(Reuters) - Electronics retailer Best Buy Co Inc said on Tuesday it had suspended its relationship with Care.com Inc, sending the online childcare marketplace operator’s stock down 9.8 percent.
Care.com’s stock tumbled last month after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company listed U.S. caregivers who had police records and were later accused of committing crimes while caring for clients’ children or elderly relatives.
Best Buy had offered Care.com’s Care@work service as a benefit to its employees.
“We have suspended our relationship with Care.com as we do a thorough review of both the program and the company,” Best Buy spokesman Jeff Shelman said in a statement. “We remain committed to providing affordable back-up childcare to our employees.”
Care.com spokeswoman Nancy Bushkin said in an email that her company hopes to resume providing its service to Best Buy.
“While disappointed, we respect Best Buy’s decision and are committed to working closely with their teams to confirm the safety of our backup care services and the value they have already begun to bring to their employees,” Bushkin said.
The development between Best Buy and Care.com was reported earlier in a research note from Wall Street firm BTIG, which lowered its rating on Care.com as a result.
Reporting by Dan Burns; Editing by G Crosse and Andrea Ricci
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