Florida law defines a “Partnership” as “an association of two or more persons to carry on as coowners a business for profit,” Fla. Stat. § 620.8101(7), with the word “person” being construed to mean both…
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Collection of debts in Florida is regulated by both federal law (the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) and state law (the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, or the “FCCPA”).
The FCCPA enumerates 19 different things that people may not do in Florida when collecting a debt. Violation of this law can bring forth a civil cause of action against the person collecting the debt.
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According to one recent study, unauthorized immigrants make up 5.8 percent of Florida’s workforce. Ineligible for benefits such as food stamps or welfare, many illegal aliens have no choice but to work to put food on the table. Many employers, faced with rising overhead, are quick to pay these workers “under the table.”
However, one common risk illegal aliens face is non-payment. Employers, already having no documentation on the illegal aliens they hire, will sometimes flatly deny that the employment relationship existed or that the workers ever performed the work.
Legally, however, illegal aliens who perform work but do not get paid do have options. In June of 2011, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reiterated a 1988 case in holding that illegal aliens are “employees” covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Galdames v. N & D Inv. Corp., 432 Fed.Appx. 801, 804 (11th Cir. 2011) (citing Patel v. Quality Inn South, 846 F.2d 700 (11th Cir.1988)).
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Today Attorney Cynthia Conlin was interviewed on Channel 9 news about a case currently being litigated in the Middle District of Florida, Orlando, Joanne Shea v. Orange County Sheriff’s Office, 6:11-cv-01677-JA-DAB, about a woman who…
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After out-of-state blogger Tabatha Marshall allegedly published a blog accusing website operator Internet Solutions Corp (“ISC”) of “on-going criminal activity, specifically ‘phishing’ and consumer fraud,” ISC sued Ms. Marshall for defamation in federal court in…
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A Jacksonville hotel was recently ordered to pay more than $2,000.00 in damages to a long-term guest it locked out for failing to pay his room fees.
In 2009, Eric Fleming moved into a room in the Scottish Inn hotel in Jacksonville. At first he paid $27 per night, but after about six months, he began paying bi-weekly, when he received his unemployment checks.
One week Mr. Fleming’s unemployment check did not arrive when expected. He asked the hotel manager to extend his stay, and the manager agreed to extend, but only to a particular deadline date.
When the deadline date came, Mr. Fleming, whose unemployment check still had not arrived, came home one day to find himself locked out of his room. . . .
read moreLike many other business owners, the other day I received in my postal mail a curious letter urging me to quickly submit an “Annual Minutes Requirement Statement.” Because this letter came right around the time the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations sends its requirements to corporations to file their annual reports, at first glance, I actually thought it was from the State.
However, when I read further, and saw that it was asking for a check for $125.00 “payable to COMPLIANCE SERVICS” my eyes widened. …
read moreDo you have a company or sell a product and want to register a domain, but find that the domain is already taken? If the person refuses to give up the domain, what can you do? One possible recourse is provided in the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA).
The ACPA is a federal law enacted in 1999. It allows someone with a valid trademark that is distinctive or famous to sue someone who purchased a domain that is identical, confusingly similar, or dilutive of the owner’s mark, in instances where the alleged cybersquatter used or registered the domain name with a bad faith intent to profit.
read moreHere I discuss Baby Buddies Inc. v. Toys “R” Us, Inc., 22 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C1159b (11th Cir. 2010), a case where Baby Buddies alleged that Toys R Us’s pacifier holder infringed Baby Buddies’s…
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