Hooters Employees in California Sue Over Labor Law Violations
Eight former Hooters employees have filed a class action against the owners and senior managers of the Dublin, San Francisco, Campbell and Fremont franchises, alleging numerous employment law violations.
Specifically, the "Hooters Girls" allege that they were not given rest and meal breaks during their shifts; that they had to buy their own trademark hot pants, T-shirt and pantyhose uniforms from the restaurants; that they had to pay or face discipline for cash shortages or customer walkouts; and that they weren't paid for work at special events.
The damages sought in the suit will depend on the number of employees who join the class action.
Hooters California Labor Law Class Action Legal Help
If you or a loved one has suffered damages in this case, please click the link below and your complaint will be sent to a lawyer who may evaluate your claim at no cost or obligation.
Click on title above for a free evaluation of your possible case
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
https://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/submit_form.html?label=hooters-class-action-wage-hour-burton-boltuch
Friday, May 29, 2009
FDIC: Pickin' on the small fries again; Otsego bank ordered to clean up its practices
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. disclosed early Friday that it issued a cease and desist order to Riverview Community Bank of Otsego, for "unsound banking practices" and violation of federal bank laws.
By CHRIS SERRES, Star Tribune
Last update: May 29, 2009 - 10:35 AM
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. disclosed early Friday that it issued a cease and desist order to Riverview Community Bank of Otsego, for "unsound banking practices" and violation of federal bank laws.
Riverview, which has branches in Otsego and Anoka and $127 million in assets, was cited by the FDIC for engaging in "hazardous lending and lax collection practices," as well as operating with excessive loan losses and inadequate capital and reserves. The FDIC also claims Riverview violated federal rules on real estate appraisals, among other allegations.
Rick Anderson, president of Riverview, was not immediately available for comment.
Some 11.9 percent of the bank's loan portfolio was classified as "noncurrent," or at least 90 days or more past due and not accruing interest, as of March 31, according to FDIC data. That's nearly four times the average among 429 banks statewide. Riverview's Tier 1 capital, a key measure of its ability to absorb future loan losses, was a mere 4.5 percent of assets -- just above the federal regulatory minimum of 4 percent.
The FDIC ordered Riverview to cease paying any dividends without the authority of the government, and to increase its Tier 1 capital ratio to at least 8 percent. The bank must also develop a written plan for reducing and monitoring its portfolio of loans.
More than 15 banks in Minnesota have received cease-and-desist orders from federal regulators since early 2008. Many of the loans community banks in this state made during the housing boom are turning sour at an accelerating rate, eating into banks' capital and cash reserves.
Riverview consented to the enforcement action, which was issued on April 7 but made public today, without admitting or denying the allegations.
Chris Serres • 612-673-4308
http://www.startribune.com/business/46467847.html?elr=KArksUUUU
By CHRIS SERRES, Star Tribune
Last update: May 29, 2009 - 10:35 AM
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. disclosed early Friday that it issued a cease and desist order to Riverview Community Bank of Otsego, for "unsound banking practices" and violation of federal bank laws.
Riverview, which has branches in Otsego and Anoka and $127 million in assets, was cited by the FDIC for engaging in "hazardous lending and lax collection practices," as well as operating with excessive loan losses and inadequate capital and reserves. The FDIC also claims Riverview violated federal rules on real estate appraisals, among other allegations.
Rick Anderson, president of Riverview, was not immediately available for comment.
Some 11.9 percent of the bank's loan portfolio was classified as "noncurrent," or at least 90 days or more past due and not accruing interest, as of March 31, according to FDIC data. That's nearly four times the average among 429 banks statewide. Riverview's Tier 1 capital, a key measure of its ability to absorb future loan losses, was a mere 4.5 percent of assets -- just above the federal regulatory minimum of 4 percent.
The FDIC ordered Riverview to cease paying any dividends without the authority of the government, and to increase its Tier 1 capital ratio to at least 8 percent. The bank must also develop a written plan for reducing and monitoring its portfolio of loans.
More than 15 banks in Minnesota have received cease-and-desist orders from federal regulators since early 2008. Many of the loans community banks in this state made during the housing boom are turning sour at an accelerating rate, eating into banks' capital and cash reserves.
Riverview consented to the enforcement action, which was issued on April 7 but made public today, without admitting or denying the allegations.
Chris Serres • 612-673-4308
http://www.startribune.com/business/46467847.html?elr=KArksUUUU
Reality Check Time; The New American Economy: A Rising Tide that Lifts only Yachts
Click on title above for a very interesting and insightful read first published waaay back in 2004....
http://www.tcf.org/Publications/EconomicsInequality/wasow_yachtrc.pdf
http://www.tcf.org/Publications/EconomicsInequality/wasow_yachtrc.pdf
NYC to Charge Homeless for Shelter Stays
Geezum. Why dont they just re-establish debtors prison so they can throw all (of us) poor folk in there and not have to worry about our housing, food, or clothing? Once we are tossed into these prisons, we will probably be forced to under-go mental health evaluation, be diagnosed as "social-defectives," and be forced to take mental health meds. We will most definatley lose our right to vote and/or bear arms as well, as they are working on that already. How long before debtors prison or work-houses for the poor are a reality in the USA again? Seems like that is where we are heading. None of the Powers-That-Be seem to give a dam about the poor anymore. Nevermind the war on "terror," lets get back to the war on poverty! Note to the PTB: Fix America First, and Move forward, not back.
Charging Homeless Families Rent is Wrong Take Action!
Write a Letter NOW to Lawmakers
On May 1, New York City started charging families living in homeless shelters for their stay in shelter. Children living in shelter have gone through the traumatic experience of losing their home and their families struggle every day. Now these families must struggle against another wave of misguided policies.
Under rules proposed by the City of New York, many homeless children and adults will be ejected from shelter to the streets for failing to pay shelter "rent," or if a homeless family's welfare case is suspended or closed, which happens routinely due to bureaucratic error.
CHF believes this policy is WRONG. We need your support to tell state lawmakers to pass legislation barring this practice. Please write a letter now. Click on title above to go to our action center;
http://advocacy.childrenshealthfund.org/childrenshealthfund/issues/alert/?alertid=13438826&type=ML&azip=10002
Charging Homeless Families Rent is Wrong Take Action!
Write a Letter NOW to Lawmakers
On May 1, New York City started charging families living in homeless shelters for their stay in shelter. Children living in shelter have gone through the traumatic experience of losing their home and their families struggle every day. Now these families must struggle against another wave of misguided policies.
Under rules proposed by the City of New York, many homeless children and adults will be ejected from shelter to the streets for failing to pay shelter "rent," or if a homeless family's welfare case is suspended or closed, which happens routinely due to bureaucratic error.
CHF believes this policy is WRONG. We need your support to tell state lawmakers to pass legislation barring this practice. Please write a letter now. Click on title above to go to our action center;
http://advocacy.childrenshealthfund.org/childrenshealthfund/issues/alert/?alertid=13438826&type=ML&azip=10002
Exploding Debt Threatens America
John Taylor
Published: May 26 2009 20:48
Standard and Poor’s decision to downgrade its outlook for British sovereign debt from “stable” to “negative” should be a wake-up call for the US Congress and administration. Let us hope they wake up.
Under President Barack Obama’s budget plan, the federal debt is exploding. To be precise, it is rising – and will continue to rise – much faster than gross domestic product, a measure of America’s ability to service it. The federal debt was equivalent to 41 per cent of GDP at the end of 2008; the Congressional Budget Office projects it will increase to 82 per cent of GDP in 10 years. With no change in policy, it could hit 100 per cent of GDP in just another five years.
Click on title above to read full article;
http://thepeacebrigade.blogspot.com/2009/05/exploding-debt-threatens-america.html
Thursday, May 28, 2009
GoldmanSachs Financial Legerdemain or 10 Sleazy Ways They Distracted Us While Pocketing Billions from the Treasury
By Nomi Prins, AlterNet. Posted May 28, 2009.
How Goldman deftly diverted attention away from the tens of billions it has taken from the public.
The best illusionists deflect audience focus away from the heart of the trick until the final moment of revelation. The way Goldman Sachs has worked its multi-prong bailout is like that. During last week's chatter about submitting their TARP payback application, the firm deftly diverted attention away from all the real money they took from the public.
Now, I have no problem with Goldman repaying their cut of the TARP money. (note: I’m using them as an example here because they’re the best financial illusionists out there, but I could easily pick JPM Chase or others for different reasons.) Plus, I sat through enough internal earnings meetings when I was at Goldman to know that CFO, David Viniar, can make the squirrels in my backyard seem as rich as Warren Buffet.
True, most of finance is based on the ability of Wall Street to make money by convincing investors that what they’re hocking on any given day has value. Reality is as good as your best sales pitch. Which is exactly what months of PR-spun words regarding strength and TARP payback intentions are. And why they have translated into billions of dollars worth of increased firm value as investors buying their myth of health drive up the stock price, which plump the pockets of the chieftains that own the stock and options. The thing is, though, that Goldman took far more public money than their little piece of TARP. So did all the other banks. In fact, the finance sector got $7.5 trillion in loans and assistance from the FED, $1.6 trillion from the FDIC, $2.4 from the Treasury (including TARP) and another $1.5 from joint federal efforts.
But, let’s focus on the ten steps of Goldman’s big public rip-off: (Or keep $42 billion give back $10 billion and see your stock price double)
1) Enlist assistants. a) The Treasury department -- under both former Goldman Sachs CEO, Henry Paulson, and Wall Street-mentored Tim Geithner -- has worked really hard at ensuring our (and Congress’s) attention is on the measly $700 billion of TARP money that Congress approved last fall, and not on the other $12.3 trillion of cheap Fed loans, FDIC backed guarantees and other favors the banks got. And, it kept going last week, as Geithner told Congress, “While TARP is proving effective at improving the immediate stability of the financial system, the scope of the issues that the [Obama Administration and the Treasury] face extend beyond TARP to include striking the delicate balance between intervention and allowing market participants latitude to operate; devising a new financial regulatory structure for the future; and working through the tough problems of what form our government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, should take as we emerge from this difficult period." Translation: focus away from the Wall Street banks, while we try not to open them to any uncomfortable new restrictions.
b) The FED, which has kept a cloak of secrecy around its $7.5 trillion giveaways (they call them facilities) including which bank got what deal. This is to “protect” us from the truth.
2) Become a bank. On Sunday night, September 21st, while Paulson and Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke were talking global catastrophe, Goldman and Morgan Stanley sidestepped the standard 5-day antitrust waiting period to receive instant Fed approval to become bank holding companies. Did they ever make consumer loans or take deposits like other bank holding companies? No. Have they since? No.
3) Use that status to access the FDIC’s Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP). That way you can raise money through issuing FDIC guaranteed debt, at much lower rates than if you had to raise it on your own. Do this to the tune of $28 billion if you’re Goldman, $23 billion if you’re Morgan Stanley, and $40 billion if you’re JPM Chase.)
Click on title above for full article;
http://www.alternet.org/politics/140291/10_sleazy_ways_that_goldman_sachs_distracted_us_while_pocketing_billions_from_the_treasury/
How Goldman deftly diverted attention away from the tens of billions it has taken from the public.
The best illusionists deflect audience focus away from the heart of the trick until the final moment of revelation. The way Goldman Sachs has worked its multi-prong bailout is like that. During last week's chatter about submitting their TARP payback application, the firm deftly diverted attention away from all the real money they took from the public.
Now, I have no problem with Goldman repaying their cut of the TARP money. (note: I’m using them as an example here because they’re the best financial illusionists out there, but I could easily pick JPM Chase or others for different reasons.) Plus, I sat through enough internal earnings meetings when I was at Goldman to know that CFO, David Viniar, can make the squirrels in my backyard seem as rich as Warren Buffet.
True, most of finance is based on the ability of Wall Street to make money by convincing investors that what they’re hocking on any given day has value. Reality is as good as your best sales pitch. Which is exactly what months of PR-spun words regarding strength and TARP payback intentions are. And why they have translated into billions of dollars worth of increased firm value as investors buying their myth of health drive up the stock price, which plump the pockets of the chieftains that own the stock and options. The thing is, though, that Goldman took far more public money than their little piece of TARP. So did all the other banks. In fact, the finance sector got $7.5 trillion in loans and assistance from the FED, $1.6 trillion from the FDIC, $2.4 from the Treasury (including TARP) and another $1.5 from joint federal efforts.
But, let’s focus on the ten steps of Goldman’s big public rip-off: (Or keep $42 billion give back $10 billion and see your stock price double)
1) Enlist assistants. a) The Treasury department -- under both former Goldman Sachs CEO, Henry Paulson, and Wall Street-mentored Tim Geithner -- has worked really hard at ensuring our (and Congress’s) attention is on the measly $700 billion of TARP money that Congress approved last fall, and not on the other $12.3 trillion of cheap Fed loans, FDIC backed guarantees and other favors the banks got. And, it kept going last week, as Geithner told Congress, “While TARP is proving effective at improving the immediate stability of the financial system, the scope of the issues that the [Obama Administration and the Treasury] face extend beyond TARP to include striking the delicate balance between intervention and allowing market participants latitude to operate; devising a new financial regulatory structure for the future; and working through the tough problems of what form our government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, should take as we emerge from this difficult period." Translation: focus away from the Wall Street banks, while we try not to open them to any uncomfortable new restrictions.
b) The FED, which has kept a cloak of secrecy around its $7.5 trillion giveaways (they call them facilities) including which bank got what deal. This is to “protect” us from the truth.
2) Become a bank. On Sunday night, September 21st, while Paulson and Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke were talking global catastrophe, Goldman and Morgan Stanley sidestepped the standard 5-day antitrust waiting period to receive instant Fed approval to become bank holding companies. Did they ever make consumer loans or take deposits like other bank holding companies? No. Have they since? No.
3) Use that status to access the FDIC’s Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP). That way you can raise money through issuing FDIC guaranteed debt, at much lower rates than if you had to raise it on your own. Do this to the tune of $28 billion if you’re Goldman, $23 billion if you’re Morgan Stanley, and $40 billion if you’re JPM Chase.)
Click on title above for full article;
http://www.alternet.org/politics/140291/10_sleazy_ways_that_goldman_sachs_distracted_us_while_pocketing_billions_from_the_treasury/
U.S. Recession May Soon End, Economists Say
Ha Ha Ha and I am laughing all the way to the BANK---ruptcy court, that is!
Dont believe the hype. They are just trying to build up confidence to get us to spend-baby-spend. The worst is yet to come and we will be "in it" for a long long time, maybe even years. "Confidence" may be going up (for the easily deluded or for those profiting off of the recession) but the value of the dollar is going steadily down down down and we are about to lose our SC&E A+ status. Even and espically our children will "feel the pinch" as they inherit our GROSS(and I do mean gross) national debt to be paid for with higher taxes; welcome children to the IOUSA! This recession thing may NEVER end if we dont wake up, smell the coffee and set about initiating some REAL change for a change.
By Shobhana Chandra
May 27 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. recession will probably end in the third quarter, a survey of business economists showed, even as rising joblessness indicates the recovery will be weaker than previously estimated.
The world’s largest economy will begin to expand next quarter, according to 74 percent of economists in a National Association for Business Economics survey. Compared with NABE’s February poll, growth will be slower and unemployment will be higher in the second half of this year and through 2010.
Government stimulus spending and Federal Reserve efforts to thaw credit markets are helping pull the economy out of the worst slump in half a century, the survey said. While housing is stabilizing, the economists predicted consumer spending will be restrained by a deteriorating labor market as job losses continue for the rest of the year.
“There are emerging signs that the economy is stabilizing,” Chris Varvares, president of the group and of Macroeconomic Advisers LLC in St. Louis, said in a statement. Still, the recovery may be “considerably more moderate than those typically experienced following steep declines,” he said.
The economy will shrink at a 1.8 percent annual rate from April to June, and then grow at a 0.7 percent pace in the next three months, the survey showed. Growth will accelerate to a 1.8 percent rate by the final quarter.
Spending to Fall
Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, may fall 0.4 percent this year, compared with a 1.3 percent drop forecast in the prior poll. Purchases will increase 2.1 percent next year, less than estimated in February.
The NABE survey, based on the median forecast of a panel of 45 economists, was conducted from April 27 to May 11.
Signs of a U.S. recovery coincide with evidence that the first global recession since World War II is easing. German investor confidence rose to the highest since 2006 in May and the Bank of Japan last week raised its view of the economy for the first time in almost three years.
Policy measures by central banks and governments “have assisted in reviving trust in the financial markets and the real economy,” Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Josef Ackermann said yesterday. “We can already see first positive signs.”
In the U.S., nine of every 10 survey participants said the Fed’s new credit facilities improved borrowing conditions, and 55 percent said the programs also benefited markets that were not directly targeted. At the same time, nearly half the economists said credit was still hard to get.
Home Sales
Home sales may reach a bottom by mid-year, according to 72 percent of the panelists, and more than six in 10 predicted housing starts will hit a trough by that time. The survey showed home prices have further to fall, with 40 percent of the respondents forecasting the declines will continue into 2010 or later.
Payrolls will decrease by an estimated 4.5 million in 2009, pushing the unemployment rate to 9.8 percent by year-end, almost a percentage point higher than the previous estimate of 9 percent, the survey showed. Job gains next year will help reduce the jobless rate to 9.3 percent by the end of 2010.
The outlook for business investment this year also soured compared with the February survey, reflecting sharper pullbacks in spending on equipment, software and facilities, and a bigger reduction in inventories. Economists in the survey also predicted corporate profits will decline 16 percent this year.
The cost of living will fall and worker productivity will improve this year, the NABE report showed. With inflation in check and unemployment rising, Fed policy makers will keep the benchmark interest rate close to zero until the second quarter of next year, at which time a series of increases may push the rate to 1.25 percent by year-end.
To contact the reporter on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington at schandra1@bloomberg.net
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a7TEmvxOT.gY&refer=us
Dont believe the hype. They are just trying to build up confidence to get us to spend-baby-spend. The worst is yet to come and we will be "in it" for a long long time, maybe even years. "Confidence" may be going up (for the easily deluded or for those profiting off of the recession) but the value of the dollar is going steadily down down down and we are about to lose our SC&E A+ status. Even and espically our children will "feel the pinch" as they inherit our GROSS(and I do mean gross) national debt to be paid for with higher taxes; welcome children to the IOUSA! This recession thing may NEVER end if we dont wake up, smell the coffee and set about initiating some REAL change for a change.
By Shobhana Chandra
May 27 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. recession will probably end in the third quarter, a survey of business economists showed, even as rising joblessness indicates the recovery will be weaker than previously estimated.
The world’s largest economy will begin to expand next quarter, according to 74 percent of economists in a National Association for Business Economics survey. Compared with NABE’s February poll, growth will be slower and unemployment will be higher in the second half of this year and through 2010.
Government stimulus spending and Federal Reserve efforts to thaw credit markets are helping pull the economy out of the worst slump in half a century, the survey said. While housing is stabilizing, the economists predicted consumer spending will be restrained by a deteriorating labor market as job losses continue for the rest of the year.
“There are emerging signs that the economy is stabilizing,” Chris Varvares, president of the group and of Macroeconomic Advisers LLC in St. Louis, said in a statement. Still, the recovery may be “considerably more moderate than those typically experienced following steep declines,” he said.
The economy will shrink at a 1.8 percent annual rate from April to June, and then grow at a 0.7 percent pace in the next three months, the survey showed. Growth will accelerate to a 1.8 percent rate by the final quarter.
Spending to Fall
Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, may fall 0.4 percent this year, compared with a 1.3 percent drop forecast in the prior poll. Purchases will increase 2.1 percent next year, less than estimated in February.
The NABE survey, based on the median forecast of a panel of 45 economists, was conducted from April 27 to May 11.
Signs of a U.S. recovery coincide with evidence that the first global recession since World War II is easing. German investor confidence rose to the highest since 2006 in May and the Bank of Japan last week raised its view of the economy for the first time in almost three years.
Policy measures by central banks and governments “have assisted in reviving trust in the financial markets and the real economy,” Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Josef Ackermann said yesterday. “We can already see first positive signs.”
In the U.S., nine of every 10 survey participants said the Fed’s new credit facilities improved borrowing conditions, and 55 percent said the programs also benefited markets that were not directly targeted. At the same time, nearly half the economists said credit was still hard to get.
Home Sales
Home sales may reach a bottom by mid-year, according to 72 percent of the panelists, and more than six in 10 predicted housing starts will hit a trough by that time. The survey showed home prices have further to fall, with 40 percent of the respondents forecasting the declines will continue into 2010 or later.
Payrolls will decrease by an estimated 4.5 million in 2009, pushing the unemployment rate to 9.8 percent by year-end, almost a percentage point higher than the previous estimate of 9 percent, the survey showed. Job gains next year will help reduce the jobless rate to 9.3 percent by the end of 2010.
The outlook for business investment this year also soured compared with the February survey, reflecting sharper pullbacks in spending on equipment, software and facilities, and a bigger reduction in inventories. Economists in the survey also predicted corporate profits will decline 16 percent this year.
The cost of living will fall and worker productivity will improve this year, the NABE report showed. With inflation in check and unemployment rising, Fed policy makers will keep the benchmark interest rate close to zero until the second quarter of next year, at which time a series of increases may push the rate to 1.25 percent by year-end.
To contact the reporter on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington at schandra1@bloomberg.net
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a7TEmvxOT.gY&refer=us
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