Turman v. Superior Court, 17 Cal. App. 5th 969 (2017)

Former employees of the restaurant Koji’s Japan, Inc. sued Koji’s along with Koji’s president, sole shareholder and director Arthur J. Parent, Jr. (“Parent”) and A.J. Parent Company, Inc. (aka “America’s Printer”). Following a bench trial, the trial court determined that Parent and America’s Printer were not alter egos of Koji’s. However, because the trial court applied the wrong legal standard, the Court of Appeal issued a writ of mandate ordering the trial court to apply the correct legal standard: “There must be an inequitable result if the acts in question are treated as those of the corporation alone.” The Court of Appeal also determined that the trial court erred in concluding that Parent was not liable as a joint employer and ordered the trial court on retrial to consider and apply the joint employer standards set forth in Martinez v. Combs, 49 Cal. 4th 35 (2010).