Sacramento Business Law Blog

For years, Roseville's SureWest Communications staved off takeover attempts from larger communications companies, but it seems that era of independence is over. On Monday, the telephone company announced that it would be taken over by Illinois-based Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc.

Assuming all the corporate law concerns are satisfactorily met, the $341 million deal will close as soon as the Securities and Exchange Commission gives its blessing. However, SureWest is now being "investigated" by several law firms who claim to represent clients concerned that SureWest breached its fiduciary to shareholders for not angling for a better deal. SureWest's CEO said he is not concerned about the potentiality of lawsuits because he is confident future SEC filings will vindicate the company.

Last year, the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission received almost 100,000 complaints about employment discrimination. The 99, 947 complaints it received were a record for the agency, which enforces our country's employment laws.

All told, the complaints equaled $455.6 million in relief and represented the concerns for 5.4 million people.

Not far from Sacramento is one of the world's hottest technology spots. Silicon Valley has earned itself a reputation as being the center of the technology and internet world, and for good reason. It is home to some of the biggest names in the business, including Google, Apple and YouTube.

Recently, a lawsuit was filed in San Jose alleging that many of these companies had a "gentleman's agreement" with each other not to recruit each other's employees. The lawsuit claims this is a violation of employment law because the agreement keeps wages artificially low by discouraging companies from competing with one another for talent and labor. The employees are also unhappy because offers from other companies give them a sense of what they are worth and so helps them establish a bargaining position from which they can demand higher pay or other employment perks.

Very soon, Californians, and football fans across the country, will be buzzing about the Super Bowl. The big game is known for the intense action on the field, but also for the entertaining advertisements. With all the anticipation building up to the event, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has targeted Hyundai for failure to adhere to advertising regulations. A blogging campaign, launched by a firm hired by the automaker, was the subject of an FTC investigation.

Bloggers were given gift certificates by Hyundai to provide links to videos of their Super Bowl ads and provide hype for their products. The trouble came when some bloggers did not disclose that they were receiving compensation for the promotional work. When consumers are not made aware that a blogger is receiving compensation for an endorsement, they are being misled, according to the FTC.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court told a group of female Wal-Mart employees who were trying to bring a class action suit against the discount giant for alleged sexual discrimination that they did not share enough characteristics to properly constitute a "class."

Readers in Sacramento might think a decision like that would settle the issue, but they'd be wrong. Evidently, some female employees are still casting about for a reason to sue Wal-Mart for violating employment law.

Many women in Sacramento love Martha Stewart. Stewart almost singlehandedly rejuvenated American homemaking and entertaining as an art form and has been met with incredible success, launching a popular magazine, television show and line of home goods.

That last business venture, though, might be getting her into trouble. Department store Macy's Inc. recently sued her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, over an agreement it entered into with rival department store J.C. Penney Co. Inc.

Readers in Sacramento have heard enough stories about Eastman Kodak Co. possibly filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy that they probably have developed the idea that the venerable film and camera company is circling the drain.

Regardless of the company's financial position, it still has some kick in it left. Kodak recently sued Apple, HTC, Fujifilm, Samsung and HTC after those companies allegedly infringed on patents that Kodak owns.

You would think that a business could hire whomever it wants as long as it is not obviously discriminating against, say, women or people of a certain ethnicity. But Sacramento business owners may be surprised to know that they have to be more careful than that since the government agencies that enforce our employment laws see discrimination everywhere.

Take the case of Pepsi Beverages, one of the largest Pepsi bottlers in the Midwest. It recently announced that it has to pay over $3 million to settle claims that it engaged in racial discrimination in reviewing job applicants. Furthermore, it has to extend job offers and provide employment training to applicants whom it chose not to hire and may have been affected by its allegedly discriminatory hiring policy.