I’ve had a bad experience with a person in a company I sense I’ve been conned. It’s made difficult by an NDA and set up a limited company
I've been struggling to find honest legal advice being under corporate law I've no access to independent legal advice and been exploited financially by solicitors too (not properly informed or advised by the NDA solicitor). I'd entered a design competition (redesign everything) and I'd been suggested to search on Bark.com and anywhere else - this person contacted me and there were so many wild promises and 'inaccurate' or rather 'misleading' statements of his experience in product design and global positioning. I'm at the time on serious medication, grieving for my mum who'd died an awful death from a very long cancer battle. So his vision and promises gave hope to me and I now see that if he was/is well-meaning he's not able to understand or even appreciate my design training or any of the design process. And just whlie I'm on my own in this he and his small team he selected are now claiming on Instagram they're a Start Up business but the company was set up in 2018 that was won in a local council funded community interest company's Start Up competition in a community to help with healt/wellbeing/mental health, vulnerable adults, and help with reading/writing/language barriers to give opportunities for employment too. That's not it they've posted promotions of their brand advertising skills using major brands like Samsung and Ferrero alikening their skills to be on par as those campaigns but theyre not crediting the advertising agencies who actually created the campaigns for the brands. In most cases for solicitors etc they don't understand this example of the use of another person's agency's creative work endeavours and I'm scared that my efforts to try to first get any link to this man and his company and revoke the NDA so I can speak out publicly about this so no one else will get conned and treated as badly by them as I had and I am - but he's already taken part in an event for local jobseekers for careers and job advice and mock interviews. I feel so sad for those people. I'm putting together an email for the council CEO to share with her what I can as much as I dare with this NDA, and send off in the morning. I will keep trying to find some legal help but I just don't know who to ask it's exasperating. Has anyone any advice? It would be good also to have some words of support and encouragement.
Thsnk you for reading. Angela
nb: I've tried to not breach the NDA as best as possible
Replies2
- @Alex Zepherin @Alex Zepherin thank you Alex I am taking action as he has tripped up that I see he has committed contempt of court so I’m taking action on that now, I put it off because it’s a horrid thing to do. He has access to even more vulnerable people than myself and tomorrow I am sharing the information I have to prove to the charity of his misrepresentation to them I need to be in a good place myself because it is triggering. But sometimes it’s not just what you do, it’s how you do it and with dignity and using fact - I have so much evidence! So I’ve just selected a couple of items to send and leave it up to the powers that be of the local government they have far more power than me on my own. And the ad agencies he and his team are using the work of to promote themselves as some kind of suddenly in line with world class ad agencies. Honestly I believe that they use AI to find out how to do stuff as if they’re experts by using ChatGPT there’s a lot of people who do that but this guy and his team are something else praying on vulnerable individuals. It’s awful. I have to do something and I will do what I can. I take my time as you say got to look after myself.I’m sorry you had to go through what you went through. It’s horrid.
- Hi Angela,Thank you so much for sharing this, and I'm sorry you have to go through this ordeal.Whilst I don't have any legal advice to offer, I just want to say you are seen. The pain of processing grief is immeasurable and it can lead us to be vulnerable in ways we can't see (it’s been the case for me at least).Not only that, but this is a tough climate traversing the creative field at the moment, and there are people who will use that to their advantage and exploit. The thing is though, a leopard never changes its spots, and reputation is absolutely everything. If you are going through this, I guarantee you won't be the last.I've worked for extremely difficult and unpleasant people 10 years ago, and to this very day, I've heard of freelancers working with the same person with horror stories. Once someone reveals themselves to be unethical and damn right sleezy, it’s almost inevitable that they will expose themselves, and be the catalyst to their own downfall one way or another.No matter what, put your peace first, however that looks like to you. If things get overwhelming and exhausting, take the time to realign and look after yourself in the best way possible.
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