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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><img width="229" height="74" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image003.png@01CF12B0.97AEE7C0"></span></b><b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Press Release<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For Immediate Release<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>January, 16, 2014<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">CONTACT: Charlie Burr, (971) 673-0788<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt">BOLI prevails in Oregon Supreme Court “successor in interest” case</span></b><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-autospace:none">
<i><span style="color:black">Avakian praises Blachana decision as a major victory for taxpayers, employees
</span></i><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">Portland, OR</span></b><span style="color:black">—Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian today praised an Oregon Supreme Court’s decision in
<i>Blachana v. BOLI, </i>a significant victory for the agency’s ability to collect wages owed from a successor to a closed business that has registered with the state under a new name.
</span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Today’s <i>Blachana </i>decision – reversing an earlier Oregon Court of Appeals ruling – can be found
<a href="http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/docs/S060789.pdf">here</a>. The Oregon Department of Justice represented BOLI in the case, with the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association submitting an amicus brief on the agency’s behalf.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">In 2006, NW Sportsbar, LLC of North Portland went out of business, failing to pay four employees wages to which they were entitled. After the employees filed wages claims with BOLI, investigators determined that
the employees were owed $7,047 for the last 60 days of work. BOLI paid the claims through the agency’s Wage Security Fund and then notified the newly formed business entity, Blachana, that it was responsible for the wages given that it was doing essentially
the same business as its predecessor. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">The ruling affirmed BOLI’s interpretation of the “successor in interest” test under ORS 652.310(1) and that the agency correctly applied its evaluation to the facts of the case.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">“Today’s decision is a major victory for our ability to protect workers and ensure that employers, not taxpayers, are responsible for unpaid wages</span></b><span style="color:black">,” said Labor Commissioner
Avakian. <b>“When a business fails to pay its employees, it cannot avoid responsibility by simply re-registering with the state under a new name when, in fact, it’s essentially the same operation. This ruling supports our efforts to hold employers responsible
while providing a level playing field for the vast majority of employers that play by the rules.”
<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black">Oregon’s Wage Security Fund helps employees qualify for payments of wages earned during the 60 days preceding a business closure in which the employer is financially unable to pay all
wages due. BOLI may pay a maximum of $4,000 to an individual worker. The fund is financed through a diversion of three cents per $100 of the state’s employment tax paid for one quarter (three months) every odd-numbered year.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black">After BOLI distributes payments from the Wage Security Fund, the agency seeks to recover the wages owed from the business or its successor. Today’s ruling will help the agency collect
wages when an employer has re-registered the business under a new name. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">This Oregon Supreme Court decision is unrelated to a separate BOLI investigation that found that the same North Portland bar violated the Oregon Equality Act of 2007<b>
</b>when it discriminated against its patrons based on gender identity. In that case,</span><span style="color:black"> bar owner Chris Penner left a voicemail asking a group of transgender patrons to stop visiting the establishment because he didn’t want the
P Club known as a “tranny bar” or “gay bar.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">For more information about BOLI’s efforts to protect Oregon employees and support Oregon employers, please visit
<a href="http://www.oregon.gov/BOLI">http://www.oregon.gov/BOLI</a>. A copy of the original Blachana Final Order is available upon request.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="color:black">###</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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