Certified for Publication Court of Appeal, Fourth
Filed 8/17/21 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION ONE STATE OF CALIFORNIA WILL TAYLOR et al., D076869 Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. (Super. Ct. No. 37-2016-00015444-CU-OE-CTL) FINANCIAL CASUALTY & SURETY, INC., Defendant and Respondent. APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Ronald F. Frazier, Judge. Affirmed. The McMillan Law Firm and Scott A. McMillan for the Plaintiffs and Appellants. Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith and Ernest Slome, Jeffry A. Miller, Lann G. McIntyre, Timothy J. Watson, Katherine C. DenBleyker and Caroline E. Chan for the Defendant and Respondent. Plaintiffs and appellants Will Taylor, Ken Gorman and Nicholas Wayman, individuals who formerly conducted bail fugitive recovery, appeal from a summary judgment in favor of defendant and respondent Financial Casualty & Surety, Inc (FCS), a surety admitted to write bail in California. Plaintiffs sued FCS and other bail-agent entities and individuals for, inter alia, fraud, various Labor Code1 violations (wage and hour, classification, and notice) as well as statutory damages under the Labor Code, conversion, unfair competition, discrimination and wrongful termination, alleging in part that FCS was a co-employer with the right to control the manner in which they performed their assignments. FCS moved for summary judgment on grounds plaintiffs were not FCS employees as a matter of law, disposing of their claims based on the Labor Code as well as for fraud and conversion, which related to misrepresentations of their employment status or withholding final paychecks. The trial court granted the motion, in part ruling FCS did not employ plaintiffs for purposes of causes of action based on the Labor Code or dependent on an employment relationship; plaintiffs’ claims for fraud and conversion were barred by the “new right-exclusive remedy doctrine”; and plaintiffs could not make out a claim for unfair competition on their allegations that FCS violated the law.
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