. There is much more to life than what many of your are experiencing and there is a life outside of "you".

Make sure when you state an opinion, it is a qualified opinion not based on revenge for being terminated or other standard corporate actions that some of you decided to take personally. I'm going to try to address every posting I find with fact.

For those that have stood up for CORA and understood the situations that occurred, that could occur to any business in this economy, I personally thank you and if I can provide referrals for you to work with other companies, I certainly will.

It's also very strange how this website has a specific area for employers to post yet there are nothing but employee complaints - some valid and some absurd. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Have the professional courtesy and maturity to state facts and to my face now. I am more than happy to share all the business facts including the cash management of CORA. I also must commend those of you that put all that effort into ruining a business that was one of the very few established to provide training for those that could not work outside of their homes based on their PHYSICAL disabilities. What have so many of your actions proven? Who has won? No one... Everyone has lost. All you have done is made it more difficult for me to earn an income to pay the Company's debts. Very hard lesson learned by many. I'm very sorry the innocent were subjected to the results of others actions.

I do look forward to addressing each of your postings to get this all out in the open where the truth will always surface.

Your Former CORA CEO and Founder
Ilene Morris-Sambur

B
B
Boyer, Carrie
ALL OVER, US
Dec 28, 2009 4:42 pm EST

FOR THOSE THAT WORKED FOR CORA, LLC a/k/a Creating Opportunities by Recognizing Abilities, OR YOU KNOW SOMEONE THAT WORKED THERE – IF YOU ARE STILL OWED MONEY AND HAVE NOT FILED A CLAIM FOR YOUR BACK DUE WAGES YOU CAN FILE YOU CLAIM BY SENDING THE FOLLOWING FORM TO THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF LABOR…

http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/forms_pdfs/lsse/mw-31a.pdf

THE SAME WOULD APPLY TO THOSE THAT EVEN WORKED AS AN INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR ALSO. THERE IS LOTS OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE ABOUT HOW EMPLOYEES ARE MISCLASSIFIED AS INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS, AND HERE GOES A LITTLE SOMETHING FROM THE IRS JUST TO GET STARTED…

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1779.pdf

AND FOR THOSE WHO ARE WORRIED ABOUT W2’S OR 1099’S ETC – IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE ANYTHING FROM CORA, OR IF THE FORMS YOU RECEIVE ARE INCORRECT FILE THIS…

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4852.pdf

NOW FOR THOSE THAT ARE AFRAID OF BEING LABELLED AS A TROUBLEMAKER, OR IF YOU FEEL THE RELATIONSHIP YOU HAD WITH CORA TURNED SOUR BECAUSE IT WAS YOUR OWN FAULT… THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT FEEL THAT WAY. AND AS IT TURNS OUT IF YOU HAVE COME ACROSS THIS INFORMATION BEFORE…

http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-dcdce/case_no-1:2008cv00083/case_id-129288/

AND IF YOU WERE WONDERING WHAT IT WAS ABOUT. YOU CAN REGISTER FOR PACER FOR FREE TO VIEW THE RECORDS AT 8 CENTS PER PAGE. (you will be billed later by Pacer for the records you viewed, not at the time you view them and I accrued less than $10 in charges)

http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/psco/cgi-bin/register.pl

I READ THE ABOVE DOCUMENTS REGARDING THE CASE AND IT WAS SHOCKING – YET VERY WELL WORTH THE 8 CENT PER PAGE COST - EVEN THOUGH I WAS SO APPALLED BY WHAT I READ & CRIED FOR DAYS! I HAD TO ACCEPT AFTER READING THE DOCUMENTS, THE TIME I INVESTED INTO CORA TO TRY AND MAKE IT WORK WAS FOR NOTHING OTHER THAN TO LINE SOMEONE ELSE’S POCKETS.
IF YOU STILL DOUBT THE FACTS – CALL THE NJ DOL YOURSELF AND VERIFY JUST HOW MANY CLAIMS HAVE BEEN FILED ON THIS COMPANY. READ THE COURT RECORDS ABOUT THE LAWSUIT THE CEO HAD FILED ON HER IN 2008. ASK THE NJ DOL IF THE CEO HAS RESPONDED TO THEM – IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THEY THE NJ DOL HAVE TRIED TO CONTACT THE CEO SEVERAL TIMES AND THERE IS NO RESPONSE. JUST LIKE THE REPORTS OF MANY PEOPLE THAT HAVE SENT EMAILS TO THE COMPANY WONDERING WHEN THEY WILL BE PAID – THERE ARE NO ANSWERS THERE EITHER, IT’S LIKE EMAILS JUST ENTER INTO A BLACK HOLE. THERE HAVE BEEN ONLY FALSE PROMISES OF WEEKLY UPDATES ABOUT THE PAYROLL SITUATION LIKE THE ONE SENT OUT BY THE CEO ON NOVEMBER 2ND 2009 WHERE IT STATED - We will continue to issue weekly updates such as this. THERE HAVE BEEN NO WEEKLY UPDATES.

IN THE END, BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF RESPONSE FROM THIS COMPANY, AND FAILURE TO USE PROPER COMMUNICATION SKILLS THE CEO HAD BURIED THE COMPANY INTO DEEPER DEBT BECAUSE THE CHARGES FOR THE PENALITIES BY NOT RESPONDING TO THE NJ DOL ARE WAY MORE THAN WHAT IS OWED IN BACKWAGES TO THE PEOPLE. THIS JUST PROVES THAT THE CEO IS NOT THE BUSINESS PERSON THEY CLAIM TO BE…
http://www.isp-planet.com/news/2006/coraworks.html
HOW COME IT SAYS THE WORD “SUBCONTRACTED” INSTEAD OF “SENIOR MANAGEMENT TURNAROUND CONSULTANT”?

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Nov 01, 2009 6:40 pm EST

Just wanted to let CORA survivors; past, current, and future know that we have a new website community set-up that will allow you to vent, communicate, share, laugh and cry with others that share common-grounds. Share your stories, share your life, share your future...all are welcome!

http://www.corasurvivors.com/

V
V
VirginiaBeauty
Harriosnburg, US
Sep 19, 2009 9:31 am EDT

I actually got on this site looking for a complexity different product and ran across this post. It's a shame that corporation like this one exist and take advantage of the disabled. This company is set up as a LLC. LLC stands for Limited Liability Corporation. Good luck ever getting your money.

W
W
WhyDoYouLie?
Somewhere, US
Sep 17, 2009 1:06 pm EDT

CURRENT/FURLOUGHED/TERMINATED/RESIGNED EMPLOYEES OF CORA!
We have started a support site for CORA Survivors and you are welcome!
We look forward to seeing you there.
http://corasurvivors.forumotion.net/forum.htm

C
C
Cora Survivor
Anywhere, US
Sep 15, 2009 10:03 am EDT

It is great to see people are coming forward and being brave and stepping up and fighting for their rights!

However, finding the right attorney to “sue the pants off of Cora” is not that easy, and it is a process too that can be very frustrating… but here are some quotes from a letter from one attorney just to show that survivors indeed are in the process of looking for help….
… We think you have a great potential case and have been trying to see if we could find a sufficient basis to bring suit in California or where we might have local counsel who would help us litigate out of state. Unfortunately, we have not been able to do so and are thus unable to take your case.

From our decision, you should not conclude that you do not have a cause of action. We urge you to bring your case to other attorneys to see if you can find someone more local to represent you.

We encourage you to immediately consult with as many other lawyers as you wish without delay. CORA, LLC is based in New Jersey. Here is a link to the New Jersey Bar Lawyer Referral Services: http://www.njsba.com/lawyer_referral/. You can ask them for a New Jersey attorney who handles employment class actions. Here is a phone number to one of the NJ Bar referral services: [protected]

----------------------------------------------------------

Now for some interesting information that was just sent to me very recently…

Apparently even though employees are located outside of New Jersey in other states we can still file separate wage claims with the New Jersey Department of Labor!

Since this employer, Cora, has the corporate headquarters at a New Jersey location the NJ Dept of Labor does have jurisdiction over this matter. So if Ilene Morris Sambur refuses to cooperate the Division or the NJ Dept of Labor can take further action.

Now, you can go the New Jersey Department of Labor’s website and view the facts and forms listed and more about the laws that protect employees, and about how to file a complaint. The link you want to go to obtain the complaint forms is at –

http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/wagehour/complnt/complaint_forms.html

You should be able to copy and paste this link right into your URL tool bar and it should take you right there!

The following form is the one that needs to be filled out if you want to file a complaint –
Wage Claim (MW-31A) - Use this form if you are an employee working in New Jersey or you are working for a New Jersey based company.

All this information can be submitted electronically and emailed to the following email at Wage.Hour@dol.state.nj.us so there would be no postage costs! Which is fantastic since many of us are on such limited funds! Just don’t forget to in the end to do your signature electronically… it’s a little tricky and confusing… but take your time if it is your first time… it was for me and I was scared I was going to goof it up but I did it!

According to the NJ Dept of Labor website it states that ….

…Most complaints are resolved within four to six weeks however some investigations are resolved more quickly and others take several weeks. There is no way to determine in advance how long it will take to complete the investigation into your complaint…

However I had received some interesting news about this also!

Apparently, allegedly, whatever you want to call it…. Things will be taking place in New Jersey based upon the numbers of complaints the Dept. Of Labor there have received regarding Cora and the people will hopefully get their paychecks they have been waiting so for so long. I really hope the information I have received was not “hot air”, and that this agency will be helping and investigating this company and therefore protecting innocent citizens of this country from further harm!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

People are really begginning to wonder about Ilene Morris-Sambur and why she complains of “threats” to her and Cora... people really can’t understand why she has gone on for months and weeks and not reported these events to the proper authorities like the police department... instead there is all this reporting, blogging, and whining about it inside the Cora World!

A threat is described as follows… An expression of an intention to inflict pain, injury, evil, or punishment; An indication of impending danger or harm. One that is regarded as a possible danger; a menace.

… Ilene Morris-Sambur has repeatedly made statements about people making “threats” and here is a comment written by her recently…. "Certain employees have choosen to threaten me personally, threaten CORA and do whatever it takes for "vengence”.

Now… I know that if someone chooses to threaten ME I would IMMEDIATELY report it to the police department, and I wouldn’t waste any time dwelling on the matter! If the threat comes in email form they can take care of this, you just have to remember keep it saved… and all it would take for them is a little time investigating the incidents and tracing the address of where the email came from! It’s that simple! I’ve seen it done! Law enforcement agencies have an incredible amount of access to incredible technologies that will be able to trace where the threat came from! And this includes telephone calls! I had a friend that this happened to her where they threatened physical harm to her and her son… with in a week the police department had the information to who made the phone call, and charges were pressed!

I just really can not understand how Ilene Morris-Sambur chooses to be plagued by “threats” for so long… when she could have done something about this a long time ago! I know I’m not the only one that this doesn’t make sense too… but here are a couple of thoughts…

1) There are no real “threats” of physical violence… what Ilene Morris-Sambur might count as a threat may be in the form of “I want my paycheck, ” “I will report you if I don’t get my money, ” “I know about the Federal Lawsuit against Cora”, and so on and so forth. While IMS takes this as a threat to her, there are no real physical threats to her and Cora… but we all know that IMS has a habit of making things sound more aggressive than what they really are without being specific about it.

2) Maybe someone is threatening physical violence to her and Cora, but, as everyone knows Ilene Morris Sambur is also doing some illegal and corrupt things herself and if she did call the police she may just draw some unwanted attention to herself and maybe this is why she hasn’t turned anyone in yet. Maybe she doesn’t want anyone to find out about the “Uzzi” she has in her office! Time and time again I have seen her use the comment about wanting to take an “Uzzi” to all the people that were making bad things happen to Cora. Now if that’s not a violent type of “threat” then what is it?

Of course all of this is just speculation, but it leads me and many other survivors to wonder … why is Ilene Morris-Sambur if she has such a strong back round in being a “senior turnaround consultant” and being a CEO and owner of a company – is she not being responsible about her actions and being accountable for the things that have gone wrong? People are mad, tired, fustrated, they want their money, and it's wrong to make someone beg for their check when they have earned it!

I have to speak up and compliment everyone here that have written a complaint on this board – all of you do not appear to be incompetent, and it’s sickening to see Ilene Morris-Sambur has taken to degrading people in such a fashion… all of you have excellent writing skills and all of you have communicated your experiences about your dissatisfaction with this company very clearly… and people out there really are paying attention!

SO LETS KEEP TALKING AND WRITING!

D
D
Declara
Olympia, US
Sep 15, 2009 2:57 am EDT

... You guys know this is illegal, right? It is illegal to withhold payment that you have earned, even if you work on commission, even if CORA's employment strategy is unconventional. What CORA is doing is illegal.

Please find someone to talk to. There are many pro bono lawyers who will fight this case on the sheer basis that it is a massive violation of employment and discrimination laws, and many more who will suspend payment unless/until they win the case.

Another way you can win is by getting this into the news. It's juicy and any sane journalist would be salivating at the thought. Furthermore, it is even MORE illegal to be fired for being a whistleblower, and you can file for wrongful termination suits.

...

No offense, but are you people stupid? SUE THEIR PANTS OFF. You can sue the government too, y'know

Elevating the Voice of the Consumer

Empowering Real Complaints

At ComplaintsBoard, we understand the impact of genuine consumer grievances. Our platform is a dedicated space for authentic voices, where complaints, both positive and negative, are shared with honesty and transparency.

Dedicated to Validating Complaints

We are committed to ensuring the authenticity of every complaint. Our team uses rigorous verification methods to confirm that each complaint stems from a real customer experience, maintaining the integrity of our platform.

Encouraging Detailed Complaint Narratives

We value complaints accompanied by concrete evidence. Be it a photo, a detailed narrative, or additional documentation, such substantiation lends credibility to your complaint, aiding others in making informed decisions.

Balanced and Constructive Dialogue

ComplaintsBoard is more than a platform for airing grievances; it's a community where balanced dialogue is encouraged. We welcome complaints that not only point out issues but also recognize any positive interactions, promoting a fair and comprehensive perspective.

A Free and Impartial Platform for Complaints

Our unwavering commitment is to provide a free and unbiased platform for all complaints. Every complaint is given equal importance, ensuring your concerns are heard and respected, irrespective of their nature.