Stephen Sommers's blog

I believe the time is right for the California Supreme Court to throw-out Proposition 8 and the influence of the out-of-state hate-peddlers that financed its deceptive campaign.

A group of local people in San Francisco who have recently been laid-off, organized themselves into Laid-Off Camp.

Down in Alabama, the law firm Hardin & Hughes LLP is cleaning up the logging industry’s illegal pay practices. Apparently, it is a common practice to pay loggers by the day, instead of by the hour, as required under the law. Hardin & Hughes LLP is on its way to changing all that. Another lesson in valuing employees' time. After all, that's the point to overtime laws.

Last week, a jury in New Jersey awarded 343 Staples "managers" $2.5 million dollars, which could grow to $5 million is the judge decides to award additional penalties. The issue in the case was whether "managers" are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which requires employers to pay overtime and provide breaks.

In these economic times, people look for creative ways to make money - cyberpiracy apparently is one way. Fawn Myers buys and sells website addresses through eBay. Unfortunately for Ms. Myers, she decided to try to sell twenty-two website domains associated with the Hell's Angels Motor Cycle Club. The Hell's Angels sued Ms. Fawn in federal court last week.

I am of the opinion that a fairly high percentage of California employees are improperly classified by their employers as exempt from overtime laws.

Judge Conti of the U.S. District Court for Northern California today certified a class of banking professional employees from Citibank. The plaintiffs are alleging that Citibank misclassified employees as exempt from overtime requirements.

“The court concludes that plaintiff has met her light burden of substantially alleging that business banking officers were together the victims of a single decision, policy or plan,” Judge Conti wrote.

I’m developing a belief that a fairly large percentage of California salary workers are misclassified and should be paid hourly.

On September 1, 2009, Kumin Sommers, LLP opened its doors as a merger between the Law Offices of Matthew Kumin and the Sommers Law Group.