Lusk

FACTS

Pleadings In October 2011, plaintiff Shalani Lusk filed a complaint against defendants (1) Chau Phan, (2) Pathway Financial Management, Inc., (3) First Source 2 Financial Management, Inc., and (4) Pathway Marketing, Inc. Plaintiff alleged statutory and common law causes of action arising out of plaintiff’s employment by defendants: discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, fraudulent inducement, misclassification of an employee as an independent contractor, failure to pay wages, failure to provide itemized wage statements, waiting time penalties, unfair competition, and defamation. Plaintiff alleged that Phan (plaintiff’s boss) and the corporate defendants (plaintiff’s joint employer) were alter egos of one another. The complaint sought unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, as well as statutory penalties and attorney fees. In December 2011, defendants filed a timely answer, generally denying all of the allegations in the complaint pursuant to section 431.30.

1 Unless indicated otherwise, all statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure. 2 Actually, Pathway Marketing, Inc. was added later as a doe defendant, but this fact is…