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Annakie
Apr 20, 2005

"It's pretty bad, isn't it? I know it's pretty bad. Ever since I can remember..."

Incredulous Red posted:

They're charging you for a consult?

http://www.dallasbar.org/public/lrs-public.asp

Looks like it's a standard fee for the Dallas Bar association.

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Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

Annakie posted:

http://www.dallasbar.org/public/lrs-public.asp

Looks like it's a standard fee for the Dallas Bar association.

Alright, sure

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

Today I got my oil changed at an independent shop where the mechanic is a friend of my mother's. Last time I make that mistake.

The rocket scientist didn't screw on the crankcase cap when he was done. It's right on top, you can't miss it if you've ever seen under the hood of a car. In fact, it was in the way of properly closing the hood because that's how I noticed something was wrong when I got in the car.

If I had driven the car and damaged the engine through loss of oil, would they realistically be on the hook for fixing or replacing my engine? If I pay someone to change my oil, it's because the weather is crappy and I'm not in the mood to jack up the car and make sure the drain plug is tight, the oil filter has actually been replaced and is properly connected, etc. If I was going to go through that, I'd just change the oil myself.

Obviously if the low oil pressure light comes on I should not continue to drive, I should regularly check the oil level, etc, but how far do I need to go to have mitigated my damages as the law is concerned?

And it sounds backwards but next time I pay someone to change the oil, I'm just taking it to Jiffy Lube.

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

NancyPants posted:

Today I got my oil changed at an independent shop where the mechanic is a friend of my mother's. Last time I make that mistake.

The rocket scientist didn't screw on the crankcase cap when he was done. It's right on top, you can't miss it if you've ever seen under the hood of a car. In fact, it was in the way of properly closing the hood because that's how I noticed something was wrong when I got in the car.

If I had driven the car and damaged the engine through loss of oil, would they realistically be on the hook for fixing or replacing my engine? If I pay someone to change my oil, it's because the weather is crappy and I'm not in the mood to jack up the car and make sure the drain plug is tight, the oil filter has actually been replaced and is properly connected, etc. If I was going to go through that, I'd just change the oil myself.

Obviously if the low oil pressure light comes on I should not continue to drive, I should regularly check the oil level, etc, but how far do I need to go to have mitigated my damages as the law is concerned?

And it sounds backwards but next time I pay someone to change the oil, I'm just taking it to Jiffy Lube.

Wait, so you have no damages and you're asking what?

MMania
May 7, 2008
I've got a five year old roof that's starting to fall apart, unfortunately it was done right before I bought the house but fortunately they filed a building permit so I have the name of the business. I'm in MA and the company's in NH, do I have any rights here to have them fix their shoddy work or pay for a real company to get my roof redone?

Solomon Grundy
Feb 10, 2007

Born on a Monday

MMania posted:

I've got a five year old roof that's starting to fall apart, unfortunately it was done right before I bought the house but fortunately they filed a building permit so I have the name of the business. I'm in MA and the company's in NH, do I have any rights here to have them fix their shoddy work or pay for a real company to get my roof redone?

Probably not. You were not in a contractual relationship with the roofer. You do not have standing to bring a breach of contract claim. Unless your state has a weird tort that covers this sort of situation, you are out of luck.

Doctor Yiff
Jan 2, 2008

I have a bit of a strange question involving business/labor law in Massachusetts.

Hypothetical situation: Company A conducts a round of layoffs, the terms of which include a release from a non-compete agreement that the laid off employees signed when they were hired.

At a later date, the CEO of Company A asks the CEO of Company B, a competitor, not to hire any personnel that Company A laid off, the CEO of Company B agrees.

Is this arrangement at all illegal?

nm
Jan 28, 2008

"I saw Minos the Space Judge holding a golden sceptre and passing sentence upon the Martians. There he presided, and around him the noble Space Prosecutors sought the firm justice of space law."

NancyPants posted:

Today I got my oil changed at an independent shop where the mechanic is a friend of my mother's. Last time I make that mistake.

The rocket scientist didn't screw on the crankcase cap when he was done. It's right on top, you can't miss it if you've ever seen under the hood of a car. In fact, it was in the way of properly closing the hood because that's how I noticed something was wrong when I got in the car.

If I had driven the car and damaged the engine through loss of oil, would they realistically be on the hook for fixing or replacing my engine? If I pay someone to change my oil, it's because the weather is crappy and I'm not in the mood to jack up the car and make sure the drain plug is tight, the oil filter has actually been replaced and is properly connected, etc. If I was going to go through that, I'd just change the oil myself.

Obviously if the low oil pressure light comes on I should not continue to drive, I should regularly check the oil level, etc, but how far do I need to go to have mitigated my damages as the law is concerned?

And it sounds backwards but next time I pay someone to change the oil, I'm just taking it to Jiffy Lube.
Yes, they'd be liable if you stopped when the light comes on (FYI, oil lights are basically, "you need to buy an engine" light. if the pressure is that low, it is hosed).

And don't go to iffy lube. They'll do worse than this. Also, they use extremely low quality oils, which is why it is cheaper to go to iffy lube than to actually go to napa and buy oil. And the lube monkeys are paid as much as MCD employees.
Go to a decent mechanic where they don't have some pimply 16 year old change your oil (or DIY).

bkerlee
Aug 3, 2006

Slimy and gross.
Never thought I'd have to ask a question that I couldn't at least find some answer to myself, but I need an independent opinion.

In Ohio, if a person's boss physically threatens them several times over the course of a few weeks, and the threats are reported to the owner of the company (there is no HR department, it's just the owner, another boss, and an assistant), and after those few weeks of reported incidents, the person's boss loses control and screams at the employee, punches the air in front of the employee, calls the employee several derogatory names, culminating in balling up a bunch of paper and throwing it at the employee (and striking said employee), then throwing things off the employee's desk at the employee, and the owner still does nothing after being told what happened...

...can that employee quit and still claim unemployment? It's pretty clearly a dangerous work environment (for an office, anyway), the threatening boss is clearly having anger issues. Thoughts?

Additional Notes: No previous discipline issues; no negative reviews; boss in question has an admitted history of substance abuse. Don't know if any of that is pertinent or not.

bkerlee fucked around with this message at 05:26 on Feb 25, 2010

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

Grumpy Paralegal posted:

Never thought I'd have to ask a question that I couldn't at least find some answer to myself, but I need an independent opinion.

In Ohio, if a person's boss physically threatens them several times over the course of a few weeks, and the threats are reported to the owner of the company (there is no HR department, it's just the owner, another boss, and an assistant), and after those few weeks of reported incidents, the person's boss loses control and screams at the employee, punches the air in front of the employee, calls the employee several derogatory names, culminating in balling up a bunch of paper and throwing it at the employee (and striking said employee), then throwing things off the employee's desk at the employee, and the owner still does nothing after being told what happened...

...can that employee quit and still claim unemployment? It's pretty clearly a dangerous work environment (for an office, anyway), the threatening boss is clearly having anger issues. Thoughts?

Additional Notes: No previous discipline issues; no negative reviews; boss in question has an admitted history of substance abuse. Don't know if any of that is pertinent or not.

Can an employee get respondeat superior against his employer for the tortious actions of a supervisor?

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

nm posted:

Yes, they'd be liable if you stopped when the light comes on (FYI, oil lights are basically, "you need to buy an engine" light. if the pressure is that low, it is hosed).

And don't go to iffy lube. They'll do worse than this. Also, they use extremely low quality oils, which is why it is cheaper to go to iffy lube than to actually go to napa and buy oil. And the lube monkeys are paid as much as MCD employees.
Go to a decent mechanic where they don't have some pimply 16 year old change your oil (or DIY).

This was the decent mechanic who worked at an independent shop who wasn't a pimply faced 16 year old kid. There is one Jiffy Lube that I will go to (the others I've seen are sketchy) and those guys have been doing my oil for three years and never hosed anything up. It's never cost me less to have them do it than it would have for me to, but I'm paying for the convenience. Besides, they get it done in about 10 minutes, they have a clean place to sit and wait, and they're NICE to me.

I came back inside to wash my hands after putting the cap back on my car and he asked why my hands were oily, I said because the cap wasn't on the top of the engine. He grunted at me like I'd made a comment about the weather.

But thank you for addressing the question I asked. I wouldn't have to go over a shop's work, right, I'd just have to stop driving it when I was given an indication that something was wrong?

nm
Jan 28, 2008

"I saw Minos the Space Judge holding a golden sceptre and passing sentence upon the Martians. There he presided, and around him the noble Space Prosecutors sought the firm justice of space law."

NancyPants posted:

This was the decent mechanic who worked at an independent shop who wasn't a pimply faced 16 year old kid.

.
.
. I wouldn't have to go over a shop's work, right, I'd just have to stop driving it when I was given an indication that something was wrong?
Obviously, it wasn't a decent mechanic because of the result though. He was a 16 year old at heart, I guess.
Decent mechanics don't do this. I don't think iffy lube is a decent mechanic. They have a long history of this and worse (leaving off the drain cap, accidentally draining ATF not oil, etc)

....

Yes.

Note that the further you go from the garage the harder it is to prove they did it though. However, you ain't going far with your oil cap off.


That said, it is always a good idea to check the oil after an oil change. Overfilling is more common than under filling and will slowly kill your catalytic converter (and that you won't be able to prove).

(I'm a car nerd)

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

Grumpy Paralegal posted:

In Ohio...

My own experience with the Ohio Unemployment office is the employer is always right, always. I hope for your sake that has changed over the last decade or so.

bkerlee
Aug 3, 2006

Slimy and gross.

wormil posted:

My own experience with the Ohio Unemployment office is the employer is always right, always. I hope for your sake that has changed over the last decade or so.

That's kind of what I thought, and this isn't a situation where said employee would be on the street or anything like that, but I wanted opinions. It's honestly hard to say how much the employer would even fight the issue.

WhiskeyJuvenile
Feb 15, 2002

by Nyc_Tattoo

Monochrome posted:

I have a bit of a strange question involving business/labor law in Massachusetts.

Hypothetical situation: Company A conducts a round of layoffs, the terms of which include a release from a non-compete agreement that the laid off employees signed when they were hired.

At a later date, the CEO of Company A asks the CEO of Company B, a competitor, not to hire any personnel that Company A laid off, the CEO of Company B agrees.

Is this arrangement at all illegal?

Possibly illegal under federal antitrust as a hypo.

TheBestDeception
Nov 28, 2007

Baruch Obamawitz posted:

Possibly illegal under federal antitrust as a hypo.

Without knowing anything at all about antitrust, isn't the standard one of unreasonable restraint of trade? How would that be balanced against at-will employment (which is what I thought the answer would be)?

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

Baruch Obamawitz posted:

Possibly illegal under federal antitrust as a hypo.

Might be a breach if they offered them a severance package.

WhiskeyJuvenile
Feb 15, 2002

by Nyc_Tattoo

TheBestDeception posted:

Without knowing anything at all about antitrust, isn't the standard one of unreasonable restraint of trade? How would that be balanced against at-will employment (which is what I thought the answer would be)?

not really

It's certainly worth talking to a local lawyer about.

bkerlee
Aug 3, 2006

Slimy and gross.
To continue with the situation above, the boss in question is now sending harassing text messages, late at night. Does this add anything to the situation?

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

Grumpy Paralegal posted:

To continue with the situation above, the boss in question is now sending harassing text messages, late at night. Does this add anything to the situation?

Are they work related or just being a dick related?

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

NancyPants posted:

But thank you for addressing the question I asked. I wouldn't have to go over a shop's work, right, I'd just have to stop driving it when I was given an indication that something was wrong?

Right. But did your car suffer any damage in this instance? Because if no, then you really don't have a cause of action (unless they somehow didn't swap out your oil or otherwise defrauded you)

bkerlee
Aug 3, 2006

Slimy and gross.

Incredulous Red posted:

Are they work related or just being a dick related?

Work related, sort of. "Why are you trying to screw with me, I'll show you" kind of stuff.

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

Incredulous Red posted:

Right. But did your car suffer any damage in this instance? Because if no, then you really don't have a cause of action (unless they somehow didn't swap out your oil or otherwise defrauded you)

No damage this time (knock on wood), my question was really for future reference.

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

NancyPants posted:

No damage this time (knock on wood), my question was really for future reference.

Yeah you'd have tort / breach of contract claims.

E: so long as something broke

JudicialRestraints
Oct 26, 2007

Are you a LAWYER? Because I'll have you know I got GOOD GRADES in LAW SCHOOL last semester. Don't even try to argue THE LAW with me.

Grumpy Paralegal posted:

Work related, sort of. "Why are you trying to screw with me, I'll show you" kind of stuff.

On the plus side you can now probably hold your company legally responsible for any damages your boss inflicts on you during the course of employment.

Maybe pointing that out to corporate will help? I think your options are pretty much 'suck it up' or 'quit'

Ortsacras
Feb 11, 2008
12/17/00 Never Forget

Sizzler Manager posted:

I don't even think it's fair that I should get cited for loving up my own car and damaging nothing else.

For what it's worth (nothing), I was a traffic prosecutor for a time, and if your car was the only thing damaged, as long as the officer didn't think you were drunk or being reckless or something I probably would have nonsuited the ticket. A lot of the time, officers are required to write some sort of ticket where there's a crash of some sort, and unless you gave them some reason for concern (or their county's broke and they really really need the revenue - fairly likely in these times) they probably won't be hardassed about it.

My advice to people with traffic tickets is: talk to the prosecutor before your case is called. Sometimes they'll be willing to cut you a break, especially if you have a decent driving record. It won't cost you a thing. If they indicate they're going to proceed against you, ask the judge for a continuance so you can hire counsel to represent you.

(Disclaimer: my experience with this was in Chicago, so obviously YMMV.)

Busy Bee
Jul 13, 2004
I got a deferral on a speeding ticket in December, I just recently got a parking ticket for not having front plates, will that affect my deferral?

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

Busy Bee posted:

I got a deferral on a speeding ticket in December, I just recently got a parking ticket for not having front plates, will that affect my deferral?

Where are you?

Busy Bee
Jul 13, 2004

Incredulous Red posted:

Where are you?

I found this:

"Conditions of the deferral may include no traffic infractions or criminal traffic violations for twelve (12) months from the date the court enters the deferred finding."

I'm guessing a ticket for no front license plates visible is not a traffic infraction.

Leif.
Mar 27, 2005

Son of the Defender
Formerly Diplomaticus/SWATJester

Baruch Obamawitz posted:

Possibly illegal under federal antitrust as a hypo.

I'd take a look at whether the jurisdiction has support for non-compete agreements being presumptively unconscionable; or at least having a high burden to get past.

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

SWATJester posted:

I'd take a look at whether the jurisdiction has support for non-compete agreements being presumptively unconscionable; or at least having a high burden to get past.

It has nothing to do with a non-compete. It's a blackballing.

Leif.
Mar 27, 2005

Son of the Defender
Formerly Diplomaticus/SWATJester

Incredulous Red posted:

It has nothing to do with a non-compete. It's a blackballing.

Monochrome posted:

I have a bit of a strange question involving business/labor law in Massachusetts.

Hypothetical situation: Company A conducts a round of layoffs, the terms of which include a release from a non-compete agreement that the laid off employees signed when they were hired.

At a later date, the CEO of Company A asks the CEO of Company B, a competitor, not to hire any personnel that Company A laid off, the CEO of Company B agrees.

Is this arrangement at all illegal?

It very much has something to do with the non-compete, since CEO A's actions are essentially to enforce the terms of the contract he just released the employees from. If there were some flaw in the release, the validity of the non-compete remains an issue. (And even if there weren't, the existence of the agreement and subsequent release is evidence of intent, which may or may not matter).

Leif. fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Feb 28, 2010

SnipeShow
Nov 7, 2009

That dance wasn't as safe as they said it was.

Canada: Can I be refused service for not leaving my backpack at the front of an unattended store? I realize this is more of a rule than a law, but does it not violate property laws at all?

\/\/\/\/ Any reason why? It must fall under some category of law, for or against, no?

SnipeShow fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Mar 1, 2010

terrorist ambulance
Nov 5, 2009

SnipeShow posted:

Canada: Can I be refused service for not leaving my backpack at the front of an unattended store?

Yes.

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

SWATJester posted:

It very much has something to do with the non-compete, since CEO A's actions are essentially to enforce the terms of the contract he just released the employees from. If there were some flaw in the release, the validity of the non-compete remains an issue. (And even if there weren't, the existence of the agreement and subsequent release is evidence of intent, which may or may not matter).

You're talking about the contract issue, where the CEO is taking an action in contravention to the consideration offered in the contract. Since the poster was released from his non-compete, whether or not it's presumptively unconscionable is irrelevant. But calling up another CEO and saying, "Yo, don't hire my laid off guys," has nothing to do with a non-compete, and it's probably some form of anti-competitive collaboration between the two companies.

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

In Iowa, the unemployment insurance guidelines state that to be eligible, you have to have lost your job through no fault of your own. Worded that way, it seems like the only way to get unemployment benefits in this state is to be simply laid off. Is there some situation I'm not aware of?

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

NancyPants posted:

In Iowa, the unemployment insurance guidelines state that to be eligible, you have to have lost your job through no fault of your own. Worded that way, it seems like the only way to get unemployment benefits in this state is to be simply laid off. Is there some situation I'm not aware of?

Man, you're starting to be a regular around here.

This site should answer most of your questions. Basically you can't quit, refuse to work, or be fired for misconduct. If you're fired and you're employer can't prove misconduct, you're good

(mandatory disclaimer: IANAL)

JudicialRestraints
Oct 26, 2007

Are you a LAWYER? Because I'll have you know I got GOOD GRADES in LAW SCHOOL last semester. Don't even try to argue THE LAW with me.

NancyPants posted:

In Iowa, the unemployment insurance guidelines state that to be eligible, you have to have lost your job through no fault of your own. Worded that way, it seems like the only way to get unemployment benefits in this state is to be simply laid off. Is there some situation I'm not aware of?

most states allow you to quit if your boss is asking you to do something illegal/torturing you.

You're gonna wanna get specifics for your own state.

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

Questions threads draw me in like honey draws flies. Sorry.

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Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

JudicialRestraints posted:

most states allow you to quit if your boss is asking you to do something illegal/torturing you.

Yeah forgot to explicitly state that. But then the burden moves to you to show that you were being harassed/forced to sexually exploit old people/etc.

The link I posted gets into all those details

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