37 YEARS
SOUTHEAST EDITIO N
AUTOBODY
Vol. 9 / Issue 8 / October 2018
AL / FL / GA / MS / NC / SC / TN / VA / WV
AL Auto Body Shop Restores Reverend’s Faith, Truck by Donna Thornton, The Gadsden Times
What the devil meant for bad, God made into good, the Rev. K. Solomon Williams said August 23 as he picked up a completely restored truck from Blair Body Shop in Hokes Bluff, AL. Earlier that month, Williams had discovered his truck vandalized outside his home. Tires had been flattened, swastikas and the n-word had been spray painted on the vehicle, and someone had left his water hose running inside the truck. It was an act that outraged many, according to social media, but not Williams. He was upset that the truck
The Rev. Soloman WIlliams poses with his repaired truck August 23 at Blair Auto Body Inc. in Hokes Bluff, AL. His truck was vandalized at his home in Gadsden, AL. Credit: Marc Golden, Gadsden Times
he and Curlie Deramus use in the Coosa River Valley Association minSee Faith, Truck Restored, Page 18
ASA’s Attorney Discusses Overtime Laws by Chasidy Rae Sisk
On Wednesday, August 22, the Automotive Service Association (ASA) hosted a webinar on “Making the Overtime Law Work for You” as part of its Webinar Wednesdays initiative. The presentation featured Brian Farrington, ASA’s wage and hour attorney and expert, who addressed federal overtime laws and the costly impact they have on non-compliant shops. ASA Vice President Tony Molla opened the webinar by welcoming attendees and introducing
Farrington. Farrington began by discussing the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), which is the basic wage and hour law in the United States and establishes standards in four areas: minimum wage, overtime, child labor and recordkeeping. As of July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Farrington emphasized that when state law varies from federal law, an employer must follow whichever standard most benefits the employee. For example, if the state’s minimum wage is higher than the federal minimum wage, but there is no state overSee Overtime Laws, Page 34
AUTOBODYNEWS.COM
Classic Collision Becomes 10th-Largest Independent MSO Atlanta-area-based Classic Collision Inc. recently became the 10th-largest independent MSO in the country after opening locations 21 and 22. Classic Collision’s owner, Manfred Kammerer, announced new locations in Augusta, GA, a 70,000square-foot former Toyota dealership, and a 10,000-square-foot location in Sugar Hill, GA. “Augusta is a thriving marketplace, and we saw a great opportunity to expand and serve this market,” said Scott Britt, director of IT for Classic Collision. “We use many tools to de-
termine where to put our next locations. What we determined, among other things, was a growing population in the Augusta area, plus the U.S. Army is building a new Cyber Command that will bring thousands of jobs to the area. This confirmed that Augusta was a market we wanted to be in. We also plan to add another Augusta location by next spring as well. “Most of our locations aren’t quite as large as the new 70,000square-foot Augusta location. Our average size is 40,000 sq. ft. But See 10th Largest Ind. MSO, Page 20
INTRODUCING A NEW COLUMN! From the Desk of Mike Anderson with Mike Anderson
See page 46 in this issue.
Like a Good Neighbor... State Farm Settles by Bruce L. Roistacher, Esq. NY, FL and DC Bar
A brief history of this very long case is in order. Back in 1999 in Avery v. State Farm, a class action lawsuit was filed claiming State Farm was using non-OEM parts. The class included more than 4 million State Farm policyholders. The jury found that the non-OEM parts were inferior to OEM and that State Farm breached its contract in failing to return the damaged vehicles to “pre-loss condition.” It also found that State Farm concealed known problems with the non-OEM parts. The jury returned a $1.2 billion judgment against State Farm. In 2001, State Farm appealed and an appellate court affirmed the decision but lowered that award to $1.05 billion. State Farm then filed an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court.
This is where it gets really interesting. In 2004, Judge Lloyd Karmeier was elected to the Illinois Supreme Court. The Avery judgment was eventually overturned. The Illinois Supreme Court ruled that there was no breach of contract by State Farm, no damages were proven and that the “class” was not legally shown based on a legal technicality. The plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and they denied hearing it. THE CASE SEEMED DEAD at this point. The plaintiffs continued to investigate and in 2012 filed a new lawsuit in federal court (Hale v. State Farm) claiming, among other issues, that they had newly discovered evidence that State Farm recruited Judge Karmeier as a judicial candidate and heavily financed his campaign that led to his election to the See State Farm Settles, Page 27
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