Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

There are a variety of reasons that it may be better to wait before suing, often having to do with determining the amount of damages to demand in the lawsuit.  However, waiting too long to sue may legally prohibit you from being able to do so.

Almost every law provides a window of time after the facts of a case arise during which a suit may be filed.  This window of time is called the Statute of Limitations (“SOL”).  The size of the window will depend on the law which provides the right.  After the time period has ended, the SOL is said to have “tolled.”  California Code Civ. Proc. (“CCP”) § 312.  The rules for how a SOL tolls are complicated.  However, if you are thinking of filing suit, you should be aware of a few basic rules.

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Identifying which employment laws affect which employers is sometimes a difficult exercise, despite all of the available information. Sometimes, it takes a careful read of the applicable statutes and regulations to determine a law’s applicability.   For small Humboldt County employers, the first question in a discrimination complaint or lawsuit is whether a state or federal law even applies to the employer.   Many laws that apply to California employers require a minimum number of employees before the law is applicable.   As a general rule of thumb,  California state discrimination laws (concerning protected classes such as race, gender, national origin, religious affiliation, etc.) apply to employers with five or more employees.   Additionally, employers with five or more employees must comply with laws prohibiting pregnancy discrimination.

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Lately, much has been written and talked about in the news regarding real property short sales and foreclosures.  Federal and state law have also been changing in an attempt to assist homeowners who find themselves “under water” and burdened with excessive mortgage debt.  When faced with a foreclosure, a homeowner has various options and may be assisted by advice from an attorney.

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The Janssen Law Firm is pleased to announce that Shanti Michaels has joined the firm as an associate.  Ms. Michaels is a 2009 graduate of the University of California Hastings College of Law and a member of the California  and Humboldt County Bar Associations.  She served as an Executive Editor of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly and was a member of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Journal staff.  Ms. Michaels’ undergraduate work was at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA with study abroad at the University of Salamanca, Spain.   Ms. Michaels is fluent in Spanish.

If you’re an employer in California, you know the difficulties associated with proving an employee meets an exemption from overtime. Last month, a California appellate court issued an opinion highlighting those difficulties.  The case is entitled Pellegrino v. Robert Half International, Inc. (2010) 181 Cal.App.4th 713 (out of the Fourth Appellate District).   In Pellegrino, six former employees of a temporary staffing agency, most of whom were “account executives” sued the agency for Labor Code violations,  primarily failure to pay overtime and failure to provide meal periods.  The agency defended the lawsuit by arguing that the employees fell under the Administrative Exemption from wage requirements.   The appellate court decided in favor of the employees.

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The Janssen Law Firm recently resolved a semi-truck/vehicle head-on collision case for the trucking insurer’s one million dollar policy limit.  The semi-truck driver employed by a trucking company out of Washington State fell asleep at the wheel while traveling Southbound on Interstate 5 North of Williams, California.  The big rig traversed the center median area and collided head-on with a young couple driving Northbound on Interstate 5.  The impact demolished the car our clients were in, and caused serious injuries to the driver, including an open left humerus fracture, splenic lacerations, chest pulmonary contusions, and left transverse fractures of cervical vertebral level 7 and thoracic vertebral level 1.  The driver’s open fractures required two separate bone graft surgeries, including the acute care surgery to implant hardware to reconstruct the limb.

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A Northern California carpenter’s union has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city for allegedly violating their right to freedom of speech by citing a group of protesting carpenters and confiscating their protest banner under a city sign ordinance.  According to the lawsuit,  protesters had set up on a public curb in November in front of a Citation Homes Central sales office to protest unfair wages. Lawyers representing the union said that since the sign was political speech and not advertising, the citation is invalid and their rights to free speech were violated. “If we don’t stick up for our standards, it brings down everyone’s wages,” said Shaun Kinney, the veteran union carpenter named as a plaintiff in the suit. “You need to make as much as you can when you do work, to cover the times when you’re not working.”   Tracey Kaplan, San Jose Mercury News 01/24/2010.

If you have questions regarding rights of Humboldt County employees regarding prevailing wages or free speech issues please contact the Janssen Law Firm to meet with a Humboldt County Employment Lawyer.

As most of the readers of this blog are aware, Humboldt County experienced a 6.5 earthquake on Saturday, January 9, 2010.    United States Geological Survey record of the quake and  The Eureka Times-Standard complete earthquake coverage.

By all accounts, while the quake did cause damage to Humboldt County, the North Coast was generally lucky to avoid major damage or serious injuries.  The court and attorneys in Eureka reported only relatively minor interruptions of business due to damage and loss of electricity.  As many government agencies have noted, all residents and businesses should take this opportunity to review their earthquake preparedness and emergency planning.  Humboldt State University, Department of Geology, provides a useful link to earthquake and tsunami preparedness information.

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On January 5, 2010, the Eureka City Council unanimously approved a 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, putting any new or pending dispensary applications on hold.  They also passed a motion that would bring a draft ordinance back to the city counsel by the end of the 45-day moratorium.

According to an article in the Eureka Times-Standard, an effort is underway to create dispensary guidelines that will regulate the industry — providing safe access to medical marijuana while also confronting grow house issues.  Eureka City Council members have been meeting with other jurisdictions throughout Humboldt County to discuss developing consistent countywide guidelines using Arcata’s recent land use codes as a guide.

Eureka City Officials Looking to Create Guidelines for Medical Marijuana

The Eureka City Council will be deciding Tuesday, January 5, 2010, whether to impose a 45-day temporary moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, as city council members work on creating regulations on the dispensaries.   The Eureka Times-Standard recently reported that following the footsteps of the City of Arcata, other jurisdictions are hoping to create guidelines to regulate medical marijuana distribution through land use codes.

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