As many of you have read, last month The Sage Automotive Group, a California dealer group, reached a settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission for charges that the dealership group used deceptive and unfair sales and financing practices, deceptive advertising, and deceptive online reviews. The FTC described the charges as the first in the nation brought by the FTC for so-called “yo-yo financing.” Now that the dust has settled, this brief article looks at the allegations and discusses some best practices to avoid suffering a similar fate.

The Scali Law Firm is a proud sponsor of the UCP Humanitarian of the Year Award Dinner at which Rick Niello, President of firm client, The Niello Company, will be awarded the prestigious and well-deserved award of 2017 Humanitarian of the Year. The event is at The Hyatt Regency, Sacramento, CA, on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM.

The wave of regulatory enforcement disruption being perpetuated by the Trump administration in various ways looms for auto dealers in the form of shakeups at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Scali Law attorneys Christian Scali and Monica Baumann explore what dealers can expect in this article, published on F&I and Showroom.

The California New Car Dealers Association is the country's largest state association of franchised new car and truck dealers representing over 1,100 dealer members. The Scali Law Firm is once again proud to be a Gold Sponsor of the CNCDA's annual Dealer Day legislative conference.

When an employee requests a medical leave, a covered employer’s first concern is determining whether the employee qualifies for protected leave under the Family Medical Leave Act and California Family Rights Act. If the employer determines that the employee does not qualify for such leave (for example, the employee has less than a year of service or has not worked the requisite number of hours) the employer may let down their guard and not issue any leave paperwork to the employee. This is a mistake.

Various laws, including the National Labor Relations Act, protect certain employee speech and expression at work. Also, language restrictions may run afoul of discrimination laws. Here are some common situations in which employers must be careful in restricting employee expression.

Employers have very specific requirements to follow to lawfully employ minors, including the proper documentation for a work permit. Here are some of the requirements..

An employer whose operations include physically demanding work may want to ensure that a job applicant is in sufficient physical shape to safely meet the demands of the position for which he/she is being considered. However, there are substantial restrictions to an employer’s ability to require a job applicant to undergo a physical/medical examination under both the Americans with Disabilities Act and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.

Yesterday, a California Court of Appeal in Vaquero v. Stoneledge Furniture LLC (Ashley Furniture) found that commission pay plans providing base pay for rest breaks that could be “clawed-back” against future earnings was invalid under California law. Ashley Furniture was sued in a class action by employees claiming that its commission pay plan was noncompliant with California law because it did not properly pay sales employees for rest breaks. The Court of Appeal had two important rulings...

Under the Trump Administration, change is likely to come to the CFPB and FTC, but its extent and how it impacts auto dealers is unknown. Trump has started shaking things up with controversial Executive Orders and the backlash is already mounting. In more liberal states, like California, Governors and Attorneys General have already vowed to push back and may very well step up their own enforcement where the federal government falls short. This makes for an uncertain future for regulatory enforcement that cannot be easily predicted.

“Whether he’s handling a mediation or a substantive court appearance involving a class action, Jurdi has shown he can go in alone and walk out victorious,” said Christian Scali. “He’s going to add substantial firepower to our consumer protection cases.”

As tempting as it may be for an employer to just throw all documentation pertaining to an employee into one personnel file, numerous legal reasons exist why certain records need to be separated from others, such as privacy, discrimination, and HIPPAA obligations.