| Volume 60 Number 4 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Never give your social security number to someone you do not know. Identity theft requires a social security number. Protect yours. Click here for more.
Toyota Recalls 22,000 Vehicles
Toyota has issued a recall for 22,000 vehicles because tire-deflation monitoring systems may fail. The recall is for sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, including 2008 to 2011 Toyota Sequoia, FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser, Tacoma and Tundra vehicles. Is your Toyota subject to recall? Click here for more.
Recall: Skippy Peanut Butter
A potential salmonella contamination has prompted the makers of Skippy peanut butter to issue a recall for its Skippy Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter and Skippy Reduced Fat Super Chunk Peanut Butter products. To get the UPC associated with the recall, Click here for more.
Southwest Implements Price Increase
In the last few weeks, airline ticket prices have been on the rise. For a while, Southwest Airlines bucked the trend and maintained prices. No longer. With fuel prices going up every week (and every day), Southwest CEO Gary C. Kelly says the company must increase fares to accommodate rising costs. Other airlines are taking it a step further, changing flight plans and reducing schedules. Click here for more.
Arbitration Clause Ruled Unconscionable
The California Supreme Court, by a vote of 5-4, held an arbitration clause that precluded employee administrative remedies was unconscionable. In Sonic-Calabasas v. Moreno, the court struck down the provision precluding resort to an administrative hearing, but held that appeal from that decision goes to arbitration rather than the courts. Although the court recognized that it may be permissible to require arbitration even when it denies an administrative, the procedure in the instant case also included additional remedial advantages that could not be precluded by an agreement to arbitrate. Under California law, employees who prevailed at the administrative hearing receive the following benefits: (1) the award will be enforceable if not appealed; (2) the Labor Commissioner is statutorily mandated to expend best efforts in enforcing the award, which is also established as a court priority; (3) if the employer appeals, it is required to post a bond equal to the amount of the award so as to protect against frivolous appeals and evading the judgment; (4) a one-way attorney fee provision will ensure that fees will be imposed on employers who unsuccessfully appeal but not on employees who unsuccessfully defend their hearing award, or on employees who appeal and are awarded an amount greater than zero in the superior court; (5) the Labor Commissioner is statutorily mandated to represent in an employer’s appeal claimants unable to afford an attorney if the claimant does not contest the Labor Commissioner’s award. Click here for more.
Your Money
How much will an auto lease really cost? Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Debtor collector may be liable under FDCPA for venue violation. The Second Circuit held that a debt collector may be liable for damages under federal law for filing a collection action in an improper venue. The court stated that the issue was whether a debt collector violates the FDCPA’s venue provisions by suing a consumer in a city court in the State of New York when that court lacks power to hear the action because the consumer does not reside in that city or a town contiguous thereto. "We hold that such a suit is not brought in the 'judicial district or similar legal entity' in which the consumer resides, even when the consumer resides elsewhere within the county containing the city court, and therefore determine that Hess's complaint states a claim upon which relief can be granted." Click here for more.