Contract with Temporary Service

[ada]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

We are going to get rid of all of our temporary workers but have one temporary worker that we would like to hire. He has only worked a total of 212 hours and the temp service says that they must work 480 hours or we have to buy them out. When I told them that neither the worker or our company had a contract with them, they said that we had an agreement and emailed me a letter that had space for us to sign and them to sign. I asked them to furnish me with a signed copy because I didn't recall ever having seen that paper; they emailed me back....."I don't believe we have a signed copy but will check. Nor is it necessary to have a signed copy in the State of Ohio, for once the temporary is placed it is a recognized under the theory of Quantum Meruit that both parties agree to conduct business."
We did agree to conduct business, but were never told the specific rules. What, if any, are our rights to hire this employee?

Thank you for any information or advice.

 

[shortbus]

I don't see what quantum meruit has to do with it. But if you've hired multiple workers from this agency, even if you didn't know about the buyout option, a court might say you should have known, given your course of dealing. The fact that the contract wasn't signed is immaterial. Oral agreements are binding.

Go to the temp agency and say "We've been a good customer, can't we work this out?" and negotiate a lower buyout number.