37 YEARS
WEST EDITION
AUTOBODY
Vol. 36 / Issue 10 / October 2018
AK / CA / HI / ID / MT / NV / OR / WA / WY
How To Squeeze Maximum Value Out of SEMA 2018
As the world’s leading automotive trade event, the SEMA Autobody News recently discussed Show is the best place for automotive the 2018 SEMA Show with SEMA professionals to connect face-to-face Vice President, Communications and with business partners, make new Events Peter MacGillivray. connections, see the latest His department organtrends and new products izes and produces the annual and learn new skills to help SEMA Show in Las Vegas their businesses. and several regional trade It’s where the $43 billion shows, international shows specialty aftermarket indusand special events throughtry gathers every year to out the year. conduct business. There is Peter MacGillivray no other trade show like it. Why should a body shop Over the last few years, our atowner/manager or even a tech tendance among the automotive reSee SEMA 2018, Page 42 /estimator/painter, etc. attend SEMA?
A:
by Ed Attanasio
Q:
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 32
AUTOBODYNEWS.COM
New Technology, Leadership Highlight CAA’s Path Into 2019 by Ed Attanasio
The California Autobody Association (CAA) said good-bye to its executive director, David McClune, at the beginning of the year so he could focus on his health and family after 17 years of service. As a result, Don Feeley stepped down from the organization’s executive committee and is now the volunteer non-paid interim executive director while an ad hoc committee is formed to search for a permanent full-time executive director. Past
President Ted Stein has assumed Feeley’s vacated position on the executive committee on an interim basis as this 51-year-old organization institutes a new series of changes. Autobody News recently sat down with Feeley to discuss this transformational period for CAA, as they will soon be looking for a new executive director and developing new technology as they enter an exciting time.
Q:
One of the main things that you’ve been working on is See CAA’s 2018 Path, Page 22
INTRODUCING A NEW COLUMN! From the Desk of Mike Anderson with Mike Anderson
See page 40 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 38
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