Assembly Bill 2053 expanded the existing requirement for sexual harassment training under Government Code section 12950.1 to include training on the prevention of abusive conduct. Effective January 1, 2015, the law applies to every California employer that employs 50 or more persons or receives the services of 50 or more persons pursuant to a contract. “Abusive conduct” is defined as conduct that a reasonable person would find hostile and offensive and is otherwise unrelated to legitimate business interests. Abusive conduct may include derogatory remarks, insults ...

QUESTION: I am a receiver for an operating entity. It has three offices. The rent for one of the offices is excessive and the business does not need all the space. I have approached the landlord about giving back some of the space or terminating the lease, but no dice. Can I reject the lease like a bankruptcy trustee?

ANSWER: While trustees and receivers are different, there are many similarities. The Bankruptcy Code adopted many provisions from prior receivership practice. The power to assume or reject a lease is one of them. A receiver is not stuck with a defendant’s leases just ...

QUESTION: I am a receiver appointed pursuant to stipulation in an action pending in superior court between a husband and a wife over the operation of a business they own. After operating the business for many months, I agreed to a settlement with the husband resolving many of the disputed issues. The wife disagreed with the proposed settlement and moved to transfer the litigation to the family law court. After the action was transferred, the judge in the family court ruled that the original judge who appointed me had no jurisdiction to do so and that the appointment was “void.” The ...

An angry client calls: "I have been sued." But this time, there is absolutely no basis in law or fact for the lawsuit.

The client asks: "Can I get the case dismissed and recover my attorney's fees against the lawyer and opposing party who sued me?"

I might answer that being sued is like having a wedding. You pay a lot and get involved in a very protracted, expensive affair, which may not end well even under the best of circumstances. On top of the pain and rigors of litigation, do you really want to pursue an action for malicious prosecution against your adversary after prevailing to try to win back ...

At the beginning of every year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports statistics on types of charges filed by employees and former employees over the course of the preceding year. These statistics help employers self-audit and focus on policies and practices they need to revisit to avoid becoming part of the following year’s statistics. The charge numbers released by the EEOC for 2014 show the following breakdowns by bases alleged in descending order.

• Retaliation under all statutes: 37,955 (42.8 percent of all charges filed); nearly half of all charges filed!

Most California employers know that they have to reimburse employees for business-related expenses. Indeed, California Labor Code section 2802(a) provides that an employer “shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties…” This requirement has led prudent employers to reimburse employees not only for such obvious costs as travel or mileage expenses, but for less obvious expenses such as the cost to dry clean a uniform that cannot be laundered. What California ...

Fine, but make sure that you do so correctly. Many employers prefer to reimburse employees for healthcare insurance premiums rather than hassle with providing coverage under a group healthcare plan. In so doing, these employers assume that this payment is excluded from the employee’s gross income. However, this assumption is both incorrect and potentially expensive.

In light of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has determined that, unless ACA requirements are satisfied, such reimbursements for individual healthcare ...

Oil prices may be going down, but reimbursement rates are going up. On January 1, 2015, the IRS standard mileage deduction rate increased from 56¢ to 57.5¢ per mile for business miles driven. However, the rate for medical or moving purpose mileage decreased from 23.5¢ to 23¢. The rate for miles driven in service of a charitable organization remained set at 14¢ per mile. The business rate is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. The medical and moving rate is based on the variable costs. The charitable rate is based on statute.

Because ...

Many businesses shut down for specific periods of time over the holidays. Often this is due to a reduction in the amount of available work and/or a reduction in available staffing. In some cases, such as the entertainment industry, it is a standard practice. However, most businesses are not aware that these types of temporary closings or layoffs can be a trap for the unwary employer. Indeed, the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) generally maintains that a temporary layoff must be treated as a termination unless the employee is given a return to work date within ...

QUESTION: I am a receiver for a partnership. While most of the partnership assets are in California, I have discovered the partnership owns a storage facility in Nevada and mining equipment in Arizona. Can I take over and operate the storage facility and/or seize and sell the mining equipment based on my California order of appointment or do I need to do something special?

ANSWER: The “something special” you need to do will depend on whether you were appointed by the superior court or the district court. If you are state court receiver, your authority over the business activity and ...