Rumors have stirred recently that Enfatico is having trouble paying some freelancers and is under the gun from Dell, which has purportedly "had their lawyers serve Enfatico with breach-of-contract papers, for failing to deliver on anything they claimed they could do," according to George Parker. Both matters may have snowballed beyond truth, AgencySpy has learned, though Enfatico's future remains unclear.

Payroll Matters
Of the two issues Parker brings to the table (in a post called, "Is Enfatico Finally Fucked?"), the payroll part may be the simplest to unravel. AgencySpy has spoken with sources inside the agency who claim that five to 10 freelance employees went without pay for up to a month.

Enfatico rep. Matthew Hutchison's explanation of the matter; "The vast majority of our freelancers are paid either each week or every other week through our third-party agencies with which we contract. To put it in context, only a handful of freelancers have been affected, and we are and have been moving quickly to resolve the situation."

Dellving In
As for claims that Dell aims to back out of the partnership, a source within the agency tells us that a company-wide e-mail was sent from newly minted Dell CMO Erin Nelson, which noted in no uncertain terms Dell's commitment to the project.

Again, Hutchison: "Additionally, Dell has not served Enfatico with papers. And, in fact, Dell and Enfatico remain committed partners. Dell has reinforced its commitment and partnership to Enfatico and we're already in close collaboration with the new leadership."

Though both Enfatico and Dell could very easily be posturing here, it remains unclear how Enfatico will weather the recession. That said, a transition to full-time staff won't be easy once Schematic returns to other projects. At this time, we're told by internal sources that Schematic is handling the strategy while Enfatico's freelancers produce.

Oh wait, the agency wants to say something about that. "Enfatico is driving all of the digital strategy for Dell worldwide under the leadership of our Chief Digital Officer David Shulman and Global Creative Director and US Director of Strategy Josh Sklar. Enfatico is working with a number of WPP partner agencies worldwide — including Schematic here in the U.S. — on regional execution."

More: "Hey Enfatico, How's That "Getting Other Clients" Thing Going?"