Articles Posted in Business Law

Foreign corporations may not transact business in Pennsylvania without first obtaining a Certificate of Authority from the Secretary of the Commonwealth. All that is required is a simple application, docketing statement and a small fee. The specific requirements are clearly set forth on the Pennsylvania Department of State’s website. What happens if you decide to ignore this requirement and are “not authorized” to transact business in Pennsylvania?

Aside from fines and penalties that can be assessed by the Commonwealth, you would not have the capacity to bring a lawsuit if the need were to arise. This means that even if you are owed a substantial sum of money for equipment that you delivered and the defendant is using without any complaints; you would not be able to collect. If your business is not authorized to do business within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania you simply do not have the capacity to bring your lawsuit. Think of this as a foreign corporation’s ticket to gain entrance to the Pennsylvania Court System.

All is not lost however if you find yourself in litigation and you do not have a Certificate of Authority. In fact, the Pennsylvania Appellate Court just this past January spoke on this issue. All that is required is that the Certificate of Authority be entered into evidence prior to a court entering its verdict. If this is accomplished, the lawsuit will be valid and the judgment entered will be enforceable. If however this is not accomplished prior to verdict, the lawsuit will be dismissed, you’ve potentially lost money regarding the subject of the suit, and left your company vulnerable to fines and penalties from the Commonwealth.
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On January 14, 2015, in a unanimous decision, the New Jersey Supreme determined that the ABC test is the proper test an employer must use to determine if its workers are independent contractors or employees. Of all the various tests used by New Jersey and other states, the ABC test sets the bar the highest for an employer to successfully uphold it independent contractor status designation for its employees.

The New Jersey Supreme Court began its analysis by recognizing that the New Jersey wage and hour laws are remedial statutes and are meant to be interpreted broadly to benefit workers. Thus, the Court held that the ABC test presumes that an individual is an employee unless the company can show that the individual meets the following three elements:

(A) such individual has been and will continue to be free from control or direction over the performance of such service, both under his contract of service and in fact; and
(B) such service is either outside the usual course of the business for which such service is performed, or that such service is performed outside of all the places of business of the enterprise for which such service is performed; and

(C) such individual is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession or business.

If the company does not meet one element of the three part test, the individual will be deemed to be an employee and therefore entitled to all of the rights and benefits afforded to employees. It is important to recognize that this is not a new test but rather the same test that New Jersey already uses in connection with its unemployment compensation cases. In addition, the ABC test is the controlling test used by many other states in connection with their independent contractor/employee analyses in the wage and hour context.
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Last month I had a business client come into my office concerned about a data breach. A disgruntled former employee hacked into the company server. While it appears this employee did not enter into any sensitive areas on the server, my client wanted to know what his responsibilities were with regarding to notifying customers of this unauthorized intrusion. After quickly moving for an injunction to prohibit further intrusions, we sat down with our client to review his data breach policy. Not surprisingly, he did not have one.

Every data breach policy has to be created with an eye towards the sector your business operates. For example, HIPPA notification requirements with regard to “protected health information” are different from the requirements for a web based business.

In Pennsylvania we have the Breach of Personal Information Notification Act. This law has been on the books since June 2006 and is currently in the process of being amended as it relates to municipalities and school districts. This applies to any business organization (for-profit or non-profit) that maintains or stores computerized data that includes personal information. The impact of this Act is far reaching because it applies to businesses of other states whose customers are Pennsylvania residents.

Notification requirements are triggered when there is a breach of a computer data system where any “resident of Pennsylvania’s unencrypted and unredacted personal information was or is reasonably believed to have been accessed and acquired by an unauthorized person.” I won’t bore you with the details of the intricacies of how all these seemingly simple to understand words have definitions that go on for pages. Suffice to say even the definition “reasonably believed” is complicated. The key take away however is that the notification requirements are NOT triggered if the information is encrypted or redacted. Failure to comply will prove costly as the Act provides that a violation is deemed to be a violation of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.

Circling back to my client who contacted me last month, his records were encrypted and thus Pennsylvania’s Breach of Personal Information Notification Act did not apply. However, we reviewed and updated his data breach policy to bring it into compliance with the existing laws that affected his business. At Danziger Shapiro we understand the global environment that affects your business and are here to assist you navigate the complicated web of laws and regulations that need to be complied with in this new electronic world. Please feel free to contact any of our attorneys for a free consultation to discuss any concern that is affecting your business.
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On September 23, 2014, the New Jersey Supreme Court in a unanimous decision held that an arbitration clause in a consumer contract was unenforceable because it did not clearly and unambiguously signal to the consumer that she was surrendering her right to pursue her claims in court. The Court was troubled that the arbitration clause did not clearly explain what arbitration is and how it is different from proceeding in a court of law.

The Court stated that no prescribed set of words is required. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the arbitration clause must contain a clear and unambiguous statement that explains that the consumer is giving up his or her right to bring their claims in court or have a jury resolve the dispute. This for obvious reasons will have dramatic impact upon consumer class actions and how they proceed.
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