Legal Blog of Attorney Greg Curry

For most employers, the cost of labor is the biggest expense in producing their goods or services. Over the next few years, the minimum wage for non-government workers on Long Island, in Westchester County, and in New York City will be rising to $15.00/hour. The increase will take longer in counties north of Westchester. As labor costs rise, and margins get squeezed, do employers cut employees, cut hours, or raise prices on their goods or services (and possibly lose customers)? Or even go out of business? The table below sets out the minimum wage increases for most employees and is taken from New York's Department of Labor website (because I can't improve on it): Upcoming Minimum Wage Increases The Minimum Wage rates are scheduled to increase each year on 12/31 until they reach $15.00 per hour. Employers must post a Minimum Wage Information poster in their establishment. Location 12/31/16 12/31/17 12/31/18 12/31/19 ...

Came across the following for a job opening for a bartender (I won't disclose the name of the company): STUFF OUR ATTORNEYS MAKE US WRITE: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a Team member to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this position, the Team member will regularly be required to: Work days, nights, and/or weekends as required. Work in environments with both hot and cold temperatures such as freezers and around cooking equipment. Work in noisy, fast paced environment with distracting conditions. Read and write handwritten notes. Lift and carry up to 30 pounds. Move about facility and stand for long periods of time. Walk or stand 100% of shift. Reach, bend, stoop, mop, sweep and wipe frequently. The above statements are intended to describe...

A recent case from an appeals court involved two heavyweight (i.e., "expensive") law firms, White & Case and Arnold & Porter, fighting over the statute of limitations of a malpractice lawsuit. (The plaintiff originally used another firm.)  In the case,  EB Brands Holdings sued its accountants for malpractice for, among other things, over-stating asset accounts (accounts receivable and inventories), which EB claims harmed and mislead its Board of Directors in making decisions. The agreement said that any lawsuits against the accountants had to be brought within two years of the subject audit report. The lawsuit  sought damages of $100 million. EB first brought suit in New York County, but the lawsuit was dismissed "without prejudice"--meaning EB could've fixed the problems in the complaint and re-filed it. Instead, EB brought a new lawsuit in Westchester County and abandoned its New York County case. But by then the two-year statute of limitation...

It's a fact of the business world, with both startup and established businesses, that from time to time you're going to encounter legal issues that are scary and potentially expensive. A lot of these situations involve contracts--either you have to sue someone, or someone has sued you, for breach of contract. When confronted with these situations, you do need a lawyer. Because if the other side has a lawyer, and you try to handle the legal stuff yourself, YOU WILL LOSE. The law is tricky, and procedural rules are tricky, and the side that's "lawyered up" will push around and bully someone who doesn't have a lawyer. But, too often, when small business owners are faced with legal challenges, they just give up because hiring a lawyer and fighting would be too expensive. What brought this to mind was that I caught an older episode  of Shark Tank from 2012. A Lee Dahlberg came up with an idea for a business--putting carved, polished, rocks on bands that you w...

In a recent case , a restaurant (a business entity that owned/operated a restaurant) leased a building from the landowner. Sometime afterwards, the restaurant claimed it had been fraudulently induced into signing the lease (the decision refers to a "contract and lease") and sued the landowner for rescission (to undo) of the lease based on the fraudulent inducement. A claim of fraudulent inducement means the offending party lied (made misrepresentations of fact) to you to get you to sign a contract; you did not find out the other party lied until after you signed the contract; you have been damaged by the fraudulent inducement; and now you want out of the contract. (The decision doesn't get into what the supposed misrepresentations were.) However, part of a court's analysis is "buyer beware", you better have done your homework, your due diligence*, before signing the contract. In this case, the appeals court said the restaurant could have found out the l...

As of this posting (August, 2017), The Founder is finally on Netflix. It's the story of how struggling milkshake-machine seller Ray Kroc came across the first McDonald's in San Bernadino, California, in 1954, which was owned and operated by the real founders, the two McDonald brothers, Dick and Mac. Kroc got in with the brothers, began franchising restaurants, and eventually bought the brothers out for $2.7 million in 1961. The movie tells the story that the San Bernadino location was the only operating McDonald's in 1959. However, a Time magazine article says there were six McDonald's franchises at the time. Either way, McDonald's, as a brand, was basically nothing in 1959. How they operated the restaurant was innovative but not complicated. And there was no IP (intellectual property) protection on what they did. You can't patent how your kitchen works or how much you sell hamburgers for. (I'm not talking about selling things you call "Big Macs...

Recently, a federal judge in Illinois ordered Dish Network to pay $280 million in fines for robocalls and for calling people on the Do Not Call Registry. According to news accounts , one of Dish Network's defenses was that the companies doing the illegal calling were independent contractors, and, therefore, Dish Network can't be held liable for their actions. The judge rejected this argument. An independent contractor is different than a salaried or hourly employee, and they are treated differently under the law. Employers often hire independent contractors to do short or long-term projects. Or the independent contractors can even act like a full-time employee in everything but name. Often, employers can be held liable for wrongful acts committed by its employees , if those acts were committed during the course of the employee doing his or her job. But usually not for the wrongful acts of independent contractors, even if they caused harm while performing work for the ...