Resume Database Nightmare: Biotech and Pharmaceutical Resume Database Privacy Issue

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In July, 2002, Dr. Frank Heasley, the owner of Medzilla.com, a biotechnology job site, became aware that Jason Monastra, who was at the time a recruiter and the owner of Optimum Intelligence, was making a large number of resume downloads from the Medzilla resume database. Dr. Heasley quickly discovered that Jason Monastra was also the owner of a new job search site called Biotechcareers.com and had downloaded approximately 2,400 resumes from the Medzilla database within the space of several weeks [14].

October 15, 2002, Medzilla filed suit against the owner of Biotechcareers.com [15]. November 15, 2002, Dr. Heasley contacted the 2,399 job seekers whose resumes Mr. Monastra had downloaded and notified them that their resumes had been taken from the resume database and used in ways not allowed by the terms of agreement of the Medzilla site [16].

The entire Medzilla notice to job seekers is published in legal documents [17]. The text is reprinted in Appendix B in full.

The notice, sent from Frank Heasley, stated in part:

“Hello,

A few months ago we discovered that a person claiming to be a recruiter was actually setting up a new job board, and had taken several thousand resumes from the Medzilla site.

We then learned that he had similarly taken thousands of resumes from other biotech related job boards, several of which have also initiated action against him….”

According to legal documents and the job seeker emails contained within them, [18] the owners and / or agents of Biotechcareers.com contacted the job seekers whose resumes Mr. Monastra had downloaded [19]. Some of the job seeker email solicitations said the Biotechcareers.com site had an outdated copy of the job seekers’ resumes, and requested the job seekers to “repost” their resumes on Biotechcareers.com by replying with a new resume attached [20].

One such email sent to a job seeker, from support@biotechcareers.com dated November 16, 2002, stated:

“We have an older copy of your resume and would like an updated copy for our records.

Please simply reply to this message and attach a word copy. We currently work with many of the top pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and believe your experience lends itself well to positions our clients have open.

Thank you.” [20]

Other job seekers were contacted by third parties through the Biotechcareers.com site, even though job seekers said they had not posted resumes there. According to documents, one such email came from Jim Hansen of LifeScience Associates November 18, 2002 (21).

The subject line of the referenced email read:

“Response to your resume posting on Biotechcareers.com.”

The message went on to state:

“Please send me full contact information along with a Word copy of your resume so we may be able to communicate about potential job opportunities. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks”

The email was signed by Jim Hansen, Relationship Manager of LifeScience Associates. The email referenced Biotechcareers at the bottom of the page (21).

Another email sent from Biotechcareers to a Medzilla resume poster November 22, 2002 [22] stated, in part:

“…Your resume has been cross-posted to http://biotechcareers.com through one of our partner sites. You can view, edit, refresh, or delete your resume by clicking on …”

“With over 7,000 jobs from more than 1,100 companies currently on the site, you’re sure to find some interesting opportunities.” …

The Medzilla notice to jobseekers mentioned “other biotech related job boards” [23] Chris Amato of HireHealth is specifically mentioned in the Medzilla v Optimum Intelligence documents [24].

In a telephone interview, Chris Amato of HireHealth.com, a large search site with a significant resume database, said he noticed a pattern of resume download on his resume database tying back to Biotechcareers.com. Mr. Amato told researchers he notified “hundreds” of job seekers by telephone that the privacy of the resumes they posted on HireHealth had been compromised [25].

Also in a telephone interview, [26] Pam Bailey, director of BioView, another large biotech job site, told researchers that she was contacted in August, 2002 by a job seeker with a question about an email solicitation from a recruiter. The email had referenced BioView’s site.

Ms. Bailey researched the matter and discovered that a company called Optimum Intelligence, owned by Jason Monastra, had sent the email to the job seeker and had represented to the job seeker that he found their resume in the BioView database when in fact, the job seeker’s resume was not in the BioView database. In the email, Mr. Monastra solicited the job seeker to send in a new copy of a resume to the address in the email.

BioView’s parent company, Monster.com, sent a cease and desist letter to stop Mr. Monastra from soliciting BioView jobseekers. Ms. Bailey told researchers that Mr. Monastra’s access to the resume database ended immediately, and that his account was shut down [27].

In telephone interviews, BioSpace.com told researchers its database was not accessed by Mr. Monastra [28].

The Medzilla lawsuit was settled in Medzilla’s favor and dismissed February 3, 2003 [29]. The Biotechcareers.com domain was handed over to Medzilla as part of the settlement [30]. In a telephone interview after the dismissal of the suit, Mr. Heasley told researchers that as part of the settlement, Mr. Monastra was directed to erase the Biotechcareers.com resume database [31].

No legal actions against Mr. Monastra or Biotechcareers.com have been publicly filed on BioView’s behalf at this date, nor have they been filed on the behalf of BioSpace nor HireHealth [32].

Legal documents indicate that the Biotechcareers.com resume database allegedly contained in “excess of 20,000 resumes” and “included over 30,000 registered users” at the time Mr. Monastra was directed to delete it [33].

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Endnotes

[14] Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R. Case file. Also: Verified Complaint for Breach of Contract, Fraud and Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition. Section III; : Declaration of Jason Monastra in Support of Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel , paragraph 8 “Over the course of several weeks, Optimum Intelligence obtained approximately 2,400 resumes from its Website.” Also: Declaration of Franklin A. Heasley in support of Motion to Compel Compliance with Order Granting Injunctive Relief, Dec. 4, 2002 . Paragraph 2a states “On Thursday November 14 Medzilla, Inc. sent a message to all 2,399 candidates whose resumes were taken from our Web site …”.

[15] Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle. Verified Complaint for Breach of Contract, Fraud and Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition.

[16] Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R. Case file. Also: Declaration of Jason Monastra in Support of Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel, paragraph 14. Paragraph 14 contains a copy of the memo Dr. Frank Heasley sent to Medzilla clients. Also: M Medzilla Terms of Use http://www.medzilla.com/termsofuse.html .

[17] Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R. Case file. Also: Declaration of Jason Monastra in Support of Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel, paragraph 14. Paragraph 14 contains a copy of the memo Dr. Frank Heasley sent to Medzilla clients. Also: Declaration of Franklin A. Heasley in support of Motion to Compel Compliance with Order Granting Injunctive Relief, Dec. 4, 2002 . Paragraph 2a states “On Thursday November 14 Medzilla, Inc. sent a message to all 2,399 candidates whose resumes were taken from our Web site …”

[18] Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R. Declaration of Franklin A. Heasley, Section V: 6, V:8,V:9,V:10. Also: Declaration of Franklin A. Heasley in support of Motion to Compel Compliance with Order Granting Injunctive Relief, Dec. 4, 2002 paragraphs 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, and Exhibit A, pages 1-2.

[19] Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R. Declaration of Franklin A. Heasley, Section V: 6, V:8,V:9,V:10. Also: Declaration of Franklin A. Heasley in support of Motion to Compel Compliance with Order Granting Injunctive Relief, Dec. 4, 2002 paragraphs 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, and Exhibit A, pages 1-2.

[20] Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R: Declaration of Franklin A. Heasley in support of Motion to Compel Compliance with Order Granting Injunctive Relief, Dec. 4, 2002 . Paragraph 5.

[21] Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R: Declaration of Franklin A. Heasley in support of Motion to Compel Compliance with Order Granting Injunctive Relief, Dec. 4, 2002 . Paragraph 6.

[22] Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R, Declaration of Franklin A. Heasley in support of Motion to Compel Compliance with Order Granting Injunctive Relief, Dec. 4, 2002 . Paragraph 9.

[23] Quote located in: Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R. Case file. Declaration of Jason Monastra in Support of Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel, paragraph 14. Paragraph 14 contains a copy of the memo Dr. Frank Heasley sent to Medzilla clients.

[24] Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R. Declaration of Jason Monastra in support of opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel , Exhibit 4. Email exchange between Frank Heasley and Chris Amato regarding Biotechcareers.com.

[25] Telephone interview with Chris Amato, February 11, 2003. Also, Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R. Declaration of Jason Monastra in support of opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel , Exhibit 4.

[26] Telephone interviews with Pam Bailey February 12 and 14, 2003.

[27] Telephone interview with Pam Bailey February 12 and 14, 2003.

[28] Telephone interviews with BioSpace executives February 11 and 12, 2003.

[29] Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R . Stipulation and Order of Dismissal, February 3, 2003 . Also: Interview with Frank Heasley February 12, 2003. Also: ” Important Notice , ” front page of http://biotechcareers.com/, which discussed the settlement of the lawsuit.

[30] Interview with Frank Heasley February 12, 2003. Also: ” Important Notice , ” front page of http://biotechcareers.com/ .

[31] Telephone interviews with Frank Heasley February 12 and 14, 2003.

[32] Database search of electronic court filings under the names BioSpace, Monastra, Optimum Intelligence, TMPW, Monster.com, BioView and possible name variations did not reveal any current court filings as of February 12, 2003.

[33] Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R. Declaration of Jason Monastra in Support of Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel, Friday December 20, 2002. Paragraph 3. “Optimum’s database now exceeds 20,000 resumes, includes over 30,000 registered users, and has over 150,000 monthly visits.”

Roadmap:  Resume Database Nightmare – Job Seeker Privacy at Risk: III. Biotech and Pharmaceutical Resume Database Privacy Issue

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