Mr. Gavin’s clients contracted to have their dream home built in El Dorado Hills, California. After a series of delays and mistakes, the contractor left the site without ever completing the work. Mr. Gavin’s clients were left with an unfinished home that was dangerous for them and their two children.

Mr. Gavin sued the contract on his clients’ behalf, and the contractor forced the matter into arbitration. Undeterred, Mr. Gavin pushed ahead, and after an evidentiary hearing before the arbitrator, secured an award of almost $900,000 in compensatory damages and more than $200,000 in punitive damages.

The firm is proud to have helped these clients through their difficult case, and stands ready to assist its other clients toward a positive resolution. If you or someone you know has legal questions about real estate law, our skilled lawyers provide free case evaluations from our offices in Sacramento and Folsom. Contact us today!

In California, there is a system for determining if you are eligible for unemployment compensation. The amount you receive and how long you receive it for are also decided through this system. A typical unemployment compensation claim will result in 26 weeks of pay at a fraction of what you made at your previous job. There are several requirements which affect your eligibility for benefits, including:

• You must be unemployed and willing to work
• You must look for new employment while receiving benefits
• You must fill out the necessary paperwork honestly and correctly
• You must periodically report to the unemployment office

If you receive unemployment compensation benefits, you must continue to fulfill the requirements for the duration. If you decline a job or fail to perform appropriately, or don’t seek employment, your benefits will be disqualified. You must file paperwork on time, and untrue or false information will result in disqualification. Also, if you quit your last job for no reason or because you were simply dissatisfied, you will not receive benefits.

Depending on how you left your last job, your eligibility for benefits will denied. For example, if you were fired for serious misconduct, such as stealing or fighting with co-workers, you will not be eligible. If you quit your job, it must be with good cause, not because you simply disliked something about the work. If you are on strike or unavailable to work due to illness, you cannot receive benefits.

Being terminated from a job is not easy to deal with. Your finances are in trouble, and you are stressed and in some cases, desperate. If you need legal assistance with unemployment compensation matters, the attorneys at Bowman & Associates will be glad to help. Our experience with unemployment compensation cases is broad, and we have the skills and resources to ensure success in your claim.

Orangevale Unemployment Compensation Lawyers

If you or someone you love have recently lost a job for unfair or illegal conditions, contact an attorney today. The unemployment compensation attorneys at Bowman & Associates have years of experience settling issues for individuals like yourself. An attorney with skills in employment law can help you get the most positive outcome. Employment law is complex, and your circumstances are unique. Don’t let complicated laws and guidelines delay your compensation – contact us today for a free consultation.

There are hundreds of unique situations that could affect you in your place of employment. Sexual innuendos and slurs as well as content in notes or e-mail that is of sexual nature can be considered sexual harassment. Demeaning names, insults, threats, leering, whistling, touching, pinching, fondling…the list goes on. Pressure for sexual favors or intercourse, even if you submit, is sexual harassment. It is important to know the signs and understand when someone is harassing you. It is better to handle the situation properly before it escalates or someone gets hurt. Contact an attorney as soon as you notice any behavior that could turn into sexual harassment.

California employers must follow reasonable steps to prevent harassment in the workplace. Quid pro quo harassment is of the nature where sexual favors have an influence on decisions such as promotions and benefits. Hostile environment harassment is when an employer or coworker makes unwelcome sexual advances and displays to create an uncomfortable setting. Employers must distribute information regarding the laws surrounding sexual harassment, and that it is illegal.

There are some key things to remember when you believe you are being sexually harassed. Firstly, the environment created by coworkers’ or supervisors’ comments or actions must be hostile or prevent an employee from performing their duties. If your employment is jeopardized by the acceptance or rejection of sexual advances, such as a promotion in exchange or a sexual favor, you have a case. Retaliation against complaints of sexual harassment, such as wrongful termination or demotion, constitutes sexual harassment.

Folsom Sexual Harassment Lawyers

If you or someone you know have been sexually harassed in the workplace, contact an experienced Folsom Sexual Harassment Attorney at Bowman & Associates, APC, today. We offer a free consultation to go over the facts of your case and will investigate the circumstances. There is no reason for you to lose your job or work uncomfortably due to an employer or coworker’s poor conduct. Contact us today. We are here to help.

Eleta Noble, an employee of the defendant, and 25 unknown people were also named as defendants in the suit.

On Feb. 13, 2009, Rose Bailey suffered an on-the-job injury and went to the emergency room at Cabell Huntington Hospital, where she was told she had strained her mid-back and ribs, according to a complaint filed April 21 in Cabell Circuit Court.

Bailey claims after receiving temporary total disability for a few months, she returned to work on light duty, where she remained for several months.

On March 1, 2010, Bailey’s physician cleared her to return to normal work duties, but she began to experience pain and on March 29, 2010, her physician put her back on light duty, according to the suit.

Bailey claims when she returned to work, she was told that it did not matter what her physician said and that she would have to resume normal work duties.

After being told this, Bailey contacted her attorney, who sent a letter to Noble informing her that she was discriminating against Bailey for her work injury, according to the suit.

Bailey claims the defendants attempted to force her to return to normal work duties and when she declined, her employment was terminated.

The defendants discriminated against Bailey because of her disability, according to the suit.

Bailey and her husband, Scott Bailey are seeking compensatory and punitive damages. They are being represented by J. Patrick L. Stephens.

There is no individual law in California covering wrongful termination. Instead there are a variety of state and federal statutes, as well as state and federal court decisions, that provide some protections (sometimes very limited) to at-will employees, and allow them to pursue “wrongful termination” cases under certain circumstances. Wrongful termination generally means an unfair employment discharge. However, not every unfair employment discharge constitutes wrongful termination. If you think you have been wrongfully terminated from a job in Sacramento or another area of Northern California, contact an experienced wrongful termination attorney in Sacramento at the Law Office of Bowman and Associates, APC to schedule your Free Initial Consultation today.

Read the entire article here…

The suspect, Eddy Coello, who was a New York City police officer for four years until he resigned in 2000, was arrested at 2:25 p.m. at his mother’s home in the Bronx, the police said. He was charged with “second-degree murder, by strangulation,” said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman.

Mr. Coello, who had previously faced charges of domestic violence, was considered a person of interest from the outset because of his tumultuous relationship with his wife, Tina Adovasio, 40, whose partially clad remains were found near a golf course in Yorktown last week, the authorities said.

Mr. Browne declined to comment about possible motives or to characterize the evidence gathered by investigators.

A lawyer for Mr. Coello, Renee C. Hill, said she was unable to comment. A spokesman for the Bronx district attorney’s office said a complaint had not yet been drafted against Mr. Coello.

Ms. Adovasio, who had worked as a maternity nurse, had filed for divorce less than a month ago, said her lawyer, Michael M. Lease. She had also been granted an order of protection, but elected not to serve Mr. Coello with the papers in the hopes they could resolve their differences in counseling, Mr. Lease said.

She and Mr. Coello had a 5-year-old daughter together; Ms. Adovasio also had three children from a previous marriage, Mr. Lease said.

If you or a loved one has been convicted of domestic violence, contact the knowledgeable Sacramento domestic violence attorneys, of the Law Offices of Bowman & Associates, APC., for a free consultation. Our expert legal team is skilled in domestic violence law, and we use modern resources to make sure that we build the right case for you.

read entire article…

While this may bother some people, especially at a time when so many are in need of the limited benefit resources, the point to take away from this is that, if you are entitled to benefits, you should fight for them, no matter who you are.

Moreover, if you have applied for benefits but were denied, you have appeal rights through the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. If you have a question about your appeal, or if you want to be like the millionaires and fight for what’s yours, contact an experienced unemployment appeals attorney for a free consultation.

Read more about unemployed millionaires here

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

The answer is that, if you are fired for marijuana possession that occurred while on duty, you are still very unlikely to be eligible for unemployment benefits. This is because most employers have policies prohibiting the use of drugs and alcohol in the workplace.

If, however, you are fired because your employer learned that you are cited for marijuana possession outside of work, the question of eligibility for unemployment benefits is a much closer call. This is because the relevant inquiry will be whether you were terminated for “misconduct connected with the work.” The California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board has issued multiple Precedent Benefits decisions in the past that held, for example, that the disqualifying provisions were not applicable to: a janitor employed at an Air Force base who was convicted of drunken driving while off duty (Benefit Decision No. 6534); an assembler employed at an aircraft plant who was arrested on a morals charge for an event which occurred away from work (Benefit Decision No. 5439); or a leadman in a manufacturing plant who, although previously warned against gambling activities on the employer’s premises during working hours, was discharged for admitted gambling away from work during a leave of absence (Benefit Decision No. 5193).

Conversely, in Benefit Decision No. 5864, the CUIAB considered the case of a bookkeeper in a bank who routinely bounced checks from her own account. The CUIAB found that her conduct tended to substantially injure the employer’s interest and constituted misconduct in connection with her work because the financial integrity of a bank employee should be above question, and it could be taken for granted that questionable financial transactions on the part of a bank employee reflected on the integrity of the employer.

As the legality of marijuana possession in California continues to shift, you should be aware that your rights as an employee are affected. The CUIAB has addressed marijuana possession specifically, in Precedent Benefit Decision 217, but this was based on previous statutes. Therefore, in the event you have any question about your eligibility for unemployment benefits, whether your termination was based on marijuana possession or otherwise, contact an experienced unemployment insurance attorney at Bowman & Associates right away to determine your rights.

Read more about marijuana decriminalization here

Read more below. If you believe you have been victimized by a wrongful foreclosure or other real estate fraud, contact an experienced Real Estate attorney today.

By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer Alan Zibel, Ap Real Estate Writer – October 1, 2010

WASHINGTON – Bank of America is delaying foreclosures in 23 states as it examines whether it rushed the foreclosure process for thousands of homeowners without reading the documents.

Bank of America isn’t able to estimate how many homeowners’ cases will be affected, Dan Frahm, a spokesman for the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, said Friday.

The move adds the nation’s largest bank to a growing list of mortgage companies whose employees signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.

Two other companies, Ally Financial Inc.’s GMAC Mortgage unit and JPMorgan Chase, have halted tens of thousands of foreclosure cases after similar problems became public.

A Bank of America official acknowledged in a legal proceeding in February that she signed up to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month and typically didn’t read them. The Associated Press obtained the document Friday.

The official, Renee Hertzler, said in a deposition in a Massachusetts homeowner’s bankruptcy case that she signed 7,000 to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month.

“I typically don’t read them because of the volume that we sign,” Hertzler said.

She also acknowledged identifying herself as a representative of a different bank, Bank of New York Mellon, that she didn’t work for. Bank of New York Mellon served as a trustee for the investors holding the homeowner’s loan.

Hertzler could not be reached for comment.

A lawyer for the homeowner in the case, James O’Connor of Fitchburg, Mass., said such problems are rampant throughout the industry.

“We have had thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of foreclosures around the country by entities that did not have the right to foreclose,” O’Connor said.

The disclosure comes two days after JPMorgan said it would temporarily stop foreclosing on more than 50,000 homes so it could review documents that might contain errors. Last week, GMAC halted certain evictions and sales of foreclosed homes in 23 states to review those cases after finding procedural errors in some foreclosure affidavits.

Continue reading this article at The Washington Post.

In a letter to members of the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, Schwarzenegger said jobless Californians aren’t being well served by judges’ work-at-home deals and limits under their union contract on how many cases they can be assigned each week.

“It is outrageous that at a time when the people of California are most in need of their services, these judges are hiding behind a provision in a union contract to avoid work,” Schwarzenegger wrote.

No other administrative judges in the state enjoy caps on cases, the governor noted.

“While everyone else in the state is working smarter and more efficiently, so should this board and its judges instead of looking for ways to not get their work done,” he added.

More than 200 administrative law judges hear UI appeals, earning between $108,000 and $119,000 a year. They get between 24 and 30 cases a week. At 25 percent of the hearings, at least one of the parties doesn’t show up, Schwarzenegger aide Rachel Cameron said.

In June, the UI Appeals Board had 82,722 open cases – a backlog that has drawn criticism from federal labor officials, citizens and legislators. State Auditor Elaine Howle has repeatedly highlighted problems at the board.

The board recently estimated it will get 538,957 new appeals this year, up from a previous estimate of 331,000.

Schwarzenegger urged the board to stop its telecommute deals for judges and eliminate the caseload caps, saying they impede efforts to improve efficiency.

Board judges are represented by the California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment, also called CASE.

CASE general counsel Patrick Whalen questioned the governor’s concerns.

“You can’t just say, ‘Do more.’ You have to hire more administrative law judges,” Whalen said. “Applicants are entitled to due process. It takes time to conduct hearings, hear the facts from both the worker and employer and write decisions afterwards.”

At an emergency meeting Wednesday, the board voted to review its telecommuting policy by mid-August, a move it said affects 14 judges.

Workloads were set in a binding agreement signed in 2002 by CASE, the board and the Department of Personnel Administration. Any changes must be negotiated, board chief counsel Ralph Hilton said.

Whalen said many judges ignore the cap and hear more cases than they are required to hear under the agreement.

“They are keenly sensitive to the backlog,” he said.

Sacramento Unemployment Appeals Attorney Sean Gavin and the Employment Lawyers of Bowman & Associates have helped clients across California. If you have legal questions regarding your case, contact our experienced Sacramento Employment Law Firm today for your free initial consultation.

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“SEASONAL DISTORTIONS: The increase is a sign that jobs still remain scarce even as the economy recovers. Some of the increase may also have resulted from the Easter holiday, which a Labor Department analyst said is difficult to seasonally adjust for because it falls on different weeks each year.

TREND STILL DOWN: Claims have dropped in four of the past six weeks and economists say they are likely to soon resume their decline.”

If you are an employee or an employer with a specific question about unemployment benefits, contact an experienced Sacramento employment attorney for legal advice. Also, Check the Bowman & Associates Blog regularly for updates on unemployment and other employment-related issues.

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