Tradeshow Hostesses AKA Indy Models, 1st Place Models, Statement Models, Agency Models Nationwide Modeling Scam run by Roger Allen Knauer aka Erin Darlange aka Roger Longstreet aka Allen Knauer Indianapolis Indiana

I am very familiar with Allen Knauer, having been involved with researching him on behalf of over a dozen of his victims.   He claims that these are only a few disgruntled former employees, when in fact there are several dozen that I personally know of, plus I'm sure a whole lot more.  Most will not pursue this matter (their not being paid) because they don't live in Illinois, and it would cost more to pursue suing him than it's worth.

These models' livelihoods depend on good recommendations from their employers, and they take seriously Allen's threats of blackballing them and suing them for libel and slander.  Allen knows this, he counts on it, and he gets away with it.  His excuse is that these models did a lousy job for him - that may be true, but frankly, I doubt it.  But even if that were true, his only legal recourse for a lousy job is to never use them again - he still must pay them for the time they worked for him.

In fact, the California State Department of Labor recently conducted an investigation into complaints filed against Allen Knauer by numerous models who worked for Allen Knauer and who are California residents and/or who worked for Allen Knauer in California.  In February 2014, as a result of that investigation, the California DOL rendered judgment against Allen Knauer, saying 1) he illegally classified his models as "contractors" when in fact they were employees, and therefore subject to all benefits as such; 2) The DOL found he did not pay his models when he in fact should have; 3) The DOL found that Allen Knauer threatened to withhold payment when these models complained about not being paid for over 90 days; 4) The DOL found that his failure to pay his models was often in retribution for complaining; 5)  The California DOL has ordered him to pay the models who complained to the DOL their full and complete salary, plus penalties.  This is public record and can be easily verified by contacting the California Department of Labor - you don't need to take my word for it.

The best recommendation I can make to anyone considering working for him is to do your own research and decide for yourself if you want to risk working for him. 

If you have been a victim of Allen Knauer (or someone like him), contact your state's Department of Labor and file a complaint.

I was also in that same group of San Francisco models, it's been a year and most of us still haven't been paid. Since then, we've discovered that he's done the same thing to other hard working models across the nation. Roger and his companies go by various names and when he doesn't pay models in other states he says that he's busy dealing with defamation cases. 

Also, to say that the client didn't pay him is a lie. The client paid what they owed and even hired a lawyer to represent them and clear their name at a hearing against Roger, at which he was not present. This isn't another defamation case, it's the truth. Roger Knauer owes thousands of dollars to models he hires and never intends on paying.

Also, if there are a lot of defamation cases against him and his companies wouldn't that make you wonder as to why there are so many cases and rip off reports? We aren't a group of miffed models, we're a group who trusted that we would be paid after all of the hard work. We hadn't done anything to anger him. 

Our contact said that checks for the first $100 would have been sent out on the last day and that we would receive the test of the money within 90 days. It's been a year and most of us haven't been paid. 

 I was also a victim of Alan Knauer , Aka Roger Knauer a.k.a. Erin Darlange. The company was called 1st Place models back then and since then he has 'closed' that company and 'opened' up under tradeshowhostesses.com and a variety of other 'company' names. He is definitely a predator in my opinion as I worked for him in good faith, got a rave review from the client  and then had a horrible time trying to get not only the money I was owed for working but to get reimbursed for a flight and travel expenses that were promised. Alan tried to tell me sevwral excuses in the over half a year that he didn't pay me such as: the office is closed, we are on vacation, the client didn't pay (they told me they paid Alan in advance), etc. 

Recently, I have discovered that there was a court case against Roger Alan Knauer. It is my understanding that he was sued for not paying many hardworking models for their work and then threatening them with litigation when they attempted to collect their compensation. I myself experienced this with him as well. Alan did not bother to appear and has therefore lost the case and is hiding out so that he cannot be served with judgement papers. 

As far as I know he has been running this scam since at least 2007. His claims of being 'the largest'  agency in the US are questionable as Alan has repeatedly made many delusional claims as such. I would steer far clear of this con artist as a client or model!!!!!

Our agency is the largest event staffing agency in the Nation.  We work with over 400 contractors each month in over 20 states. 

Most who work with us enjoy the experience and find it both fun and financially rewarding.  They accept a job, perform it as agreed, and get paid.  We have contractors who have been doing so for well over 10 years.

Very rarely, that doesn't happen.  Sometimes, a contractor doesn't perform as agreed and they either aren't paid or they receive a reduction in what they are paid.  When this happens, most realize they caused their own problem and move on.  A handful, less than 1% of those with whom we work, decide to post defaming and libelous information on the Internet about us. 

Anyone can come here and post all the libelous information they want.  Sites like this do not verify anything....they just post anything and everything.  If you have worked in promotions or event staffing, you have likely encountered poor performers.  Those who either made you look bad or screwed up the promotion for the company.  They are the type who post this nonsense on sites like this. 

We've begun working with a law firm to identify the people who post here and to take action against them in Civil Court.  The person who posted the defaming info here, to which we are replying, fits into 1 of 3 categories:

1. They have apologized for their conduct and may have been paid. 

2. They have not tried to make up for their conduct but we have chosen not to litigate against them.

3. They have not tried to make up for their conduct and we are litigating against them.         

Again, these are a small handful of the people who contract with us.  Most of our contractors are good people and we made a good choice booking them for our clients.  Postings by disgruntled contractors on a site like this aren't worth anything.  Do your own homework. 

I am in the same situation as the person posting this. I worked for "Allen" back in January and have yet to recieve payment. Just string of verbally abusive emails followed by upbeat emails saying "Your check is in the next batch." Talk about bi-polar. 

For the person posting this. I have filed a judgement for my unpaid dues and am having trouble serving him since all his addresses online lead me to random business (like a crossfit gym) and not his actual business. Where did you come up with that address for him? If you know it is the correct address please let me know. I will research it myself as well. Thank you.