Things were going along so well for Groupon, but at some point things took a dramatic turn, and now it just seems to be negative story after negative story. Even CEO Andrew Mason’s internal staff memo aimed at boosting employee morale to combat an increase in negative press backfired as it was leaked and led to more questioning from the SEC.
Now, Groupon is getting sued by its own employees, according to a report from PaidContent. A class action suit has reportedly been filed on behalf of Groupon’s sales team, with former Groupon salesperson Ranita Daily leading the charge as the lead plaintiff. The report says the suit is based on claims that the company violated federal and state labor law, and aims to get three years of back wages and punitive damages for “hundreds” of employees.
Ouch.
The IPO has reportedly been delayed. Traffic is down while Groupon’s main competitor’s traffic is up. Employee morale is said to be low, and now employees are even suing.
It’s been a hell of a rocky year for Groupon, which started with an ill-advised Super Bowl ad.
It’s not all been doom and gloom. Groupon has made some interesting acquisitions and partnered with Foursquare. Facebook and Yelp have scaled back in the Deals department. That can’t hurt.
Groupon turned down a reported $6 billion buyout from Google last year. Do you think that has become a regret yet?