Legal Question in Employment Law in California
My mom has been a bartender for 6 years. The owner (her boss) convinced her to sign a "limited partnership" naming the boss as general partner and her and 4 other bartenders as "limited partners." Everything operates as an employer/employee relationship where the alleged "general partner" is actually the boss. The agreement gives my mom no rights and is really a sham. One clause even indicated dissolution if any bartender leaves, which of course has already happened years ago. The boss told my mom she doesn't work at the bar anymore because the till is $500 short and she must go. Question: He owes back wages and I need unemployment insurance rights.
How can I prove that the boss is really an employer and the signed agreement is tantamount to fraud and expose his wilfull failure to pay taxes? What is the best way to proceed.....tell the government on him? Sue him? Call the local paper???
1 Answer from Attorneys
Your mother can file a wage claim with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement for wages owed and waiting time penalties. They will determine whether she was an employee or an owner, based on the evidence presented.
She should also file a claim with unemployment. If there is no record of her as an employee, because no wages were reported, they can conduct an audit of the employer and require him to pay social security taxes, state taxes, penalties, etc., if it is found he violated the law.
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