Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Employee or Independent Contractor? New Administrator’s Interpretation Issued by Department of Labor Provides Guidance

August 04, 2015 — Tanya Salgado – White and Williams LLP
The question of whether a worker should be classified as an independent contractor or an employee is fraught with confusion and misunderstanding for many businesses. Compounding the problem is the fact that there are a number of different tests used to determine employee status, which vary by jurisdiction and by the particular law in question. For example, the Internal Revenue Service uses the common law rules which focus on the degree of control and independence exercised by the worker. In contrast, the United States Department of Labor uses the “economic realities” test which focuses on whether the worker is economically dependent on the employer. In an effort to help combat the confusion over proper worker classification, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new Administrator’s Interpretation that provides a detailed explanation of the test used by the DOL to determine if a worker has been misclassified as an independent contractor. The DOL enforces the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which mandates that employees (but not independent contractors) be paid minimum wage and overtime. When a business misclassifies non-exempt workers as independent contractors, and those workers are not paid the minimum hourly wage for their labor, or are not paid overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a workweek, this violates the FLSA. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tanya Salgado, White and Williams LLP
Ms. Salgado may be contacted at salgadot@whiteandwilliams.com

ENR 2024 Water Report: Managers Look to Potable Water Reuse

July 15, 2024 — Pam McFarland - Engineering News-Record
With nearly all seven states within the 250,000-sq-mile Colorado River basin scrambling to conserve their apportionments from the river system’s increasingly depleted resources, interest in securing alternative local drinking water supplies is soaring. Reprinted courtesy of Pam McFarland, Engineering News-Record Ms. McFarland may be contacted at mcfarlandp@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Happenings in and around the 2015 West Coast Casualty Seminar

May 07, 2015 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar returns to the Disneyland Hotel next week (May 14th and 15th), and the Construction Defect Journal has compiled a list of concerts, sporting events, and museum exhibitions taking place in and around Anaheim. Whether you like to spend your personal time checking out a new band, or watching your favorite Angel slide into home, or perusing the local art museum, there is something to spark your interest. CONCERT VENUES THE HOUSE OF BLUES IN ANAHEIM Located in Downtown Disney, The House of Blues in Anaheim is a short walk from the convention hall.

Live Band Karaoke Wednesday, May 13th Starting at 10pm No Cover For More Information...

Rockin’ The Blues with Griff Hamlin Thursday, May 14th at 10pm For More Information...

Tyrone Wells Saturday, May 16th at 7pm For More Information and to Purchase Tickets...

THE GROVE OF ANAHEIM Near Angel Stadium, the Grove of Anaheim is just a few miles away from the seminar location.

Ministry Monday, May 11th Doors Open at 7pm / Show Begins at 8pm For More Information and to Purchase Tickets...

Kamelot plus Special Guest Dragonforce Friday, May 15th Doors Open at 7pm / Show Begins at 8pm For More Information and to Purchase Tickets...

CHAIN REACTION Attendees can escape to this all-ages club that’s just a ten minute drive from the Disneyland Hotel.

Ice Nine Kills Wednesday, May 13th at 7pm For More Information and to Purchase Tickets...

Warped Tour Battle of the Bands Thursday, May 14th at 7pm For More Information and to Purchase Tickets...

Manifest Presents Saturday, May 16th at 7pm For More Information and to Purchase Tickets...

SPORTING EVENTS ANGEL’S STADIUM – BASEBALL Take care of your popcorn-and-peanuts-and-cracker-jacks fix while cheering for the Angel’s—conveniently just a few miles from the Disneyland Hotel.

Angels v. Colorado Rockies Tuesday, May 12th at 7:05pm Wednesday, May 13th at 7:05pm For More Information and to Purchase Tickets...

MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS MUZEO This local museum and cultural center is a short drive from the convention hall.

Cougars and Grizzlies: Sharing their Path April 18, 2015-September 13th, 2015 Museum Days/Hours: Tuesday – Sunday (Closed Mondays) / 10 am to 5 pm For More Information and to Purchase Tickets...

BOWERS MUSEUM (Santa Ana) Voted “The Best Museum in Orange County” by OC Register Readers for 16 consecutive years, this arts and cultural center is worth the fifteen minute drive.

Qi Baishi: China’s Modern Master April 11th, 2015-July 11th, 2015 Museum Days/Hours: Tuesday – Sunday (Closed Mondays) / 10 am to 4 pm For More Information and to Purchase Tickets...

Where Ends Meet: A Retrospective of Works by Nancy Ravenhall Johnson March 13th, 2015-August 16th, 2015 Museum Days/Hours: Tuesday – Sunday (Closed Mondays) / 10 am to 4 pm For More Information and to Purchase Tickets...

Exhibition: Adams, Curtis, and Weston: Photographers of the American West May 16th, 2015-November 29th, 2015 Museum Days/Hours: Tuesday – Sunday (Closed Mondays) / 10 am to 4 pm For More Information and to Purchase Tickets...

Lecture: Adams, Curtis, and Weston: Photographers of the American West Saturday, May 16th from 1:30pm to 2:30pm For More Information and to Purchase Tickets...

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Subcontractor Not Estopped from Enforcing Lien Not Listed In Bankruptcy Petition

March 01, 2017 — Chadd Reynolds – Autry, Hanrahan, Hall & Cook, LLP
In Stock Building Supply, Inc. v. Platte River Insurance Co.,[1] the Court of Appeals dealt with issues of judicial estoppel, bankruptcy, retroactive application of statutory lien amendments, and the full payment defense. The owner, Madison Retail-Suwanee, LLC (“Madison”) hired Cannon/Estapa General Contractors, Inc. (“Cannon”) to be the general contractor for the construction of a shopping center (“the Project”). Cannon subcontracted with Stock Building Supply (“Stock”) to supply labor, materials, and services for the Project. Cannon failed to complete the project and Madison had yet to pay Cannon the full contract price. In 2007, Stock timely filed a lien on the Project and obtained a judgment against Cannon for the amount due under the subcontract. Platte River Insurance Company (“Platte”), the surety, issued a bond to discharge Stock’s lien. Consequently, Stock pursued an action against Platte to collect the judgment in the amount of $93,865.27. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Chadd Reynolds, Autry, Hanrahan, Hall & Cook, LLP
Mr. Reynolds may be contacted at reynolds@ahclaw.com

Potential Coverage Issues Implicated by the Champlain Towers Collapse

March 21, 2022 — Theresa A. Guertin & Holly A. Rice - Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
In June 24, 2021, the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida collapsed, killing nearly 100 individuals (the “Collapse”). As experts uncover more information regarding the cause of the Collapse, those individuals who have filed lawsuits as well as the potentially culpable defendants are looking to insurers for coverage of their bodily injury and property damage claims. Contractors, engineers, and other professionals are or anticipate being sued for their roles in the Collapse. Those professionals have professional liability policies and/or director and officer liability policies. Likewise, the condominium association’s commercial general liability (CGL) policies and its business property policy may have a duty to defend and/or indemnify their insureds as well. Finally, individual unit owners/renters may look to their homeowners’ insurance, auto insurance, health insurance, and/or life insurance policies for coverage.1 The potential breadth of insurance coverage issues raised by the Collapse is beyond the scope of this article. The article will consider some concerns that could impact insurance coverage under a standard CGL policy in the case of a building collapse. Reprinted courtesy of Theresa A. Guertin, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. and Holly A. Rice, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. Ms. Guertin may be contacted at TGuertin@sdvlaw.com Ms. Rice may be contacted at HRice@sdvlaw.com Read the court decision
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Pollution Exclusion Does Not Apply To Concrete Settling Dust

November 28, 2018 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
Applying Virginia law, the federal district court determined that the pollution exclusion did not bar coverage. Allied Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Zenith Aviation, Inc., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14727 (E.D. Va. Aug. 29, 2018). Zenith Aviation, Inc. hired Abby Construction Company to install an elevator at its warehouse. A wet saw was used to cut away concrete, but Abby did not use any water with the wet saw. This created a significant amount of concrete dust to leave the warehouse. Surrounding businesses contacted the fire department because they thought the dust was smoke from a fire. The concrete dust settled inside Zenith's building, damaging airplane parts stored in the warehouse. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (10/18/23) – Zillow’s New Pilot Program, Production Begins at Solar Panel Plant in Georgia, and More Diversity on Contracts for Buffalo Bills Stadium

November 27, 2023 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
In our latest roundup, Netflix announces plans to open brick-and-mortar locations, NYU develops a way to examine buildings using drones, robots and AI, distressed U.S. commercial real estate hits a 10-year high, and more!

Zillow is piloting a new program in Arizona offering new home buyers thousands of dollars to help them with their down payments. (Oliver Staley, TIME)
After an initial backlash regarding workforce diversity, a Gilbane-Turner joint venture has given 40% of contracts on the new Buffalo Bills’ stadium to minority-, women- or service-disabled veteran-owned companies. (Joe Bousquin, Construction Dive)
To ensure easier compliance with New York City’s Local Law 97, researchers at NYU are developing a method using drones, robots and AI to examine building exteriors for leaks. (Nish Amarnath, Construction Dive)

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Reprinted courtesy of Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team

Louisiana Court Holds That Application of Pollution Exclusion Would Lead to Absurd Results

October 21, 2019 — Sergio F. Oehninger & Daniel Hentschel - Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog
A Louisiana court recently denied an excess insurer’s bid for summary judgment, finding that the insurer’s interpretation of a pollution exclusion would lead to “absurd results.” Central Crude, Inc., a crude oil transporter company, experienced an oil pipeline leak, allegedly causing damage to property belonging to Columbia Gas Transmission Company. Columbia Gas sued Central Crude seeking compensatory damages and injunctive relief to compel remediation of the site. Central Crude sought coverage under a CGL primary insurance policy issued by Liberty Mutual. The insurer initially agreed to cover Central Crude’s “reasonable and necessary costs” relating to the incident, but later refused to defend or indemnify Central Crude for any costs incurred from the incident. As a result, Central Crude brought suit against Liberty Mutual and its excess insurer, Great American, to enforce coverage. Great American moved for summary judgment arguing coverage was excluded by the excess policy’s pollution exclusion, which precludes coverage for injury “arising out of a discharge of pollutants.” Central Crude responded arguing that the exclusion’s applicability was invalidated or at least rendered ambiguous by the Following Form Endorsements, which reflect an intent to mirror the coverage afforded under the primary Liberty Mutual policy, and because coverage appears to be specifically authorized through the Premises Operations Liability Endorsement. Reprinted courtesy of Sergio F. Oehninger, Hunton Andrews Kurth and Daniel Hentschel, Hunton Andrews Kurth Mr. Oehninger may be contacted at soehninger@HuntonAK.com Mr. Hentschel may be contacted at dhentschel@HuntonAK.com Read the court decision
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FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES