California Business Legal Questions

This is a difficult fact pattern. As a general matter, an employer is free to fire any employee at any time for any reason, including failure to report to work due to illness. In other words, unless the employer has a sick-leave policy (which it must follow), it does not need to offer paid time off or even unpaid leave, except to the extent provided by FMLA. Generally speaking, if an employee wants the benefits of FMLA, the employee is expected to request leave and prove that the nature of the illness qualifies for FMLA unpaid leave. FMLA merely entitles you to resume your job if you have been out for no longer than the FMLA maximum; otherwise, you can be terminated immediately. It sounds as if your employer assumed you were on FMLA leave, which is favorable to you. I don't see how you have suffered any legally recognized harm. If you had not been treated as being on FMLA leave, you could have been fired much earlier.... Read Answer

Business licensing consists of several separate processes, depending on where, exactly, you propose to operate. Generally, you must collect and remit sales tax on your sales at retail. You need a permit (really just registration) to do that, from your state's taxing authority. You will also need to investigate whether a license or permit is required to maintain vending machines. You should check with your county office on that -- frequently, no separate license is required. If you have, or can meet, a CPA with a firm that focuses on small businesses, those guys can be enormously helpful in getting you started.... Read Answer

First of all, I think it is great to have goals and a direction at your age! Dream big and work hard, and you will never be dissatisfied with your life. It is alright to change your plans down the road. Chances are they will change, but that should not prevent you from setting goals and working toward them anyway. A ship at an anchor cannot be steered. Start moving forward and see what wind catches your sails. Reading, writing and communicating are the main skills of an attorney. Add to that problem solving. Do not worry about knowledge of the law; that is what law school is for. You should be honing your reading, writing and verbal skills and critical thinking skills. You can do that in whatever courses you take. Unless you want to be a patent attorney, science is not as important. While most attorneys are not as good with numbers as engineers or accountants, math develops your critical thinking skills and attention to detail. If you are good at math, it will give you a leg up on other attorneys as well. In high school, there really is not much you can do to prepare yourself for being a lawyer more than learning to study, working hard and applying yourself. In college, there are many paths you could take. Many people are political science and history majors. I was an English Literature major. A business, economics or accounting major would not be bad as long as there is a healthy dose of classes that require reading, writing and critical thinking. Most importantly, work hard to reach your goals and be open to change your goals as you go. I think practicing law is a very challenging and fulfilling career. There are no doubt easier ways to make a living, but I do not regret the course I have taken. I spent six years after college working before I went back to law school. It was hard to go back to school, but the life experience gave me a leg up on other law students. Good luck on your path!... Read Answer

It is not possible to give a categorical answer to your question from the limited facts presented. Under federal law, your employer's obligation was to give you the same sick-leave benefits that it provides for non-pregnancy-related illnesses. It need not have given you all the time off you wanted, nor need it have given you more leave than it affords non-pregnant employees. Also, under federal law, you need not be given more than 12 weeks of unpaid leave, even under the best of circumstances. Unless your employer had a more generous policy in writing than what federal law requires, it does not sound as if your employer violated any principle of positive law.... Read Answer

Generally speaking, no permission is required to do this, so long as an appreciable number of ordinary consumers would not be confused into believing that the products of the advertiser are endorsed or sponsored by you, or originate with you. Because the test is fact-dependent, it is not possible to give a categorical answer that would apply under all circumstances.... Read Answer

What is the issue? If you haven't paid for them, and you haven't received them, it is difficult to understand what you need help with. As a general matter, it is not possible to pass good title to stolen merchandise. You seem not to have that problem, as you do not have any such merchandise. If you are confused about this, or need help, please feel free to contact my office.... Read Answer

The answer to this question depends on your "classification" (the legal term of art) and whether you are properly classified as an "exempt" (i.e., not subject to the provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act) employee. The fact that your employer chooses to pay you a fixed salary does not dispose of the issue of whether you are exempt or non-exempt; rather, what matters is your duties. It is not possible to tell from your inquiry the nature of your duties and whether you fall into one of the applicable exemptions. Assuming you are, in fact, exempt, then you are paid by the job and not by the hour, and your negotiated salary covers all hours necessary to perform your tasks as determined by your employer.... Read Answer

The entire fact set is not clear from your inquiry. If you want to set forth the complete set of facts, it is possible that an attorney could provide you with a quote to use in your paper. Generally speaking, the rendition of an "opinion" will generally require the establishment of an attorney-client relationship and payment of fees.... Read Answer

You probably can press charges, but be guided by the following: first, in "pressing charges," what you will be doing is making a complaint with a law-enforcement agency. Any fine or other recovery will belong to the state, and it will be up to the prosecutor to decide whether to prosecute the claim at all and whether and on what terms to settle it -- not up to you. Second, if you "win," you get nothing except the satisfaction of knowing you harmed the employee. It doesn't sound as if your business was harmed in any particular way by this employee's actions. Maybe the best thing to do is lick your (very minor) wounds and move on?... Read Answer

Answering your question a different way, in an "at will" employment state like California, you can be fired for no reason whatsoever. Without knowing about or seeing the worksheet and the responses one cannot tell if it was relevant to your work and your capacity to perform it. If you really don't want to speak to the psychotherapist, you might want to start looking for another job.... Read Answer

In order to prevail in a medical malpractice claim, you need to prove that an ordinarily skilled physician in the same community as your family doctor would have correctly diagnosed the tumor. Moreover, you would need to prove that you suffered some kind of damage from the delayed diagnosis. You do not suggest facts in your inquiry sufficient to satisfy either branch of this dual requirement. Accordingly, it seems as though your claim, at least based on the very limited facts you have posted, is not the strongest one. Nearly all medical malpractice legal work is undertaken by attorneys who work on a contingent-fee basis. Because they only earn what they succeed with, they tend to be very picky about the cases they take. Your case does not seem to involve large amounts of monetary damages. It therefore may be extremely difficult for you to attract an attorney to this matter on a contingent-fee basis.... Read Answer