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 | I recently fulfilled a long-held ambition: to complete an intensive, 40-hour mediation course, culminating in the receipt of a certificate from the Santa Clara County Office of Human Relations. I wanted to do this training for several reasons. First, I thought it would be helpful to my clients for me to have a better understanding . . . → Read More: New hat for Nora–Mediator! We are following a class action filed in California against Uber, the ride sharing company, in which a group of drivers claim that they are not “independent contractors” but instead employees. Defining who is an employee is a complicated issue to which many lawyers and judges devote considerable time, including yours truly here at RJ . . . → Read More: Who is an “Employee” in the new “Sharing” Economy? Our client, Mac Cal Company, Inc. is a local contract manufacturer, making anything from parts used in Army drones to laser tattoo removal machines to medical diagnostic equipment. Mac Cal contracted with Epicor Corp. to buy ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software. The hope was to streamline and consolidate Mac Cal’s quote processes and to allow . . . → Read More: Sometimes you have to play for ALL of the marbles.  Comments are closed  Uncategorized  arbitration, attorney's fees, breach of contract, defense, litigation, negligent misrepresentation Many businesses hire workers as “independent contractors,” rather than as “employees.” Doing so may help a business avoid time, expense and legal obligations. The person hired may also prefer such an arrangement. The problem is that the label “independent contractor” is not always recognized in law–even where the parties have a written agreement to that . . . → Read More: Exercise Caution when Hiring “Independent Contractors.” Many employers try to limit their exposure to employee lawsuits by requiring employees to sign arbitration agreements. Such agreements can force an employee to submit any claims against the employer to binding arbitration. This results in a person (usually a practicing attorney or retired judge) making a decision on the merits which cannot be appealed. . . . → Read More: With Arbitration Agreements, Less is More There are no published California appellate decisions imposing successor liability on a corporate entity whose predecessor incurred a judgment arising from a failure to pay wages. We therefore crossed our fingers when we moved to modify the judgment in Torres v. International Food Bazaar, Inc. Our client was a former employee of a local grocery . . . → Read More: Rousso & Jackel Obtain Modified Judgment for Wages Based on Successor Liability If you have ever shopped at your local Safeway, chances are that you have seen a manager hopping into a check stand when the lines get too long. The California Court of Appeal recently considered whether such “managers,” who take on the role of checkers or baggers can can still be properly classified as “exempt” . . . → Read More: When is a manager not a manager? California Appellate Court nixes “multitasking” defense. Yes, reading cases can be dull. But not always. For example, did you know that you can call someone a “dumb ass” in PRINT and not be liable for defamation? It is an insult, but because it is not a “provable factual proposition,” it is not defamation. See Vogel v. Felice, 127 Cal.App.4th 1006. Here . . . → Read More: Not all insults lead to the courthouse… #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */ Today we said goodbye to our brave and wonderful dog, Lucky. He was 16+ years old and . . . → Read More: Our Wonderful “Boy,” Lucky Nora recently completed a three-week jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court. The trial was the first phase of a bifurcated (fancy talk for “divided”) class action involving the claims of over 500 plumbers who were misclassified as “outside salespeople” and therefore unfairly deprived of wages and overtime. One would think that paying a plumber . . . → Read More: Just because you call someone an ‘outside salesperson’ doesn’t make it so…. |    | |
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