You and the law | “You have a great wrongful termination case!” – Times-Standard

Today's story will be of particular interest to anyone who has been fired and is now being encouraged to file a wrongful termination lawsuit.

“In our litigious society, where the boss is always wrong and employees believe they have a right to their jobs – which is not the case – few can even remotely consider that they might have deserved to be fired. They are told that if they do, they are the victim of a wrongful termination and should sue for damages,” says Southern California employment attorney Jay Rosenlieb.

“In reality, wrongful termination is termination for an illegal reason, such as discrimination, violation of labor laws, retaliation, etc. And yes, there are a small number of terrible employers who violate these laws and deserve a massive lawsuit.”

“So often, disgruntled workers search the Internet for YouTube videos of lawyers from all over the country begging to take their cases. The result is misery for the worker – who is often lied to and told they have a good chance and has to waste a lot of time on something that doesn't exist. Employers fall victim to legalized extortion, paying money they aren't owed just to end the litigation.”

Said she had a great case

Sarah Dunn was fired from her job as a night shift worker at a California fitness center and called a Los Angeles law firm that advertises online with the statement: “We are wrongful termination lawyers and defend workers' rights – no compensation, no fee.”

“I told one of their lawyers that my relationship with a new manager had basically soured and we were no longer getting along. The lawyer said, 'This is a good case of wrongful termination.'”

A lack of cooperation is not a basis for a claim for unfair dismissal, but this small detail was of no importance to the law firm.

Sarah DocuSigned signed the fee that was emailed to her, but was not sent a copy of the signed agreement, in violation of California Bar rules.

If she had read the many negative Yelp reviews, this story would never have been written:

“Scammers, they are ruthless, rip off, absolute garbage. If you are looking for unprofessional representation, this is the place for you!”

What does “No Refund – No Fee” really mean?

For contingency fee cases – such as car accidents – they use a “no refund/no fee” term, expressed as 25%, one-third, or 50%. However, their fee states, “We bill on an hourly basis – $150 to $695 – and do not send monthly statements.”

What? No monthly bills? No joke.

They conceal their fees until the end, violating California Bar regulations that require hourly billing to send monthly invoices to clients.

Sarah didn't find out what she was being billed until after the case was closed, and she was billed nearly $600 – the attorney's hourly rate for billing – which was completely incorrect and not only violated the attorney rules, but also included double billing and outright billing inflation. How much was her bill? Over $7,000!

They generously reduced the amount to $5,000.

Told them to refund the employer the severance pay

By the time Sarah met with our office, she had been led to believe that she had a valid case of wrongful termination, after which they had bilked her employer out of $10,000 and kept half of it.

But Sarah has a conscience and wrote to her lawyer:

“You fraudulently induced me to hire your firm. However, there was no wrongful termination in the legal sense. You caused my former employer to waste time and legal fees because of your fraud. I want you to refund him that money.”

They haven't responded and I'm sure they won't. But it gets worse. Her settlement agreement includes a non-disclosure agreement that prohibits her from speaking to almost anyone about this case or her company.

But under California law and National Labor Relations Board rules, employees are free to discuss any aspect of their employment or termination that isn't covered by protected matters like trade secrets, so their lawyers try to keep their own clients from discussing the case with virtually anyone.

Sarah files a complaint with the Bar Association

Sarah filed a formal complaint against the lawyer with the California State Bar Association. They gave the man a slap on the wrist and put him in a “diversion” program to be a “good lawyer” in the future.

And, oh yeah, it's not on his bar website, so potential clients have no idea what a slimeball he is.

Disgusted, I wrote to the bar's trial attorney, “Remember Tom Girardi? He was the lawyer you allowed to embezzle millions of dollars from clients to finance Housewives of Beverly Hills? Well, you have something similar here and you need to go in there, get their files and see how badly clients were defrauded!”

The Bar Association has not responded and I doubt it will.

It would be nice if the public could always trust the legal profession. Unfortunately, that is not the case today. Buyer beware when hiring a lawyer just as it does when buying a used car. Do your research before you sign the contract and read the negative reviews first.

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes reader comments and questions, which can be faxed to 661-323-7993 or emailed to [email protected]. And be sure to visit dennisbeaver.com