Christian J. Scali

Scali Rasmussen • Los Angeles


Christian Scali and his firm primarily represent auto dealers. It's a challenging area, he said, because "they are [in] one of the most highly regulated industries in the United States -- primarily because they sell deadly weapons."


For that reason, Scali Rasmussen's attorneys try to stay abreast of regulatory changes to help clients avoid problems. "A lot of what we do is preventative in that nature. We try to set up policies, procedures and programs for them so that they can stay ahead of all the regulatory issues."


The firm as a whole handles a wide variety of legal matters for dealers. Scali himself heads the employment group, and that work makes up about 80% of his practice. It can be tricky, too. As one example, a dealership's employees frequently are governed by several different wage orders as, for instance, mechanics are piece-rate employees, but salespeople are on commission.


"It can be very overwhelming and complicated for most HR professionals unless they're used to that kind of industry," Scali said. "We provide the guidance for them so that they can navigate those different regulatory schemes."


He and the firm also represent dealers in government investigations. Scali is currently representing a client in an investigation that has expanded from the Bureau of Automotive Repair to the state insurance commissioner's office and the district attorney.


Scali's practice is statewide. He recently settled two employment lawsuits against dealers, one in San Diego and one in Stockton. Early this year, he resolved a 300-employee PAGA action after winning dismissal of class claims over the use of two-way radios by service valets. Rodrigues v. Big Valley Ford Inc., STK-CV-UOE-2022-0004606 (S.J. Super. Ct., filed June 6, 2022).


A contentious wrongful termination and misclassification action filed by a consultant settled in May. Berry v. Rogers & Rogers Inc., 37-2022-00006715 (S.D. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 2, 2022).


Some of his cases involve corporate as well as employment issues. Those cases demand an "in-depth knowledge of how the industry works to be able to accurately and correctly and competently represent either the minority shareholder or the corporate defendant," Scali said.


He represented a dealership being sued by a former manager who was also a minority shareholder who alleged malfeasance and breach of his employment contract. After a year of heated litigation, he obtained a confidential settlement early last year.


Sometimes, Scali Rasmussen represents non-auto businesses as well. Last year, the firm defended a frequent client's clothing company when it was sued for wrongful termination by a designer who had gotten about two dozen daylong assignments from the company. In arbitration, "she took the position that each time she worked, she was terminated after one day" and so should have been paid immediately. Scali won access to her tax returns, showing how she characterized her income.


"That's when the case resolved because we knew everybody in the world knew she was an independent contractor," he said.