New Insurance Case:  Owners’ Insurance Barred in Reimbursement Action against Tenant. Lesson:  Properly Specifying Insureds Can Avoid Costly Disputes and Litigation. The Western Heritage Ins. Co. v. Frances Todd, Inc. (2019 Cal.App. LEXIS 299 / 2019 WL 1450731) case has potential implications for insurance carriers, policyholders, condominium associations, unit owners, landlords and tenants.  The case involves a fire at a commercial condominium complex (the “Association”).  The Association’s CC&Rs required the Association to purchase a master fire insurance policy for the benefit of the Association and owners, with a waiver of subrogation endorsement that stated the insurance company could not seek […]

In 2016, Yahoo announced that a data breach resulted in the compromise of 500 million users’ names, email addresses, dates of birth, and telephone numbers. In 2017, Equifax, one of the largest credit bureaus in the United States, reported that 143 million consumers had a mixed bag of their personal information exposed: social security numbers, birth dates, addresses, driver’s license numbers and/or credit card information – take your pick. In 2018, two years after acquiring Starwood, Marriott discovered that cyber attackers had been squatting in the Starwood database since 2016, resulting in stolen data of another 500 million customers. Fast […]

Make Sure The General Release Language In Your Settlement Agreement Is Current. As of January 1, 2019, Senate Bill No. 1431 (“SB 1431”) amended California Civil Code Section 1542 as follows: “A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party.” Previously Section 1542 read as follows: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor or releasing party does not know or […]

In a significant decision for employers, the California Supreme Court adopted a new test for determining whether an individual worker is an independent contractor or an employee under California wage orders, which regulates minimum wage, overtime, meal and rest breaks, and other conditions of employment. Adopting a modified version of a test from other jurisdictions referred to as the ABC test, a worker is presumed to be an employee unless the hiring company can establish each of the following factors: (A) the worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work; (B) […]

On all subcontracts entered into after January 1, 2018, direct contractors (such as general contractors, home-builders, and builders/developers) could become liable for unpaid wages of employees of subcontractors on private projects under the new California Labor Code § 218.7 (AB1701). This could also impact subcontractors who are liable to direct contractors for sub-subcontractors who fail to pay their employees. Although the new law allows direct contractors to request payroll information from subcontractors, direct contractors could get stuck paying twice for work if the subcontractor’s information is inaccurate, false, or incomplete. Therefore, the only certain way for direct contractors to avoid […]

Direct Contractors to Assume Liability for Unpaid Wages by Subcontractors on Private Works That’s right–direct contractor liability just increased. Assembly Bill 1701, which adds section 218.7 to the Labor Code, imposes liability on direct contractors for any unpaid wages or fringe benefits owed by a defaulting subcontractor, even if the subcontractor has been paid in full. Here’s a breakdown of the law, which goes into effect on January 1, 2018: Who is Impacted?  Labor Code section 218.7 applies to any private works direct contractor, meaning “the [contractor] that has a direct contractual relationship with the owner.” Cal. Civ. Code § […]

Nearly 1,000 bills were presented to the California Governor for his signature this legislative session. Here are five bills signed by Governor Brown that California employers should be aware of: Assembly Bill 168 – Prohibition on Requesting Salary History  Assembly Bill 168 prohibits all California employers (including state and local governments) from seeking salary history information about an applicant for employment; however, applicants can voluntarily provide such information. The bill also requires an employer to provide the pay scale for a position to an applicant upon reasonable request. Senate Bill 63 – Expansion of Parental Leave to “Small” Employers Senate […]

On October 12, Governor Brown signed into law two bills that California employers should be watching: AB 168 – Prohibition on Requesting Salary History  Assembly Bill 168 prohibits all California employers (including state and local governments), from seeking salary history information about an applicant for employment. The bill also requires an employer to provide the pay scale for a position to an applicant upon reasonable request.  The law seeks to eliminate “wage inequality that has spanned generations of women in the workforce” by removing institutionalized gender wage discrepancies, according to its author, Assembly member Susan Eggman.  SB 63 – Expansion […]

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal dismissed the U.S. Department of Labor’s appeal of an order enjoining the Department from enforcing a rule that raised the minimum annual salary for an employee to be exempt from overtime from $23,660 to $47,760. This comes on the heels of the District Court invaliding the salary increase, finding the Department exceeded its authority in adopting the rule. These two rulings effectively end the Obama-era increase to the minimum salary threshold for overtime exemptions. Here’s how the litigation played out.  November 22, 2016 – a U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas […]