ARCHIVED  April 1, 1997

Keith departs CoreStaff a year after buyout

FORT COLLINS — Richard Keith and CoreStaff Inc. have parted ways one year after the temporary-employment agency purchased Richard Keith Enterprises, a company operating as AppleOne Employment Service of Colorado, and Keith assumed the title of president and CEO of CoreStaff’s national expansion group.

The decision to end the relationship was mutually agreed upon by Keith and CoreStaff, said an executive at CoreStaff Acquisition Sub #5 Inc., the Colorado-based subsidiary of CoreStaff Inc. of Houston.

Reasons for the departure were not disclosed.

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CoreStaff is embroiled in a lawsuit with AppleOne of Glendale, Calif., which alleges that when CoreStaff purchased Richard Keith Enterprises, it infringed on AppleOne’s trademark, misappropriated trade secrets and interfered with the agency’s existing and prospective business rights.

A jury trial to decide the case is under way in U.S. District Court in Denver and is expected to conclude by April 4.

Neither Keith nor Richard Keith Enterprises is a party in this lawsuit. However, AppleOne Service Inc., the company arm involved primarily in temporary-staffing services, and AppleOne Franchise Inc., established to conduct franchising business, have sued Keith and Richard Keith Enterprises in California state court.

Keith was employed by AppleOne Service between 1977 and 1990, and rose to the position of vice president of corporate development of AppleOne. In 1989, Keith proposed the expansion of AppleOne into Colorado, and it was determined Keith would commence business as a licensee under the name AppleOne until a franchise agreement could be developed.

A franchise agreement was signed by Keith in October 1991.

By 1995, Keith had opened eight offices in Colorado as well as Cheyenne Temporary Services in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Provincial Staffing Services in Naperville, Ill., and posted revenues of $17 million. That same year, he began negotiations for the sale of Richard Keith Enterprises to CoreStaff. That deal was sealed Feb. 12, and the AppleOne agreement was terminated..

AppleOne claims it is owed $1.7 million in franchise fees and seeks more than $5 million in damages.

FORT COLLINS — Richard Keith and CoreStaff Inc. have parted ways one year after the temporary-employment agency purchased Richard Keith Enterprises, a company operating as AppleOne Employment Service of Colorado, and Keith assumed the title of president and CEO of CoreStaff’s national expansion group.

The decision to end the relationship was mutually agreed upon by Keith and CoreStaff, said an executive at CoreStaff Acquisition Sub #5 Inc., the Colorado-based subsidiary of CoreStaff Inc. of Houston.

Reasons for the departure were not disclosed.

CoreStaff is embroiled in a lawsuit with AppleOne of Glendale, Calif., which alleges that when CoreStaff purchased Richard Keith Enterprises,…

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