In what is expected to shake up the entire “gig” industry in California, Governor Gavin Newson recently signed into law a bill that rewrote the rules of employment law as it relates to using independent contractors in California. The new law, known as Assembly Bill (AB) 5, is expected to grant hundreds of thousands of workers new job benefits and pay guarantees across numerous industries including ride-hailing companies, trucking, janitorial services, nail salons, adult…

The Illinois Appellate Court found that a marketing company adequately pleaded a claim for breach of fiduciary duty against one of the former founders of the company who left to work for a competitor. James P. Keane Sr. was one of the founders of Advantage Marketing Group Inc. and owned 35% of the company. When he left his company to purchase and operate a competing business, Advantage sued. The trial court dismissed Advantage’s breach of…

A U.S. District Court judge in Rhode Island recently granted CVS Pharmacy, Inc. a  preliminary injunction to block an executive who ran its Caremark Retail Network from working for Amazon’s online pharmacy PillPack, finding that the move would likely violate the executive’s non-compete agreement. John Lavin worked as a senior executive for CVS for 27 years, most recently as senior vice president for provider network services at CVS Caremark, a pharmacy benefits manager (PBM). In…

Restrictive covenants such as covenants not to compete and non-solicitation agreements are key provisions of many employment agreements and are meant to protect the company’s proprietary information and long-term relationships. Beginning January 1, 2020, business owners in Oregon using non-compete agreements must take into account the notice requirements imposed by a recently passed law or their non-compete agreements will not be enforceable. Earlier this year, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed House Bill (HB) 2992, which…

A purchaser of a classic 1973 Ford Bronco sued the car’s auctioneer in Illinois court. The purchaser alleged that the vendor committed fraud by misrepresenting the condition of the vehicle in its advertisements and during the auction. The circuit court dismissed the case for lack of personal jurisdiction. The Illinois Appellate Court reversed, finding that the vendor had sufficient contacts with Illinois when it solicited the business of the purchaser via advertisements, its website, and…

As the call for political activism has grown louder and wider in the past few years, most of us have seen or heard people urging us to call our political representatives to let them know how we feel about certain issues. But what if doing so could land you in court for defamation? That’s what happened to Maggy Hurchalla, a long-time environmental activist who served as Martin County’s first female commissioner from 1974 to 1994…

A condo association held an insurance policy on its condo buildings. In 2014, a hail and wind storm damaged the siding on several of the buildings. The storm, however, damaged only the south and west-facing sides of the buildings. The association’s insurer initially paid the association several million to repair the damage, which covered the replacement cost of siding for the south and west sides of the buildings. The association found, however, that matching siding…