BBB Warns About Scam Telemarketing Calls Targeting Seniors

According to the Better Business Bureau, (BBB) seniors are being bombarded with scam telemarketing calls from “Senior Emergency Care,” “Senior Safety Alert” and “Senior Safe Alert.” The BBB recommends hanging up on these callers representing themselves as legitimate companies.

As stated by the BBB, the scam companies are contacting seniors with prerecorded telemarketing calls pitching personal emergency alarm systems. The recording warns that it is necessary to protect against a long list of dangers, such as break-ins and medical emergencies. It then suggests that you can get an alarm system worth several hundred dollars installed for free. You are just responsible for a monthly charge of $30. After the victim offers-up their credit cards number and other personal information they never receive an actual alarm. Generally, the calls appear to come from an area code in the surrounding region, but these numbers can be misrepresented by using a technique called “spoofing”.

Unfortunately, many of these scam telemarketing companies are based out of the country and are not bound by our laws. However, if you are being harassed by a telemarketing company based in the United States there are laws that can protect you. If you are a California resident and are being harassed by either a telemarketer or debt collector, please give my office, The Law Offices of Paul Mankin a call today at (877) 449-8898 for a free consultation.

Wal-Mart Sued For Sex Discrimination

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Wal-Mart Stores Inc, alleging discrimination against its female employees. (Ladik et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Case No. 13-cv-00123)

According to the lawsuit, filed by 1 current and 4 former Wal-mart employees, Wal-Mart discriminated against them and other women when it came to receiving compensation and promotions.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, (EEOC) forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.

If you have suffered discrimination in violation of the law, please give my office, The Law Offices of Paul Mankin a call today at (877) 449-8898.

EEOC Sues Big Lots Stores For Sexual Discrimination

The  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, (EEOC)’s lawsuit charged that a male store manager of the Fort Smith store subjected female employees to sexually offensive comments and requests for sexual favors. The lawsuit also charges that after a female employee reported the sexual harassment, Big Lots failed to take the appropriate measures necessary to protect its employees from continued sexual harassment, as required by law.  (EEOC v. Big Lots Stores, Inc., 2:11-CV-02184-PKH)

In addition to the monetary compensation, the consent decree settling the suit includes provisions for redistribution of Big Lots’ harassment-free environment policy and mandatory anti-discrimination training.

If you have suffered discrimination in the work-place, please give my office, The Law Offices of Paul Mankin a call today at (877) 449-8898.

Ventura County’s Medi-Cal Commission Sued For Sexual Harrasement and Wrongful Termination

Former administrative assistant, Audra Lucas sued the Ventura County Managed Medi-Cal Care Commission, its CEO Earl Greenia, and Regional Government Services after allegedly suffering an egregious case of sexual harassment. She is seeking damages from Greenia for sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and assault & battery.
Lucas began to notice that Greenia would fixate on her body and ‘check her out. ‘
Eventually,  Greenia’s comments became sexual in nature.   He began to outwardly flirt with Lucas and make comments to Lucas that made her feel uncomfortable. Greenia would brush up against Lucas or touch her knee in conversation. When requesting coffee from Lucas, he would say he wanted it ‘blonde, sweet and strong’ (referring to her). When Greenia flirted or made sexually suggestive comments to Lucas, she would remind him that he was married and try to change the subject. She also tried to avoid situations where she would be alone with Greenia,” Lucas claims.
Then Greenia began sending her sexually charged text messages and emails and asked her to send him pictures of her, Lucas says.   “In September of 2011, Greenia gave Lucas a flash drive containing pornography. Lucas did not watch the movies but knows they were pornographic because Greenia asked her which scenes she liked and he described which ones he liked. Although, Lucas told him several times to stop behaving inappropriately, Greenia continued. He told her she had to ‘appease’ him. Lucas was afraid to lose her job and felt pressured to go along with Greenia,” the complaint states.

One day Greenia and Lucas were in the elevator alone together on their way to a meeting. Greenia turned to Lucas and said ‘It’s time for your spanking.’ He then spanked Lucas on her buttocks. Lucas was frightened and uncomfortable with Greenia’s behavior so she told him she forgot something and got off the elevator and walked toward the stairs to her office,” according to the complaint.
In February 2012,  she confided in both Gold Coast HR manager Limousin and Regional Government Services HR manager Jennifer Bower, but was brushed off.
“Ms. Bower told Lucas that she was very busy and could not meet with Lucas for another two weeks. Lucas pleaded with Bower to meet her as soon as possible because she could no longer tolerate the stress of her working environment. Reluctantly, Bower met with Lucas at a café to discuss her complaint. When Lucas told Bower about the harassment, Bower’s reply to Lucas was, ‘I can see why this would be exciting to you.’ Ms. Bower did not take Lucas’s complaint seriously and Lucas felt as though Ms. Bower was in some way blaming Lucas for the sexual harassment. Lucas then showed Bower the text messages Greenia sent her. It was at that time that Bower seemed to believe Lucas,” the complaint states.

Lucas says Greenia’s harassment made her emotionally distraught and so physically ill she vomited, eventually causing her to take a leave of absence.
“Lucas is emotionally distraught from the ongoing sexual harassment. Lucas began to experience a significant amount of stress causing her to miss several days of work.  Lucas has lost a significant amount of weight; she continues to vomit and experiences fainting spells as a result of the stress and anxiety related to this harassment. On one occasion, Lucas fainted at work and had to be transported to the emergency room by ambulance,” Lucas says in her complaint.   Gold Coast placed Lucas on administrative leave of absence because of the stress. Shortly afterward, Greenia resigned and Regional Government informed her that she would no longer be employed as of Aug. 31, 2012.

If you have suffered harassment or have been wrongfully terminated, please give my office, The Law Offices of Paul Mankin a call today at (877) 449-8898.

 

EEOC Sues UPS For Religous Discrimination

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit, UPS failed to accommodate the request of a newly hired truck loader to modify his starting schedule so that he could attend the Memorial of Christ’s Death, an annual religious service in the Jehovah’s Witness faith.    (Civil Action No.: 2:12-CV-07334)

The new employee requested that he either start his first day of work on a different day, start later than his scheduled time on his 1st day, or be given an hour’s leave during his shift to attend the ceremony and return to work. UPS denied his request, the EEOC said, requiring that he report to work as scheduled, and told him this was non-negotiable. When the employee refused to compromise his religious beliefs and attended the Memorial instead of reporting to work, UPS fired him.  This alleged conduct is in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“Federal law requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for their employees’ religious beliefs and practices,” said Elizabeth Grossman, regional attorney of the EEOC New York District Office. “Where a request for a religious accommodation does not result in an undue hardship to the employer, the employee’s request must be respected.”

If you have been wrongfully terminated or discriminated against, please give my office, The Law Offices of Paul Mankin a call at (877) 449-8898.

 

Transportation Company Sued For Racial Discrimination

Miami based, Prestige Transportation Service has been sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, (EEOC) after allegedly firing their Human Resources Manager who objected to them advising her that allowing a black person to fill out a job application would be a “waste of paper.” This conduct is in clear violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race and national origin, prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who complain about employment discrimination. (EEOC v. Prestige Transportation Service, LLC., Case No 1:13-cv-20684-JEM).

The lawsuit also claims that Prestige unlawfully failed to keep records and documents related to employment applications, personnel records, and documents regarding rates of pay and other terms of compensation.

If you have suffered racial discrimination, please give my office, The Law Offices of Paul Mankin a call at (877) 449-8898 for a free consultation.

Did your employer terminate you to avoid paying Workers Compensation?

This happened recently to a California man who had never received any complaints about his work product or attendance history.  He was injured on the job and was told by his doctor that he should not return to work until he was healed.

After a few weeks of leave, he received in the mail a last check and a termination letter, saying he was terminated due to being absent all the time.

If you are the victim of wrongful termination, please give my office, The Law Offices of Paul Mankin a call today at (877) 449-8898 for a free consultation.

 

 

Is my social security protected form debt collectors

Yes! Social Security benefits are exempt from garnishment. Any federal benefits that are directly deposited into your bank account are protected from garnishment up to the value of the account, or up to a value of 2 months’ worth of Social Security payments, whichever is less. In other-words, any excess amount in the account could be garnished, but the Social Security payments for the last two months are protected.

If you have debt collectors harassing you, give my office, The Law Offices of Paul Mankin a call at 877-449-8898 for a free consultation.

Coca-Cola Sued for spam text messages

In August of 2012 a class action lawsuit was filed against Coca-Cola for allegedly sending thousands of spam text messages to consumers, “long after they had opted out” from Coca-Cola’s “rewards” program in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, (TCPA).

According to the TCPA it is a violation for advertisers to send unwanted text messages to cell phones.

If you are receiving unwanted text messages or robo-calls from an advertiser on your cell phone, you may be entitled to compensation. Please call my office, The Law Offices of Paul Mankin at 877-449-8898 for a free consultation.

Mortgage Company Reaches Settlement in Spam TCPA Case

A settlement has been reached in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action lawsuit pending against Matrix LS, Inc., a mortgage company located in Michigan.

According to the lawsuit Matrix violated the TCPA by faxing advertisements to people without their prior express permission.

Eligible class members include all persons who, on or after June 22, 2004, were sent an unsolicited fax advertising the commercial availability of any property, goods or services on behalf of Matrix.

The TCPA prohibits advertisers from sending consumers unsolicited faxes, spam text messages or contacting them on their cell phones with out prior permission.   If you have been the victim of an advertiser in violation of the TCPA, you may be entitled to compensation.  Please give my office, The Law Offices of Paul Mankin a call today at 877-449-8898.