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Monterey-Based Telephone Interpretation Company Sues Competitor
February 1, 2012
The language industry apparently needs some judicial translation.
On Jan. 24, Monterey-based telephone interpretation company Language Line filed suit against Language Select, an L.A.-based competitor.
Language Line attorney Steven Weinberg alleges Language Select has misclassified its 1,000-plus interpreters as independent contractors, a money-saving move that allows the company to undercut its competitors, including Language Line.
He says that if a company has control over how and where one works and how one gets paid, then one is an employee for the purposes of wage law, unemployment insurance and taxes. If the court agrees with him that Language Select's interpreters are employees, he says, Language Select may be in violation of California's unfair competition law.
About 95 percent of Language Line's roughly 5,000 employees, who translate about 170 languages for people with limited English proficiency, are paid employees, according to company spokesman Trent Freeman.
Language Line was co-founded by a student of Monterey's Defense Language Institute and a San Jose police officer, and the company is headquartered in Monterey.
“Monterey is the world center for language interpretation, and the issue of misclassification is huge," Weinberg says. "How this case turns out will probably affect the industry.”
The Language Line complaint also accuses Language Select of false advertising. The case has been transferred from San Jose to the Superior Court in Oakland.
Language Select management was not immediately available for comment.
Comments
"About ninety percent of Language Line's roughly 4,000 employees, who translate about 170 languages for people with limited English proficiency, are paid employees" - suggesting that about 10 % (= 400) of Language Line's interpreters are not employees. Language Line Services does employ Independent Contractors for its telephonic interpreter services. Language Line Services is entitled to using Independent Contractors for telephonic interpretation, but not its competitor ?
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