The issue is often whether the company was required to provide them some sort of hearing or whether the firing was based upon some form of discrimination and merely a pretext.

In California there is something called at-will employment.  Labor Code section 2922 provides, in pertinent part: “An employment, having no specified term, may be terminated at the will of either party on notice to the other.” This statute creates a presumption of at-will employment which may be overcome ‘by evidence that despite the absence of a specified term, the parties agreed that the employer’s power to terminate would be limited in some way, e.g., by a requirement that termination be based only on “good cause.”

If the employee can overcome the presumption the employment was not at-will but there was an implied agreement only to terminate the employment for good cause, the next issue is what duty does the employer have to investigate the alleged wrongdoing.

California cases have held jury need not decide whether the terminated employee actually engaged in the illicit activity, but whether at the time the decision to terminate his employment was made, the employer acted in good faith and following an investigation that was appropriate under the circumstances, had reasonable grounds for believing the plaintiff engaged in the wrongful behavior.

If the terminated employee claims they were wrongfully fired in violation of public policy, they would need to prove the firing violated some constitutional right or right guaranteed by statute.  An example would be the employee was fired because of their race or national origin, the employee complained about being a victim of sexual harassment, or the employee refused to lie in an investigation against the employer.  These are a few examples of a firing that would be wrongul in that it is against public policy.

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Robert G. Klein, Esq. is a Los Angeles trademark attorney, business litigation attorney lawyer and a Los Angeles business lawyer who specializes in trademark infringement, copyright infringement, business torts, breach of contract actions and unfair competition.  He feels it is important to hire a Los Angeles trademark lawyer and a Los Angeles business lawyer if one is involved in litigation in that locale.  Robert G. Klein is a prominent Los Angeles business attorney and is available for consultation on matters involving trademark infringement, copyright infringement, breach of contract cases, business torts, fraud, and business law matters.  He has successfully obtained many multi-million dollar jury verdicts. Many of Mr. Klein’s court decisions have been published as case authority and he has appeared before the United States Supreme Court for oral argument. Mr. Klein has also published “Consumer List: Trade Secret or Fair Game?”, which is an article published in the Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine. Los Angeles trademark infringement attorney Robert G. Klein can be reached at (213) 996-8508 or visit our web site at http://www.kleinlitigation.com

The goal of competitive bidding in public contracting is to guard against favoritism, improvidence, extravagance, fraud, and corruption; to prevent waste of public funds; and to obtain the best economic result for the public.

Bid protests arise when an unsuccessful bidder challenges a contract award to another bidder.  The challenge could be the party awarded the contract gained an advantage over other bidders because the winning bidder did not provide a bid that conformed to the contract specifications.

Another ground for a bid protest is the awarding body did not award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder.

Courts have held that a lowest responsible bidder who has been denied a contract has no right to damages; however a contract award to one bidder may be restrained upon the petition of another bidder where such award would constitute an abuse of discretion by the awarding entity.
In a case called Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corp. v. Superior Court, (1962) 208 Cal. App.2nd 802at pp. 824-826 the court held it is within the court’s power to determine whether a public official has abused his discretion in awarding a contract pursuant to illegal and invalid specifications that fail to provide for full and competitive bidding.

California bid protest cases have expressed the view that a writ of mandate will be granted if the contract award constitutes an abuse of discretion.

Robert G. Klein, Esq. is a Los Angeles trademark attorney, business litigation attorney lawyer and a Los Angeles business lawyer who specializes in trademark infringement, copyright infringement, business torts, breach of contract actions and unfair competition.  He feels it is important to hire a Los Angeles trademark lawyer and a Los Angeles business lawyer if one is involved in litigation in that locale.  Robert G. Klein is a prominent Los Angeles business attorney and is available for consultation on matters involving trademark infringement, copyright infringement, breach of contract cases, business torts, fraud, and business law matters.  He has successfully obtained many multi-million dollar jury verdicts. Many of Mr. Klein’s court decisions have been published as case authority and he has appeared before the United States Supreme Court for oral argument. Mr. Klein has also published “Consumer List: Trade Secret or Fair Game?”, which is an article published in the Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine. Los Angeles trademark infringement attorney Robert G. Klein can be reached at (213) 996-8508 or visit our web site at http://www.kleinlitigation.com

The normal procedure when awarding public contracts is to advertise for bids.  Qualified bidders then obtain copies of the plans and specifications and submit sealed bids.  Before the government is in a position to advertise for bids, it must have the engineers and architects prepare the necessary construction documents including the blueprints and specifications.  These are then made available to contractors in order to bid the job.  I suspect it could take months before the government is in a position to seek bids.

When that happens our firm will be in a position to assist construction contractors who want to take advantagew of what could be the biggest business opportunities in many years.

In recessionary times it makes sense for the government to engage in deficit spending to create jobs.  The way we get out of these troubling economic times is by putting money into the hands of the workers, build confidence and job security, and encourage consumer spending.

President elect Obama has proposed an economic stimulus plan designed to create 3 million jobs.  The plan is relatively simple.  Our county’s infastructure needs rebuilding.  You may remember about a year ago a bridge in Minnesota collapsed causing death and injury.  There are many other bridges that need to be retrofitted in this country not to mention the need to repair roads and government buildings.

The stimulus package is designed to have the government spend money in the form of government contracts.  The government plans on spending $700 billion dollars on rebuilding the infrastucture.  Presumably some of this money will come from money saved when we withdraw the war effort in Iraq.

When the government awards public contracts the Davis Bacon Act applies.  This federal statute requires, among other things, sealed bids and a requirement that each worker be paid what is known as the prevailing wage for each craft or trade.  This prevailing wage is comparable to the labor unions collective bargaining wage and is generally much higher than the wage that construction companies could pay if not bound by the Davis Bacon Act.

The effect is that construction workers will earn a decent wage which will put money into the hands of the working man, consumer spending should increase which will benefit local business and consequently will increase the taxes the government will collect.

Construction companies, who have struggled in recent years, will have tremendous opportunities to obtain profitable public contracts.

Also any company that offers a service that will protect the environment and that can be used in the construction of our bridges, roads and government buildings will have these opportunities.  A company with this technology should obtain a patent and then seek to have the service included in the federal government’s contract specifications that will require all contractors to utilize that service or technology.

An employer is not guilty of retaliatory discrimination by failing to ‘reemploy’ unqualified employees for whom positions are no longer available.  And an employer may be justified in terminating an employee if at the time of termination the employer reasonably believes that returning the employee to his position would endanger the employee or others.

An employer’s refusal to reinstate an injured worker to an available position may be justified as a business necessity if the employer reasonably believes that the employee is unable to perform the job without undue risk of reinjury.

If business realities compel the employer to replace an employee on workers’ compensation disability leave, the employer may refuse to reinstate the employee assuming the position remains unavailable.

Also if you lose your job following a job related injury you must engage in what is known as an interactive process with your employer in order to find a reasonable accommodation for your disability.  The employer must try to reaonsable accommodate your disability if such accommodation is available.

If the Labor Union decides to sue for unpaid fringe benefits there are few defenses available for the Employer.   The Labor Union, through its trustee or fiduciary can obtain an award for the unpaid contributions, interest on the unpaid contributions, an amount equal to the greater of (i) interest on the unpaid contributions, or (ii) liquidated damages provided for under the plan in an amount not in excess of 20 percent of the amount determined by the court on the amount of unpaid contributions, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of the action, to be paid by the Employer, and such other legal or equitable relief as the court deems appropriate.  Without many defenses to a lawsuit seeking to collect unpaid fringe benefits, an action by a Labor Union under a collective bargaining agreement can be devastating to the Employer.

Located in Los Angeles, California, Robert G. Klein, Esq. is a Los Angeles trademark infringement attorney who concentrates on business litigation. He emphasizes on trademark infringement, unfair competition and trade secret litigation. Los Angeles trademark infringement lawyer Robert G. Klein has acted as lead counsel in approximately 60 trials. He has successfully obtained many multi-million dollar jury verdicts. Many of Mr. Klein’s court decisions have been published as case authority and he has appeared before the United States Supreme Court for oral argument. Mr. Klein has also published “Consumer List: Trade Secret or Fair Game?”, which is an article published in the Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine. Los Angeles trademark infringement attorney Robert G. Klein can be reached at (213) 996-8508 or visit our web site at http://www.kleinlitigation.com