Ohio Business Legal Questions

The real question is a practical one, rather than a legal one.  We all live and die on our reputations.  For an online business do you really want people who are already connected to the internet to tell their friends to never come to your events, to find a blog somewhere to complain about you, to make their own blog about how rotten you are for canceling/postponing the event and not giving them (apparently) anything, like a ticket to the next event (maybe two because of the inconvenience that you have cause them).  Then they could also file suit against you.  Believe me, the cost of the refund will pale in comparison to the time, effort and money that the lawsuit will cost you.  You didn't mention whether the event was a "consumer" event subject to Ohio's very powerful and almost punitive consumer laws.  It's possible that a court could force you to pay the up to three times the money back, plus attorneys fees (THEIR attorney's fees, don't forget about paying your own). If I plan to go to an event, I block out the time for the event.  If the event is then postponed, I may not be able to attend because I already have something else scheduled.  Why should you get to keep my money when I originally gave it to you only because you were doing what I wanted to attend on a date I COULD attend. Why don't you give refunds?  Because they have potentially taken someone else's seat in a live event (if it's an online program there is little chance of that)?  My suggestion would be to re-write your refund policy to allow them some flexibility and to take the risk out of dealing with you.  Common refund programs that I have seen are Full Refund if canceled prior to 2 weeks (or some other reasonable time) before the event, Full Credit for a same priced later event if after the "2 week" deadline, but prior to the event, no refund after the event, and then be flexible when they call and say, but I couldn't attend at the last minute because (what ever outlandish "dog ate my homework" excuse they have for you).  So give them a pass to a later event, they end up loving you and telling others about you, giving you higher sales for free.  This is for when THEY want to cancel.  When YOU cancel or postpone (same as canceling to them if they can't or don't want to attend on the new date), why would you EVER consider not refunding people their money, because, of course YOU CANCELED! You have inconvenienced them.  Do whatever it takes to make it right.  Yes, offer them their money back, maybe even before they ask.  Given them the choice of either the refund or 2 tickets to future events.  Forget what technicality there might be in the law or your "contract" (website).  Do for them what you would like to have done if someone else did the same thing to you.... Read More

Your friend should speak with an attorney that handles employment law matters, or civil defense. This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.   ... Read More

I don't know Ohio law specifically, but I would very much doubt that such an unauthorized gambling site would be legal.  This is a highly regulated area.  I used to represent a company which ran internet lottery games and, while the regulations differed somewhat from state to state, they did not charge any fee for entry into the game.  They made their money from collating the information provided by subscribers, and marketing the resultant lists. ... Read More

The "default setting" is that anyone can sell anything they own. If there is a breach of fiduciary duty involved in the sale (which would depend on showing additional facts that you do not allege), it might be possible for the minority owners to have the majority owners disgorge a portion of his proceeds.... Read More

The answer is "probably not." The law is intended to protect the interest of tenants, not of dish salesmen. In other words, landlords owe tenants, but not dish salesmen, a duty under the law. Moreover, any damages you have sustained would be speculative. Any lawsuit you brought against a landlord would likely be dismissed for lack of standing or on other similar grounds.... Read More

If your question is whether the owner of a proprietorship can deduct the expenses for operation of a vehicle used in the business, the answer is "yes." The deduction can be claimed either on a per-mile basis, or actual expenses. The deductible expenses include all ordinary and necessary expenses of the vehicle. If the vehicle is used partly for person purposes, then a ratable share of the expenses can be deducted.... Read More

You don't specify the nature of your employment and job. If you are an "exempt" employee, you are not entitled to compensation, regardless of the number of hours you work. If you are "non-exempt" (generally, an hourly employee), you are generally not required to be compensated when you report to work at the direction of your employer at remote location without first going to the employer's location.... Read More

Workers compensation is a system of protection for employees that entirely supersedes the conventional tort system. Its purpose is to compensate injured employees regardless of proof of fault on the part of the employer. In exchange for giving up the right to sue the employer directly, the employee gets compensation virtually automatically and without the necessity of proving fault, although frequently at a lower rate than would be the case in an ordinary personal injury lawsuit. Bottom line: as a general matter, workers compensation is the exclusive remedy for an injured employee against his or her employer.... Read More

As a general matter, no. The Department of Labor has issued several opinion letters on this issue. See, generally. Wage-Hour Opinion Letter No. 2169 (July 12, 1999) (on-call time not compensable where employees carried pagers and were required to stay within the geographic range of the pager); Wage-Hour Opinion Letter No. 2027 (March 11, 1997) (on-call time not compensable where employee carried pager, even though required response time was only ten minutes); Wage-Hour Opinion Letter No. 1939 (May 28, 1998) (employees who carried beepers and were required to respond within twenty minutes not entitled to compensation for on-call hours).... Read More

It is impossible to know how to advise you without having some idea of what you would be giving up by remaining a member of the class (i.e., by not opting out). In other words, it would be necessary to know the nature and amount of your individual claim that you would give up by not opting out. You will need to have a private consultation with an attorney to make this determination. If you cannot articulate a strong basis for a personal (non-class) claim of significant magnitude, then you may be better off by remaining a member of the class. Your attorney can best advise you on this.... Read More