On September 2022, Governor Newsom signed SB1107 (the Protect California Drivers Act) into law, increasing California's minimum automobile liability coverage. Before the increase, California's minimum auto liability coverages were 46th in the nation; they hadn't seen an increase since 1967, when the original calculations were completed. California Liability Insurance: Is It Mandatory? California State legislators passed minimum financial responsibility laws in 1974 requiring drivers to carry liability coverages in their automobile insurance policies at the following minimums: $15,000/$30,000/$5,000 for physical injury or death for one person/two or more people/property damage. Minimum financial responsibility laws make drivers responsible for compensating injured drivers and passengers in an accident. When Do Increased Limits Go Into Effect & What Will They Do? The increased California minimum automobile liability coverages go into effect on January 1, 2025. The increased coverage could affect injured parties' compensation after a car accident. If a negligent driver caused injuries to another party, the injured…Read More
New traffic safety-related laws went into effect for Californians on January 1, 2022. How did these new laws affect drivers and pedestrians in California? 2022 Brough Several New Traffic Safety Laws: Assembly Bill 3: Illegal sideshows, definition, and penalties Assembly Bill 974: Equestrian safety gear Assembly Bill 798: Tribal emergency vehicles Assembly Bill 47: License points for distracted driving Assembly Bill 43: Authorizing local authorities to reduce speed limits How Does AB3 Affect California Drivers & Pedestrians? AB3 defined "sideshow" as an incident with two or more people that block or impede highway traffic to put on a "show" for spectators, like motor vehicle stunts, "races," shows of speed, reckless driving, etc. The new law also increased the severity of penalties for violations, but the stricter penalties do not go into effect until July 1, 2025. Once the new, harsher punishments are effective, a driver convicted of an exhibition of speed during a sideshow in…Read More
When you've been injured in a car accident, and you are injured, you deserve financial compensation. Moreover, you'll need it - it's not a gift or a reward. Financial compensation for an injury sustained in a car accident is provided to cover the associated costs resulting from the injury. However, it can be very difficult for the injured party to ascertain what those costs will be - and, therefore, what sort of settlement would be appropriate. Is There an Average Settlement for California Personal Injury Claims? Looking at personal injury claims across the nation, most reported settlements fall between $14,000 and $28,000, averaging around $21,000. However, that doesn't mean your personal injury claim will see a similar result. It can be extremely difficult to place a value on a personal injury claim, and considering an "average" may not be very helpful in the long run, but it provides a starting point. Since personal injury case valuation and…Read More
As 2021 ends and 2022 begins, COVID-19 continues to significantly impact all aspects of life, including the workplace. Paid sick leave (PSL) and workplace safety are once again at the forefront of the effects. *Paid Sick Leave For many California workers, the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated time away from work. Under state law at the time that the pandemic began, workers had only three days of paid sick leave available. Senate Bill 95 and federal tax credits expired on October 1st. SB 95 provided workers with two weeks of PSL if they were infected with the virus or needed to care for relatives or children who were infected. A California Division of Occupational Safety and Health emergency rule, renewed December 16th, allowed some workers to be paid for 10 days if they become infected with or were exposed to the virus. However, this rule did not apply to leave to care for sick relatives or children. Also, coverage…Read More
Employees have rights in the workplace. Any business in California that employs individuals must not infringe upon these important workplace rights or it faces serious legal consequences. Employer retaliation for legitimate employee actions is illegal and subject to the payment of damages for any harm caused by such action. Moss Bollinger is an employment law firm that works hard and diligently to protect California employees from any employer that acts as if it is above or beyond the law. Often, when employees assert their workplace rights formally or even informally, employers may retaliate to subvert these rights. Employers take this course of action to set a precedent, one undesirable in any workplace, to create a toxic atmosphere of fear to prevent such employee complaints from occurring again in the future. The attorneys at Moss Bollinger find this course of conduct unacceptable and will fight to make employers pay for encroaching upon the valuable rights possessed by California workers. California…Read More
If you work for a California employer, consider yourself fortunate. This state has some of the most employee-protective laws in the entire country. Unfortunately, a lot of employees are completely unaware of many of their legal rights, and employers take full advantage of this. For informational purposes, I would like to provide an overview of some of the latest employment laws that the California legislature has enacted. Criminal History Questions Prohibited Under Assembly Bill 1008, employer are no longer permitted to question a job applicant-either in writing or orally-regarding any criminal convictions prior to making a conditional job offer. Further, the employer cannot consider or disseminate information regarding: Convictions that have been sealed or expunged Involvement in pre-trial or post-trial diversion programs Arrests that did not result in convictions. There are, however, some specific types of positions where a person’s arrest or conviction regarding a sex offense or drug offense may be considered, based on…Read More
Employees in California are protected by wage and overtime laws, which require employers to: (1) provide the highest available minimum wage; (2) properly count and credit employee’s work hours; (3) pay overtime wages at 1.5 times when an employee works more than 8 hours and double wages when an employee works more than 12 hours in a workday; (4) pay employees timely; (5) provide meal and rest breaks; and (6) provide employers notice of their rights. These laws are well settled and employers have no excuse for noncompliance. Numerous restaurants in California have recently made the news for the wrong reason: wage theft. These restaurants have been caught: La Taqueria, a famous and well established Mexican restaurant in San Francisco was fined by the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement and the California Labor Commissioner for wage and overtime violations, including failing to pay overtime and for failing to pay sick pay. Essentially, the restaurant was taking advantage…Read More
California is now the fifth largest economy in the world. Let that sink in for a moment. Not the fifth largest in the United States. In. The. Whole. World. In terms of numbers, California’s healthy economy is estimated to generate a gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.7 trillion. This means that we have just overtaken the entire United Kingdom, which is estimated at $2.6 trillion. Long live the Queen. A world class economy means that the state has a world class number of employers. And the more employers a states has, the more jobs exist. In fact, driving by the agriculture and livestock industries, the tech industry, and the unparalleled entertainment industry, California is heavily reliant on an enormous workforce of hard working employees. Unfortunately, an economy of this size also translates into a disproportionate level of employee rights violations. Yet far from the days of the Wild West, just because California is massive does not mean…Read More
Do you live in California? Have you ever been mislead, deceived, or ripped off by a business? If so, you probably have a legal basis to file a lawsuit. California has some of the strongest consumer protection laws in the country. One of the oldest and most frequently litigated is the Unfair Competition Law (UCL). Found in the California Business and Professions Code sections 17200 through 17209, the UCL is designed to prohibit businesses from almost any sort of business-related misconduct. Specifically, it allows for “specific or preventive relief” “to enforce a penalty, forfeiture, or penal law in a case of unfair competition.” What Constitutes “Unfair Competition”? The California Business and Professions Code (BPC) defines unfair competition as one of the following: “Any unlawful” business act or practice Any “unfair” business act or practice Any “fraudulent business act or practice” Any “unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising” Any act in BPC sections 17500 through 17577,…Read More
Businesses hold significant money, power, and influence. Unchecked, they can wreak havoc on the lives of everyday people by taking their money, plunging them into debt and financial ruin, and destroying their ability to trust. California has numerous laws aimed at holding businesses accountable when they take advantage of consumers. One of these is a set of laws contained in the California Business and Professions Code Section 17500, sometimes referred to as the False Advertising Law (FAL). What Is The False Advertising Law? While the language of the statute is long and cumbersome for even a lawyer to read, it essentially states that: “It is unlawful for any person, firm, corporation or association, or any employee thereof” “to induce the public to enter into any obligation” “based on any statement” “which is untrue or misleading, and which is known, or which by the exercise of reasonable care should be known, to be untrue or misleading”. It…Read More
