No one likes to be accused of something, especially something that they didn’t do, or that they did not believe was wrong, unethical, or illegal.
Photo credit: Mic V. via Foter.com / CC BY
This goes all the more so when an employer bears the legal responsibility yet it was an employee that was “in the trenches” and who may (or may not) have acted wrongly. As attorneys who work day in, and day out, defending SMOG stations and technicians against California’s Bureau of Automotive Repair, we know that panic can set in when you receive what is called an “accusation” from the Bureau of Automotive Repair.
Reacting to the Bureau of Automotive Repair Accusation
First, you may be quite angry. You’re busy doing your job, protecting California’s skies from SMOG and working with customers who are not usually happy at the hassle of having to SMOG their cars, and yet here you are accused by the State. Anger is a logical first reaction. Second, you may be confused. You may not understand the legal language in a formal communication from the Bureau of Automotive Repair, and yet you have received something and are required to respond. Third, you may be afraid. Losing your license might mean losing your livelihood. The bureaucrats in Sacramento will retain their jobs even if they lose a legal action against you; but if you lose, you may lose your job or your business. It doesn’t seem fair, and yet you are up against the powerful State of California on a terrain (the law) which is unfamiliar and threatening.
Contacting an Attorney to Represent You
Those are just a few of the emotions you may be feeling. But you have rights, too, and among those rights is the right to legal representation. Our attorneys work hard day in, and day out, not for the Bureau of Automotive Repair but against their actions. Everyone is entitled to their rights under the law, and with effective legal representation, that accusation from the Bureau of Automotive Repair might not be so threatening after all.