Job-Training Company Files 2nd Suit Against UAW Affiliate

Rands Systems Inc., an Orange County job-training firm, has filed a second lawsuit against the UAW-Labor Employment and Training Corp., a nonprofit statewide organization that counsels, trains and helps people find jobs.

Rands, formerly a subcontractor to UAW-Labor Employment and Training, claims in its latest suit that UAW-Labor Employment’s president, Patricia Williams, interfered with Rands’ effort to obtain a contract of its own from the Employment Training Panel, a state job-development agency.

The suit alleges that Williams, who is a member of the eight-person Employment Training Panel, cast the deciding vote against Rands’ proposal, and as such had a conflict of interest. The suit was filed late last week in state Superior Court in Santa Monica.

The UAW-Labor Employment and Training Corp., based in Bell, called Rands’ suit “spurious.” In a statement, UAW-Labor Employment said Williams had no conflict in voting on Rands’ proposal because the outcome of that vote would not have affected any contract proposals of UAW-Labor Employment.

UAW-Labor Employment also said an earlier suit filed by Rands in Orange County Superior Court was “wholly without merit.” In that previous suit, Rands alleged UAW-Labor Employment owed it at least $1.5 million for worker training it did as a subcontractor. Without elaborating, the suit also claimed that UAW-Labor Employment “intentionally placed ineligible job trainees” in state-funded programs.

However, UAW-Labor Employment said it has met all of it obligations under the subcontract with Rands. UAW-Labor Employment also said it has never received state funds related to the placement of any ineligible participants, nor has it ever sought to place ineligible workers. On the contrary, the organization said, it has placed 1,700 participants into jobs from the state contracts at issue with Rands.