BUSINESS LITIGATION

Assisted small high tech company to achieve a non-suit in a breach of contract case after plaintiff presented her case to the jury in which plaintiff sought damages in excess of $2.0 million.

Assisted operator of hotel obtain defense verdict on lawsuit brought by owner of hotel who claimed in excess of $900,000 in damages arising from alleged mismanagement of hotel.  Also, assisted operator collect damages against owner for terminating contract early without giving required noticed.  Obtained and collected six figure attorney's fee award for operator of hotel who successfully defended claims brought by owner.   

Assisted owner of two soft serve ice cream frachises obtain defense verdict against former employee who claimed wrongful termination and loss of share of profits from operations after being terminated for mismanaging franchises.    

After successfully representing former employee against same company, assisted manufacturer's represenative in obtaining seven figure judgment and confidential settlement in case against distributor of air fresheners who refused to pay on percentage sales contract once sales volume increased as a result of manufacturer's representative efforts.  Following judgment, received appellate court order directing trial court to award client treble damages and attorneys' fees after trial court had found that treble damages statute did not apply and refused to award attorney's.  Successful appeal lead to treble damages award and attorney's fee award resulting in a total judgment of more than three times original trial court judgment.         

EMPLOYEMENT CASES

Sample Cases

Assisting former employee of a division of a major automobile manufacturer who was  was misclassified as an independent contractor.  Missclassifying this client as a contractor rather than an employee results in several categories of potential liability to the former employer.  Those categories of potential liability include:

FICA Taxes Paid by Client

By being him as an independent contractor, TRD avoided paying FICA taxes which should have been paid by it as opposed to our client.  The FICA taxes were incurred at the rate of 7.65% of the total income earned by our client during the entire period of his employment.  Assuming a rate of compensation of $1,400 per week for 136 weeks, the liability to the company is $14,565.50.  This amount was calculated as follows:  136 weeks x $1400 per week x .0765 = $14,565.50.  

 

Overtime Hours

During this period, our client worked overtime hours.  Our client was paid for the hours worked but was not paid at the rate of 1.5 times his usual hourly rate.      

 

Pay Stub Violations

Labor Code Section 226 requires certain information as set forth therein to be included on an itemized statement provided to the employee with each pay check.  In this claim, we contend that the employer did not provide the accurate information on our client's pay stubs or otherwise provide the information required by Labor Code Section 226 with each pay check.  An employee not receiving the information required by Labor Code Section 226 is entitled to recover all of his actual damages or $50.00 for the initial violation and $100 for each subsequent violation.  The maximum penalty under Labor Code Section 226 is $4,000.00.   

 

Unpaid Employment Benefits

By classifying our client as an independent contractor rather than an employee, the employer avoided paying our client, a vehicle allowance, 401(K) benefits, paid holidays and other benefits provided to other similarly situated employees.  We believe this aspect of the claim is subtantial.  We have been advised that in this industry, typically 35 cents for every dollar of wages is incurred on employee benefits.   

 

Waiting Time Penalties

Pursuant to the Labor Code Section 203, an employer who initiates termination must pay all compensation due and owing immediately upon termination.  Labor Code § 201.  In this case, TRD  initiated the termination.  Where the employer willfully violates Labor Code § 201, Labor Code § 203 provides for waiting time penalties of one day for every day the payment is late up to 30 days.  Willful for purposes of Labor Code § 203 means failing to do what the law requires.  We believe the waiting time penalties apply to this case.  Assuming a rate of pay of $1400 per week, the amount owed for waiting time penalties under this section is $8.400.00.  This amount was calculated as follows:  $35.00 per hour x 8 hours per day x 30 days = $8,400.00.

 

Loss of Unemployment Benefits

IF our client had been properly classified as an employee, he would be entitled to unemployment benefits at the rate of $450.00 per week.  Pursuant to the national bureau of labor statistics, the average length of time required to find replacement employment is 24.50 weeks.  Accordingly, the failure to properly classify our client as an employee will cost him approximately 11,025 in lost unemployment benefits assuming only that he is unemployed the average length of time.  We believe that this is an appropriate aspect of damages in this case.   

 

Interest

Interest is owed on the unpaid wage and hour benefits our client is entitled to received.   

 

Attorney’s Fees

Attorney's fees and costs are recoverable puruant to Labor Code Sections 218.5 and 1194. 

 

We believe the total exposure to the former employer is in excess of 100% of the former employees annual salary.   

Additioanl Sample Cases

Assisted medical doctor in obtaining favorable settlement with assistant who claimed inappropriate sexual conduct on part of medical doctor.

Assisted former SBA officer obtain favorable settlement against bank (which was represented by national law firm) based on percentage of loans made before SBA officer left for better opportunity with a competing bank.    

Assisted sales manager in obtaining six figure bonus based on agreed bonus schedule which had not been paid several years after manager left importer and distributor of foreign made tires.     

Assited national sales manager collect unpaid bonus against distributor of air fresheners after company terminated manager based on a claim of lack of performance.   

Assisted elderly couple in receiving favorable settlement based on age discrimination after couple was terminated by large waste disposal company.

Assisted male and female employees to obtain favorable confidential settlement based on sexual harassment by manager of major coffee house.

Assisted receptionist obtain confidential settlement equal to more than twice her annual salary in case against pyschiatrist who made inappropriate sexual advances and allegedly inappropriately groped client.  

Assisted female clerical worker obtain favorable settlement against owner of escrow company who told client to "get rid of it" when client told owner that she had become pregant. 

Assisted female clerical worker obtain favorable settlement against owner of real estate company who discharged employee after employee had become pregnant.      

Assisted employee of nursing care facility obtain favorable confidential settlement of more than two times her annual salarly based on claim for unpaid overtime hours against owner of facility.