Employment law and consumer protection, explained by the attorneys who litigate it. Straight answers on your rights at work and in the marketplace.
Consumer Rights
Collection agencies, Rawlins & Rivera, Inc., Ryan & Reed, Inc. and their lawyer has been permanently prohibited from falsely representing the character, amount, or legal status of a consumer’s debt. As well as, representing that their collector is a lawyer or represents a lawyer, or that if the consumer does not pay, the defendants can or will file […]
Employment Law
A three-year investigation conducted by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) determined that clothing retailer, Wet Seal Inc., favored a caucasian workforce. Additionally, the EEOC found that Wet Seal’s upper level management had discriminated against Nicole Cogdell, a former store manager by removing her from her manager’s role. Nicole Cogdell and two other former managers filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the company alleging an […]
Employment Law
Merck & Co., one of the world’s seven largest pharmaceutical companies, is being sued by Kelli Smith, a Merck sales representative for at approximately $100 million. In her claim Smith alleges that Merck does not give women equal opportunities for advancement and punishes female employees for taking maternity leave. According to Smith, she won awards for her work but was unfairly demoted after taking […]
Employment Law
Bank of America is facing an “unpaid overtime” class action lawsuit on behalf of approximately 850 Mortgage Origination Employees including (but not limited to) Retail Sales Managers, Account Executives, LoanLine Sales Manager, Sales Leader, Manager NCS Production, LoanLine Sales Assistant Manager, Renovation Loan Originator, Home Loans Manager, and Mortgage Loan Associates. (1:12-cv-8681) This is the second employment lawsuit […]
Employment Law
Dynamic Medical Services, Inc., a medical and chiropractic services company is being accused, in a lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) of violated federal law by requiring employees to attend Scientology courses. (Case No. 1:13-cv-21666). According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the Dynamic Medical required employees, including Norma Rodriguez, Maykel Ruz, Rommy Sanchez, Yanileydis Capote to spend approximately half […]
Employment Law
According to a recent San Francisco Chronicle report, “as a result of a federal audit by the U.S. Labor Department, The San Francisco Giants baseball team has agreed to pay approximately $700,000 in back wages and penalties to 74 batboys, cooks, clubhouse attendants and other employees for alleged improper salary practices.” The Giants were allegedly paying these employees a flat game rate, even though, according to […]
Consumer Rights
Debt Collection agency, National Credit Audit Corporation was accused of violating the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA) after one of its debt collectors allegedly misrepresented herself as an attorney to a debtor’s husband in an effort to intimidate them into paying an alleged debt. After the call the debtor’s husband contacted National Credit Audit Corp’s main line […]
Consumer Rights
A fairly common, yet illegal tactic of overly aggressive debt collectors is to threaten consumers with arrest if they do not pay their debt. Some shady debt collectors have even go as far as to illegally impersonate a police officer and claim to have a warrant for the consumer’s arrest. This tactic is illegal on a couple of different levels. For one thing, it is […]
Consumer Rights
Over the years, many clients have asked me if they are able to sue a debt collector for harassment under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), even if they owe the debt they are being harassed about. My answer to them is a resounding YES! The FDCPA protects all consumers against debt collection abuse, whether the consumer owes the debt or not. In […]
Consumer Rights
According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), debt collectors must disclose in every voice mail left for a consumer, that the communication is from a debt collector. However, the FDCPA also prohibits debt collectors from telling third parties that the consumer owes a debt. Consequently, this creates a conundrum for debt collectors who leave voice mails for consumers. On the one hand, the […]
Consumer Rights
New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo sued debt collection agency, Benning-Smith Group, for allegedly violating approximately 1,000 state and federal laws. Cuomo claims that his office received 850 complaints against Benning-Smith debt collectors from consumers located in several different states. According to Cuomo, the Benning-Smith debt collectors used outrageous and illegal collection techniques. One debt collector allegedly repeated the name of a consumer’s daughter […]
Employment Law
Former Image Dry Cleaner and Laundry, Inc., employee, David Greer has filed a lawsuit against the company claiming he was not properly paid for overtime work in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. (Case No. 4:11-cv-00827) According to Greer, during his employment, he was improperly classified and paid as an exempt employee. Many companies […]
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