Living in the Inland Empire, I have certainly seen my share of advertisements for Rancho Cucamonga-based Adriana's Insurance. Based upon these advertisements, I've always gotten the impression that this insurance company is 100% staffed by hot Latina women.
Well, if this is true, at least one of these women is apparently very muscular, according to Veronica Rocha of the Los Angeles Times.
[Andres] Carrasco alleged that an employee at the company assaulted him when he tried to purchase insurance....
Hint to aspiring salespeople - assaulting your customers is not a good sales tactic.
The case went to court, and Carrasco (assisted by lawyer Antonio Gallo) won a judgment from Adriana's Insurance that required the company to pay Carrasco $21,000. In compliance with the decision, Adriana's Insurance paid all $21,000.
Eight representatives with the insurance company delivered 16 to 18 paint buckets filled with quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies to Carrasco's attorney's office....
I'm not sure what the company would do if a customer paid his or her insurance premiums that way.
And the method of payment was especially insensitive for another reason. According to attorney Gallo, his client had just had a hernia operation.
Of course, $21,000 is a relatively small amount. According to Aequitas Law Group, Adriana's Insurance spent $1.2 million to resolve the case Preciado vs. Adriana's Insurance Services, Inc. Aequitas does not say how Adriana's paid that claim. I found an Aequitas-authored PDF online, and its summary of the case is fascinating:
In Preciado v. Adriana’s Insurance Services (L.A.S.C. BC 400171), Judge Kenneth R. Freeman in Dept. 64 granted our motion and certified a class of customer service representatives and sales agents, for the following subclasses: (1) Unpaid Wage Subclass (“off the clock” claims); (2) Meal Period Subclass; (3) Rest Period Subclass; (5) Expense Reimbursement Subclass; (6) Late Pay Subclass; (7) Wage Statement Subclass.
While I could find no additional information on the case, it sounds like employment with Adriana's may not always be optimum. However, Glassdoor rates the company relatively highly.
In addition to some customer issues and employee issues, it may not be good to be an unrelated towing company either. Adriana's is not only the target of lawsuits; it also files them on its own, as can be seen by this summary of a trademark infringement suit that it filed against Adrianas Towing Services. This was decided in September 2013, in favor of the towing company:
JUDGMENT by Judge Virginia A. Phillips: Pursuant to the Joint Motion to Dismiss filed by Plaintiff on August 30, 2013 20 , IT IS ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Plaintiffs Complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. The Court orders that such judgment be entered.
Ouch.
