OPEIU Contributes to NAPAA Legal Fund Supporting Lawsuit Against Allstate
November 22, 2011
Around Town – By Neal Tepel
The Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), is assisting the National Association of Professional Allstate Agents (NAPAA) fight back against Allstate’s efforts to terminate profitable, long-standing agents who don’t meet the company’s arbitrary ‘Expected Results.’
New Jersey Allstate agent Mario DeLuca, a 42-year company veteran who amassed scores of company awards and honors during his career, soon became the face of the lawsuit after he was notified that his contract would be terminated. Additionally, the fate of other New Jersey agents under threat of termination hinges on the outcome of the case.
“Allstate is terminating an unprecedented number of agents for failing to meet its arbitrary performance goals,” said NAPAA Executive Director Jim Fish. “There is obviously something wrong when twenty to thirty percent of the agency force can’t achieve these company-imposed quotas, especially when they realize their careers are at stake.”
The lawsuit is designed to subject Allstate to New Jersey’s demanding franchise laws – which prevent termination of ‘franchise’ without good cause and that prohibit ‘unreasonable standards of performance’ – as well as to scrutinize, and hopefully reform, the company’s unreasonable ‘Expected Results’ quotas.
Professional organizations and Guilds affiliated with OPEIU are a diverse group that includes physicians, pharmacists, chiropractors, appraisers, podiatrists, clinical social workers, hypnotists, teachers and helicopter pilots.
