By ballot vote on June 7, 2016, the citizens of the City of San Diego passed a minimum wage and sick leave law that exceeds the California enhancements in these areas. This new law’s effective date is still unknown until the ballot vote is finalized and certified, but it is expected to take effect during the month of July.

We recently reported on the new minimum wage and sick leave law in the City of Los Angeles. The new ordinance covering minimum wage and sick leave benefits applies to employees who perform at least two hours of work within a particular week within the City of Los Angeles. However, the bounds of the City of Los Angeles are not always obvious. In fact, there are a number of areas and neighborhoods within the greater Los Angeles area that are neither a part of the City of Los Angeles, nor within the bounds of another incorporated city.

As we previously reported, On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (“DTSA”) which creates a federal civil cause of action for trade secret theft and provides protection for certain “whistleblower” employees, and obligates employers to notify their workers of these protections. For example, an employee who discloses a trade secret “solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law” would be protected from liability.

Summer is here! When we think of summer, we usually focus on fun activities in the heat and sun, but this warm weather can be dangerous for those dealership employees who perform their jobs outdoors or in non-air conditioned areas. As such, it is important for dealerships to be mindful of the Cal-OSHA rules related to outdoor places of employment, which were updated a little over a year ago.

Joshua Brown was a Navy SEAL and Tesla enthusiast who praised his Tesla’s Autopilot feature for avoiding a car accident in April. Ironically, when that same system failed to protect Brown’s life a month later, Brown became an unfortunate statistic: the first American to be killed in a car with AV technology—whose proponents promise a future of safer vehicles and roadways.

The June 22 Buy Sell Report includes an article by The Scali Law Firm attorney Gus N. Paras, titled Dealership buy sell transactions and customer privacy.

On June 2, 2016, a new paid sick leave ordinance was just signed into law for the City of Los Angeles. This ordinance goes into effect July 1, 2016, and like the City’s new minimum wage ordinance, it covers all employees who perform at least two hours of work within the geographic boundaries of the City of Los Angeles within a particular week.

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) vacated the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Encino Motorcars LLC v. Navarro. California auto dealers are likely to hear a lot about this decision today and this week as other law firms report on it. But we want to let you know that if you are a California auto dealership and you have service advisor pay plans that are compliant with California Wage Order No. 7 (like the pay plans we draft and recommend to our California auto dealer clients) and have compliant pay practices (like the pay practices we recommend to our California auto dealers), Navarro does not have (and never had) any impact on you.

We’ve received reports that some law firms are reaching out to auto dealers to sign them up for representation due to a July 1, 2016 deadline under the United State’s Department of Labor’s (DOL) March 24 “Persuader Rule.” This will help you interpret what this is all about.

Federal, State, County and City minimum wages can vary, but employers will be safe if they remember to comply with the highest applicable minimum wage in their location. For auto dealers located in the City of Los Angeles (this includes areas like East and South Los Angeles, Greater Hollywood, and Van Nuys), the minimum wage rises to $10.50 per hour on July 1, 2016. This is a good time to update your pay plans if necessary, and ensure that payroll is aware of the upcoming change.

Dealers should get ready for the return of the days of consumer class actions seeking rescission of four years worth of deal files. A drastic change in the law may revive these killer class actions in mid-2017. Here, at the Scali Law Firm, we've been advocating corporate compliance and ethics programs due, in part, to this impending change, so that dealers can limit their liability before the change goes into effect.

The California Supreme Court has provide some clarity regarding "suitable seating" requirements for employees. To avoid a class action, Dealers should conduct a review and analysis now to determine compliance.

There's loads of instructional case authority interpreting employer obligations to reasonably accommodate disabilities under the Fair Employment and Housing Act ("FEHA") and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). But there's little pertaining to associational disability discrimination (yeah, it's a thing—discrimination against a person based on that person's association or relationship with someone who has a disability). Until now.

Customer information is often one of the many assets transferred in the sale of a dealership. Customer information is subject to privacy, solicitation, and data security laws regulating its disclosure and use. This article provides a basic overview of some of the main privacy concerns that a selling dealer faces when transferring customer information.

Lawsuits arising from motor vehicle collisions often include a claim against the owner of the vehicle because California law permits an award of damages against the vehicle owner for the negligence of a permissive user. For dealers operating their own vehicle rental operation the potential liability, as well as the cost of defending the lawsuit, is a significant burden. Our firm has successfully used a provision of federal law, commonly known as the Graves Amendment, to convince plaintiff’s lawyers not to file suit against our rental company clients, or to defeat the vicarious liability claim on summary judgment.

With all the recent publicity surrounding increases in state and local minimum wage requirements and concern about how those increases could affect auto dealers, recent changes to another set of employee compensation rules have received substantially less attention. The U.S Department of Labor has made changes to its regulations that will more than double minimum salary requirements for while collar workers, which warrants proactive planning on the part of dealers and businesses in general.

Beverly Hills is known for its swanky stores and hotels with first-class service. But for your next visit, the driver of your shuttle might be a software program.

On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (“DTSA”) which creates a federal civil cause of action for trade secret theft. The law provides trade secret owners alternatives to navigating varied state trade secret laws or seeking assistance from the Department of Justice.

The Scali Law Firm is mentioned in the SMCDA’s Newsletter, The Accelerator, in connection with the Automotive Parts Litigation Class Action Settlement.

The argument that a vehicle malfunction, and not excessive speed, led to the 2013 crash that claimed the life of “The Fast and the Furious” star Paul Walker was dealt a blow when a judge dismissed one of three wrongful-death suits filed against Porsche, court records show. This article, by James Queally, originally published in the Los Angeles Times, includes commentary by The Scali Law Firm founding member, Christian Scali.