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Ducati North America Raided by the FBI

Is this just a matter of terminology? My company hires "temporary" workers but they're referred to as contractors...

You can be a temporary contractor.
A worker can be an employee or a contractor. Classifying is done IAW Board of Labor guidelines.
A W2 or a 1009 does not define whether a worker is an employee or a contractor.
 
Well, now Shawn can go work for Lucytriple.

Mad
 
Shocking. Shawn, the trauma of having guns pointed at your head followed by a dismissal will take a lot of time to get over.
There is not a single person who can understand that if it hasn't happened to him/her.
I am so sorry and hope the dreams are not too vivid.
 
Well, process and paperwork. When I worked for Gilead Sciences, about 15% of their staff was contractors. Can be taxed on W2 or 1099 basis. Basically you are an independent entity. Saves them having to pay you benefits of any kind.
And costs them more in hourly rate. That's the tradeoff.

In software for example, a company staffs up to develop a new product. To get specific skills they need for a limited time, they bring in contractors. But the company has to pay more per hour than they pay their employees. Otherwise, contractors are indistinguishable from employees. On one project I had a team of 5, 2 of whom were contractors, but that was a non-issue day-to-day. We worked together.

I believe that is over in California after AB-5. One effect will be to fuck over startups. A big company will be able to shuffle staff around to accommodate a new project, while a small company cannot.
 
Well, process and paperwork. When I worked for Gilead Sciences, about 15% of their staff was contractors. Can be taxed on W2 or 1099 basis. Basically you are an independent entity. Saves them having to pay you benefits of any kind.
I'm still there. Like many companies out there, you work for one company that farms you out to another company.
 
El Skip should sue.

while it had crossed my mind, it would mean going up against the parent company's, audi/vw, team of corporate lawyers. i don't have the resources to do that.
 
I'm still there. Like many companies out there, you work for one company that farms you out to another company.

My sister-in-law has worked as contractor for power-company in AZ for 15-years now. Bastards...

Oh yeah, in Bay Area, recruiting firms are HUGE part of hiring. They pimp you out for some high hourly-rate. Some agencies even provide some sort of benefits.

Corp-to-corp pays highest hourly-rate. Time to incorporate myself and have my corp pimp me out!
 
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Ducati North America pulling some shady underhanded shit? Say it ain't so. :rolleyes

X8kGf3f.jpg
 
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Again Just wow. Get a gun pointed in your face and say you were scared out of your wits and the hammer comes down.

Like others have said before Shawn you are talented beyond belief and you can over come this on the private side alone.
We have to look out for our own and there are people out there that can use his services right this minute.
I wouldnt rule out unemployment or suing, look into those avenues.
Im next door to you, not sure about my mileage and a valve job might be in the not so distant future.
 
while it had crossed my mind, it would mean going up against the parent company's, audi/vw, team of corporate lawyers. i don't have the resources to do that.


Don't fall for that. Chances are it will never make it to court and they'll want to settle. You will likely be out no upfront money so long as you can stomach giving an attorney 25-40% down the road.

But do consult a good firm. I'm not sure who, but find one.

edit- if you do go this route, stop talking to us about this situation now, and write down everything you know to be true about the situation, word for word if you know it. Keep copies of everything.
 
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Sounds like a scary situation and hope it wasn't too traumatic.

They call it whatever they want but the facts determine the classification, not the label, and it sure sounds like you were an employee, not a contractor. It's a hot issue in CA and Ducati can get in trouble for misclassification, particularly if you're not the only one. Because of that risk they may be willing to pay you a settlement in exchange for a release and confidentiality agreement. (In fact, they might actually expect to need to do that.)

I totally understand not wanting to take them on but it's worth a short consultation with an employment lawyer. You should be able to find on who will take the case on contingency, meaning you don't pay unless you win.

Good luck!
 
while it had crossed my mind, it would mean going up against the parent company's, audi/vw, team of corporate lawyers. i don't have the resources to do that.

No, it doesn't. The state Labor Board folks love shit like this- its all them representing your rights- you sir are a "victim". Investigating, hearings, deciding- your taxes. You simply provide the story of what happened and supporting documents. It gets really interesting because they freaking know you weren't the only employee-treated-as-contractor and they're good at tearing the place apart and finding all the others.

Worth a call and visit, office used to be downtown SanJo across from Hammer Theater.

Edit: you may WANT a labor attorney at some point to look out, but its not like it all happens in a couple weeks. Plenty of time to get the party started, then bring one in later to look things over (that would be on your dime BTW, but Labor Board folks are not).
 
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The labor board will investigate, I've been on the wrong end of that before. But, maybe it's a hard stretch even if you're contract/temp (not independent).

Did they say why? Does anyone here think that a company is afoul by dismissing a temp because they didn't like their social media reporting, or any kind of social media activity (that is not specifically protected)?
 
while it had crossed my mind, it would mean going up against the parent company's, audi/vw, team of corporate lawyers. i don't have the resources to do that.

This may fall under this law which is very very bad news for an employer that gets hit with such a suit as the awards are often seven figures.

A lawyer would salivate for such a case even on contingency.

If you prevail in a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against your employer, you may be entitled to damages that could include:

Lost wages and benefits;

Compensation for physical pain, mental suffering and/or loss of career opportunities due to the whistleblower retaliation; and/or

In some cases, punitive damages designed to punish your employer for egregious misbehavior, and/or reimbursement for your attorney’s fees.
 
This is not a whistleblower situation from what I can tell.

Simply a dissmissal that may be not be correctly handled.
 
This is not a whistleblower situation from what I can tell.

Simply a dissmissal that may be not be correctly handled.

I'm not so sure about that.

"Whistleblower laws protect employees from being retaliated against after reporting that their employer has violated the law or breached the public trust."

I can see a smart lawyer filing under that as he was fired for reporting on a law enforcement operation against the Company.
 
He didn’t report the violations to the agency or government.

He just confirmed the FBI was there.
 
He didn’t report the violations to the agency or government.

He just confirmed the FBI was there.

IDK, lawyers are crafty and it is clear that he was terminated for "reporting that his employer had perhaps violated the law."

Sadly I've been on the receiving end of lawyers' tactics and if they can "blow up" an allegation to make it seem much larger than it is on its face they most certainly will.

Leads to larger settlements.
 
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