San Diego Estate Planning Lawyer Blog

In San Diego, California many residents are in the military. As we know, deployments are common. In light of the recent call to active duty received by thousands of United States military reservists, employers and employees alike need to know their obligations to each other when employees serve in the uniformed services. The reemployment rights of military members were revised by Congress in 1994. The main thrust of the legislation is to guarantee the rights of military service members to take a leave of absence from their civilian jobs for active military service and to return to their jobs with accrued seniority and other protections.

Estate planning issues always arise and state law is very important in San Diego, California and there is information about necessary powers of attorney. The federal law applies to all Armed Forces members, including the Reserves, National Guards, the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service, and any others designated by the President during a war or an emergency. Employees of both private and public employers are protected when they have embarked on and have been honorably discharged from military service consisting of active duty, inactive duty training, full-time National Guard duty, or absences for fitness examinations. Unlike some other federal employment statutes, the law on reemployment rights of individuals in the Armed Services has no minimum number of employees for there to be coverage.

An employer is prohibited from using a person's military service or application for such service as a motivating factor in any adverse employment action against that person. Nor can an employer retaliate against an employee who participates in the reporting, investigation, or filing of claims asserting that the employer violated the federal statute.

To receive the benefit of the statutory rights and protections, an employee generally must give the employer advance oral or written notice of military service. Exceptions to this requirement are recognized when giving such notice would be impossible, unreasonable, or contrary to military necessity. One important consideration is the care and protection of minor children left behind and sometimes a guardianship is necessary.

Employees leaving their jobs for military service lasting less than 31 days are entitled to continued health insurance coverage at the same cost, if any, that active employees would pay. An advanced health care directive is really essential for any member of the armed services on deployment in the event they are incapaciated and sent back to the United States under the care of their family. For service lasting more than 31 days, employees may elect to pay for continuation of their health coverage for up to 18 months, or until their reemployment rights expire, whichever comes first. Upon returning to work after military service, an employee is entitled to immediate health insurance coverage, even if returning employees usually face a waiting period.

Continue reading " San Diego Military Deployment: Estate Planning Issues " »

San Diego has over 1,000,000 residents. Many San Diego residents are on lists of different companies. San Diego residents have to be careful of the companies who keep lists selling their personal information and, in some cases, where it is stolen by a third party. One example of stolen customer lists is below.

Home food service companies sell and deliver food products and appliances to their customers, many of whom later reorder more products. When a home food service company bought a customer list of one of its competitors, what might have been a competitive advantage instead became a legal headache. The list had been stolen and the food service company that bought it knew it was stolen. This can be considered receiving stolen property under the California Penal Code Section 496.

The company whose list got into the wrong hands sued the purchaser of the list for misappropriation of a trade secret. Some courts have refused to recognize customer lists as protected trade secrets when they contain information that is readily available from public sources. The essence of a trade secret is that it has value because it is not easily ascertainable. The customer list for the home food service company was protected because of the time and effort that had been expended to identify particular customers with particular needs or characteristics. The defense that the list contained only information that was easily compiled was undercut by the fact that the defendant had paid a lot of money for it.

A state court found a violation of the law governing trade secrets. It ruled that monetary damages should be awarded to the plaintiff based on net profits earned by the defendant from improper use of the list. The court also barred the defendant from ever using the stolen list again.

Our law firm of Pinkerton, Doppelt & Associates, LLP can assist with legal matters. Please feel free to e mail us. If we cannot be of assistance, we can refer you to the San Diego County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service which offers a complimentary and confidential 30 minute consultation.