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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2022
Commitments And Contingencies (note 11)  
Commitments And Contingencies

NOTE 11 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

Legal Proceedings

 

With the exception of the below, the Company is not a party to any legal proceedings or claims at March 31, 2022. From time-to-time, we may be a party to, or otherwise involved in, legal proceedings arising in the normal course of business.  The nature of our business ordinarily results in a certain amount of pending as well as threatened claims, litigation, investigations, regulatory and legal and administrative cases, matters and proceedings, all of which are considered incidental to the normal conduct of business. When we determine we determine that we have meritorious defenses to the claims asserted, we vigorously defend ourselves. We consider settlement of cases when, in management’s judgment, it is in the best interests of both the Company and its shareholders to do so.

 

Recruiter.com Group, Inc. v. BKR Strategy Group.

 

We are currently pursuing two related collections matters against BKR Strategy Group. Since 2013, BKR Strategy Group has provided talent acquisition strategy and services to top companies. Starting in the third quarter of 2021, BKR Strategy Group subcontracted Recruiter.com to perform on-demand recruiter services on behalf of BKR Strategy Group’s clients. Although payments for services rendered were initially received in a timely fashion, BKR Strategy Group’s balance grew throughout the third and fourth quarters of 2021. This led to BKR Strategy Group executing a Promissory Note with a payment schedule for $500,000 on November 30, 2021 with a personal guarantee from its business principal as part of the note. After failing to meet the payment schedule and after repeated attempts to collect the balance due, we retained the law firm of Berkovitch & Bouskila, PLLC and filed two lawsuits against BKR Strategy Group on February 18, 2022, the first, to collect on unpaid invoices and the second, to enforce the promissory note, for a total sum of $1,400,000.  On March 24, 2022, BKR Strategy Group made a counterclaim against us for $500,000 on the grounds of alleged overbilling.  Management denies the basis for the counterclaim and expects to vigorously defend itself from this counterclaim. The Company’s outside council has advised that at this stage in the proceedings, it cannot offer an opinion as to the probable outcome. As it is not possible to estimate if a loss will be incurred, there has been no accrual.

Investor Relations

 

Claims related to investor relations arose during the third quarter of 2021 for which we had accrued $250,000. In October 2021, the Company made a total investor relations payment of $253,505 with two shareholders regarding claims that they were owed securities pursuant to existing agreements. The agreement was reached prior to any lawsuits being filed with a court.

 

Service Agreement

 

In December of 2021 we entered into an agreement wherein a third party will assume responsibility for several of our staffing clients and in return the third party would enter into Recruiter on Demand service agreements and software subscriptions with us. Due to the variability in the terms of the agreement, the transactions will be recognized on a cash basis. No such transactions occurred during the year ending December 31, 2021. We had revenue of $214,247 in the first quarter of 2022 related to this agreement.

 

Leases

 

On September 30, 2019, the Company entered into a sublease with a related party (see Note 12) for our former corporate headquarters. The sublease originally expired in November 2022. Monthly lease payments increased from $7,307 to $7,535 in April 2021 and continued at that rate for the remainder of the lease. In July 2021, we cancelled the remaining term of the lease with no future payments remaining (see Note 12).

 

COVID-19 Uncertainty:

 

In March 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 (coronavirus) caused by a novel strain of the coronavirus was recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, and the outbreak became increasingly widespread in the United States, including in each of the areas in which we operate. While to date, we have not been required to stop operating, management is evaluating its use of its office space, virtual meetings and the like. We previously reduced certain billing rates to respond to the economic climate, however, those billing rates have returned to normal. Demand for recruiting solutions and our Platform improved in 2022 versus 2021.  The COVID-19 pandemic has been characterized by rises and falls of case numbers due to unforeseen factors and variants of concern and consequently has had varying amounts of impact on our operations and financial prospects. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will impact operations, ability to obtain financing or future financial results is uncertain at this time.

 

We expect but cannot guarantee that demand for our recruiting solutions will continue to improve in 2022, as certain clients re-open or accelerate their hiring initiatives, and new clients utilize its services. Overall, management is focused on effectively positioning us for a rebound in hiring which management believes will continue to happen in 2022. Ultimately, the recovery may be delayed and the economic conditions may worsen, depending upon changes in the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to closely monitor the confidence of our recruiter users and customers, and their respective job requirement load through offline discussions and Recruiter Index survey.

 

We also may depend on raising additional debt or equity capital to stay operational. The economic impact of COVID-19, should the COVID-19 pandemic worsen, may make it more difficult for us to raise additional capital when needed. The terms of any financing, if we are able to complete one, will likely not be favorable to us.