SANANTONIO-- High school graduation is a celebration steeped in tradition, including the caps and gowns the students wear.
But a local distributor of graduation accessories is under fire by the very company he's represented for decades.
Graduation is probably the biggest time of year. We probably do about 10,000 students. We deal with a lot of kids in this community, lot of schools in this area, and we've always taken the greatest of care of them, said Oscar Flores, whose company-- The Graduation Center-- is the focus of a breach of contract lawsuit.
On any given afternoon in late May and early June, the line for patrons who want cap and gown rentals, class rings, and other graduation items wraps around the sidewalk off San Pedro Avenue.
Oscar Flores runs The Graduation Center as an independent contractor for Herff Jones-- a place known to most parents around San Antonio.
But this appears to be the end of the line in Flores' relationship with Herff Jones, who fired Flores as a sales rep in April.
In court documents, Herff Jones claims Flores was skimming money off the top of customer orders.
Everything they allege is just false and untrue. We've done business the exact same way forever, Flores responded when the I-Team visited him Thursday.
But the I-Team uncovered invoices for ring orders for several schools from 2013 that raised questions: billing numbers for the same ring appear in separate billings.
In them, the invoice numbers don't match and neither do the final prices.
One high school senior was charged $821.70 for his ring. Herff Jones' was sent a different invoice and a different total: $589.23.
That's a markup of $232.47.
Flores says the markup is actually his profit margin, and that the pending legal action is part of a territory dispute between him and Herff Jones.
I think there's a lot of things they're saying and that's not the case, said Flores, referring to the different prices.
Herff Jones' attorneys claim the theft didn't stop with high school ring orders.
In its court filing, Herff Jones alleges that Flores reported many of its rented caps and gowns as losses, stating that they were damaged beyond repair.
Herff Jones said Flores then turned around and re-rented the items to his customers while eliminating Herff Jones from the equation.
Not true, answered Flores. Everything's been rented. Everything's been done properly.
In a statement, Herff Jones Vice President Don Agin said the company is ... disappointed and concerned by the reports regarding Mr. Flores conduct that are still coming to light, and are taking appropriate measures to protect the interests of our customers.
Flores said the customers will come first, as both sides try to end both their business relationship and the graduation year simultaneously.
We've always taken care of the community. And the kids, said Flores.
