Never Invest Your Money In Anything That Eats Or Needs Painting.

Never Invest Your Money In Anything That Eats Or Needs Painting.

The California Chamber of Commerce has produced a white paper cataloging the top 10 mistakes most likely to get a company sued. While a few of the laws cited apply specifically to California, some of them are federal and may apply in your state.

The report observes: "Employers may unintentionally violate employment laws simply by trying to provide some flexibility for an employee, save money for the company or just be nice."

Here are the top 10 mistakes

1. Classifying all employees as exempt, whether they are or not

It may be easier to pay someone a salary rather than figure out overtime, meal breaks, rest breaks and the like. The time (and money) you save on bookkeeping is a false economy, however, since you could pay big time in penalties or a lawsuit. (See the report for more specifics.)

2. Letting employees work through lunch so they can take off early

A non-exempt employee is required to be given a 30-minute meal break, plus a 10-minute break for every four hours worked. If you deny one or the other, you owe the person an extra hour's wages; if you deny both in the same day, you owe an additional two hours. The wages must be paid during the pay period in which it's missed. The employee cannot waive his or her right to the breaks. This isn't just a California issue; here is a recent example in which an employee at a family-owned bakery in Washington allegedly was denied 10-minute breaks.

3. Making everyone an “independent contractor” because having employees is too much trouble

The report notes that contractors are happy until one of the following comes up: workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, state disability insurance or paid family leave benefits. Avoid these legal spiderwebs by determining who is and who isn't a contractor.

4. Not providing training about harassment and discrimination to managers and supervisors

Don't assume your employees won't need the information. Avoid lawsuits by providing the basic sexual harassment training required by law.

5. Letting employees decide which, and how many, hours they want to work each day

Most employees are restricted by law regarding the number of hours they can work without needing to be paid overtime. If you are allowing longer workdays for four-day workweeks, there are rules that need to be followed. Check with your state laws for specifics.

6. Terminating any employee who takes a leave of absence

From the report: "Employees have legal protection when they are away from work for various reasons, including workers’ compensation, disability, pregnancy, family and medical leave, military leave, jury duty and many more."

7. Withholding an employee's final check if they fail to return company property

You may think you can withhold money while you wait for an employee to return a computer or a cellphone, but think again. Some states have laws that require you hand over the check the minute the words "you're fired" come out of your mouth. And if an employee quits and gives more than 72 hours notice, the check must be ready on his or her last day. The penalties start accruing from the moment the check is late–one day of wages for every calendar day of delay.

8. Providing loans to employees and deducting the money from their paycheck each pay period

This seems perfectly fine, doesn't it? Except most state labor codes permit only paycheck deductions authorized by law and those authorized by the employee for health insurance or other benefits. No other deductions are permitted. If you're making a loan, you should have the employee sign a promissory note and a lawyer review it.

9. Using noncompete agreements to protect confidential information

Many employers force employees to sign these agreements to protect business secrets, customer lists and pricing information and to prevent employees from working for the competition. Essentially, you can't force your employee to stay with you, nor can you prevent him or her from making a living.

10. Implementing a “use it or lose it” vacation policy and avoid paying out all the money at termination

Accrued vacation is a form of wages and cannot be denied. You can stop an employee from accruing vacation beyond a "reasonable" amount, but you cannot take away what he or she has already earned. What is considered a "reasonable" cap? Generally 1.5 to two times the annual accrual, says the report.

The Only Valid Censorship Of Ideas, Is The Right Of People Not 2 Listen...

Luther Campbell & the 2 Live Crew..

No rap group (save, perhaps, N.W.A.) has stirred more controversy or provoked more heated debate than the 2 Live Crew. The furor over the graphic sexual content of their X-rated party rhymes — specifically their 1989 album As Nasty As They Wanna Be — was a major catalyst in making rap music a flashpoint for controversy and an easily visible target for self-appointed moral guardians. The fierce attacks on the group's First Amendment rights put many of their defenders in an awkward position — passionately supporting their freedom of speech on the one hand, but often finding little artistic merit in their music. And they were indeed crude and coarse, and frequently misogynistic by most standards; even if they fit squarely into a tradition of raunchy, sexually explicit black comedy (Redd Foxx, Rudy Ray Moore, Blowfly, etc.), many critics and intellectuals found their view of sex repellently juvenile, even ugly (and if they found it funny, it was hard to say so publicly). Despite (or, more likely, because of) that fact, the 2 Live Crew was fairly popular even before all the uproar and benefited greatly at first from all the publicity, although later on the novelty perhaps wore off due to overexposure. Regardless of whether one enjoys their sense of humor, to focus only on the controversy ignores the 2 Live Crew's musical contributions. They were responsible for popularizing the booming, hard-driving sound of Miami bass music, and they were the founding fathers of a populist, dance-oriented rap subgenre that relied on simple, explicit chants and up-tempo rump-shaking grooves, appropriately dubbed "booty rap."
Despite their inextricable link to Miami, the 2 Live Crew actually started out in California, with a membership of Fresh Kid Ice (born Chris Wong Won in Trinidad), DJ Mr. Mixx (born David Hobbs), and Amazing V. The trio released their debut single "Revelation" in 1985 and its popularity in Florida led the group — sans Amazing V — to move to Miami, and after second single "What I Like," they were joined by Brother Marquis (born Mark Ross). They scored a record deal with local impresario Luke Skyywalker (born Luther Campbell in Miami), who initially served as their manager, and then joined the group as a performer and bandleader. With Campbell came a big part of the group's on-record taste for sleaze, and accordingly their 1986 debut album The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are featured songs like "We Want Some Pussy" and "Throw the D" (as in dick). It became a word-of-mouth success, eventually going gold. Even at this early stage, obscenity was an issue; in 1987, a Florida record store clerk was acquitted of felony charges after selling the album to a 14-year-old girl. Campbell hit upon the idea of selling "clean" and "dirty" versions of the group's albums so that younger fans would have a less explicit alternative. 1987's Move Somethin' was the first album released in this format, and it became an even bigger underground hit than its predecessor thanks to notorious cuts like "One and One," an X-rated retelling of the Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night" (which established the Crew's penchant for blatantly copped samples). In 1988, a record store in Alabama was fined for selling a copy of Move Somethin' to an undercover cop (a conviction later overturned on appeal), setting the stage for the Crew's home state to declare war.

As Nasty As They Wanna Be was released in 1989 and became the group's biggest hit yet; the single "Me So Horny" even climbed into the Top 40 despite virtually nonexistent airplay. Word spread even farther about the group's unadulterated raunchiness, attracting the attention of the ultra-conservative watchdog group the American Family Association, who weren't satisfied with the album's parental advisory warning sticker. AFA supporter Jack Thompson, a lawyer and religious activist, convinced Florida governor Bob Martinez to open an inquiry into whether As Nasty As They Wanna Be violated Florida obscenity laws. The state prosecutor determined that action had to be taken on the local, not state, level, and thus in early 1990 Broward County sheriff Nick Navarro obtained a copy of the album and secured a ruling from County Circuit Court Judge Mel Grossman that there was probable cause that the album was legally obscene. Navarro warned record stores around the county that selling the album might subject them to prosecution, and the 2 Live Crew filed suit alleging that Navarro had unconstitutionally overstepped his bounds. In June, District Court Judge Jose Gonzalez ruled that As Nasty As They Wanna Be was legally obscene, and therefore illegal to sell. Record retailer Charles Freeman was arrested two days later for selling the album to an undercover cop, and the three rapping members of the 2 Live Crew were arrested on obscenity charges for performing material from the record in a local club. They were acquitted a few months afterward, thanks in part to expert testimony from Duke professor Henry Louis Gates, and Freeman's conviction was later overturned on appeal.

Meanwhile, As Nasty As They Wanna Be had become the forbidden fruit of choice for teenage boys across the country, selling over two million copies. Several other incidents were reported around the country involving record store owners being arrested for selling the album. The publicity also attracted the attention of George Lucas, who successfully sued Campbell for trademark infringement over his stage and label name, Luke Skyywalker; he subsequently shortened both to Luke. Capitalizing on the media frenzy, Campbell struck a distribution deal with Atlantic and put together a semi-political album called Banned in the U.S.A., after securing rights for the title track from Bruce Springsteen; it was billed to Luke Featuring 2 Live Crew. It sold like hotcakes on first release, and the title single became the group's second Top 40 hit. In 1991, the group released the first full-length live rap album ever, Live in Concert, as well as the official follow-up to As Nasty As They Wanna Be, Sports Weekend. They sold disappointingly, especially considering the group's recent notoriety, and proved to be the last albums they would record together as a quartet. To compound matters, Luke Records was successfully sued for 1,600,000 million dollars in royalties by MC Shy D.

In 1992, the Court of Appeals in Atlanta overturned Jose Gonzalez' ruling that As Nasty As They Wanna Be was legally obscene. At issue was Gonzalez' refusal to heed expert testimony (he'd pronounced himself fit to judge community standards of decency, since he'd lived in the community for 30 years), as well as the fact that the burden of proof of obscenity should have rested with Sheriff Navarro, who submitted nothing besides a copy of the album as evidence. The appeals court's decision was later upheld by the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the 2 Live Crew was drifting apart. Luke and Fresh Kid Ice both released solo albums (I Got Shit on My Mind and The Chinaman, respectively), and original Crew members Ice and Mr. Mixx teamed up as the Rock on Crew for Deal With This. Luke continued his solo career over the rest of the '90s.

In 1994, Luke, Fresh Kid Ice, and new rapper Verb (born Larry Dobson) regrouped as the New 2 Live Crew, issuing the album Back at Your Ass for the Nine-4. The same year, the group found themselves back in court yet again, this time over a lawsuit by the publishers of Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman." They charged 2 Live Crew with plagiarism for recording a parody of the song on As Clean As They Wanna Be, alleging that the reinterpretation tarnished the image of the original. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled that parody constituted fair use and found in favor of the group. The New 2 Live Crew didn't last long, as Luke chose to concentrate on his solo career. In 1995, Luke Records filed for bankruptcy, as Campbell was beset by creditors and expenses; both he and the remaining 2 Live Crew wound up on Lil' Joe, a label founded by his ex-business partner Joe Weinberger. In 1996, Fresh Kid Ice, Brother Marquis, and Mr. Mixx re-formed the 2 Live Crew without Campbell and released Shake a Lil' Somethin'. Brother Marquis departed afterwards, and down to the two original California members, the 2 Live Crew issued The Real One in 1998. Luke, meanwhile, continued to record steadily, as well as releasing several compilation albums showcasing new South Florida talent.

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