KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ********************** Wondering how to sell a few accounts / Employment alcohol issue June 14, 2023 ************************** Wondering how to sell a few accounts ************************** Ken, I own a small alarm company with about 900 active alarm accounts. I want to figure out how to sell off some of the accounts, but not all, and I also need to find a buyer. Do you assist with this and are you able to provide potential buyers? I really have no idea how this works as we have in-housed all our accounts since we started. Thanks, Alisa ****************************** Response ****************************** You have a bunch of options, which I will list below, in no particular order of best way: * Post your accounts for sale on The Alarm Exchange * Engage Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum to represent you in legal matters pertaining to the potential transaction. If you do engage K&K then, if you like, will engage as your broker to bring you a potential buyer. The legal work is on the clock and the broker work is one month RMR if you close with the buyer I introduce. * engage one of the brokers familiar with the alarm industry; they are listed on The Alarm Exchange * ask your alarm buddies in your area if they are interested * purchase a form Asset Purchase Agreement so you can see what to expect, even in a small deal Keep in mind that one alternative to selling off accounts is to borrow against the RMR; you can find companies that lend on alarm accounts in The Alarm Exchange You can also read plenty of articles on selling alarm accounts on the K&K website, Alarm Articles ************************* Employment alcohol issue ************************* Ken, We have an employee who has had two accidents now. The first he claimed he was run off the road and drove into a guard rail causing significant damage to the side of the vehicle. At the time he was a fairly new employee so we did not think too much of it other than to document the incident and file a claim. A couple of months later he drove off the road and blew a tire on an on-ramp to the freeway. His manager picked him up and reported to me that he seemed drunk. The employee claimed he had a recent change in his medication that caused him to have some issues. He took the next day off for this reason. We had two employees report that they thought they could smell alcohol on his breath, he's claimed that diabetes can cause your breath to smell like alcohol. About a month ago we installed a dash cam in his vehicle (we resell GPS units with dash cams that can be remotely accessed). Then we received a call from a driver following him reporting that he was swerving over the yellow line and drove off the road at one point. We received the video footage and found the caller was accurate in his report to us. We also found that about two hours earlier he pulled into a parking lot and parked directly in front of the liquor store. When he gets back in the car you can hear him open the bag, pop the drink and start drinking. He blocked the interior camera so we don't know what he's drinking but from then on he's swerving all over the road. I really do not want him driving our vehicles any longer with his track record. My question is, how is the best way to proceed with firing this employee. Other than his driving record and what we assume might be drinking and driving, we really don't have much on him and no proof of drinking and driving other than the that it looks like it. He did sign our employee handbook which was made by you and is an at will employee. I just don't want to deal with him coming after us for firing him for his age or health reasons or some BS like that. Respectfully, Name withheld ************************* Response ************************* Obviously you need to be careful because alcoholism is a disability and employees have legal protection against discrimination. Just as obvious is that you can’t have an employee driving as part of his job, his vehicle or your vehicle, if he is a danger to himself and others. Protected employees are entitled to some accommodation if that is possible without interfering with their duties. This tech needs to be able to drive so there doesn’t appear to be any accommodation that would work. Your employees, including this one, has signed a K&K Handbook and hopefully a K&K Employment Agreement. His employment is at will and his employment can be terminated for any reason other than a protected discriminatory reason. These are sensitive issues and your best practice would be to consult with K&K Employment Department attorneys, or other employment lawyers, to guide you. **************************** STANDARD FORM AGREEMENTS: To order up to date Standard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ************************* THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily. https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-exchange ************************* Wondering how much your alarm company is worth? Click here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth ****************************** Getting on our email list / Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. ************************** Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Attorneys at Law 200 Garden City Plaza Garden City, NY 11530 516 747 6700 x 301 ken@kirschenbaumesq.com www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
