Focused exclusively in representing employers, our Labor and Employment practice team has led the defense and protection of clients with workforces across California for more than 75 years.

LITIGATION

• Assisted a regional Southern California bank with management, investigation, and resulting employee termination relating to sexual harassment and other misconduct allegations. 
• Represented national telecommunications and mass media company in numerous actions involving various employment related claims, including wrongful termination, unlawful discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, labor code violations, defamation, unfair business practices, whistleblower claims, and wage and hour claims. 
• Represented multinational healthcare services company in numerous actions involving various employment related claims, including wrongful termination, unlawful discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, labor code violations, defamation, unfair business practices, whistleblower claims, and wage and hour claims. 
• Obtained summary judgment in an action alleging repeated racial slurs and retaliation over many years by woman, an employee with 30-plus years of seniority, against an insurance company; the matter was hotly contested wherein the demand had exceeded $3 million and interlocutory issues required appellate court determination. 
• Defended an action by more than 30 plaintiffs against approximately 20 chemical companies and their employer, a major defense contractor, alleging injuries from use of top-secret chemicals to construct the Stealth Fighter: obtained summary judgment on behalf of the employer despite highly publicized Congressional hearings highlighting the alleged serious injuries. 
• Succeeded in defending an Action for wrongful termination by a driver of a gasoline tanker against an oil company: obtained summary judgment despite the fact that the conduct for which he was terminated was off-duty conduct and the supervisor who terminated him had been criminally indicted.  The firm also obtained summary judgment against the same employee who sued a subsequent employer for wrongful termination. 
• Settled an action by two employees for age discrimination and retaliatory layoff against a major defense contractor: court sua sponte granted a motion for mistrial, resulting in a successful settlement for costs only while appeal was pending in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal. 
• Achieved summary judgment in an action for discriminatory and wrongful termination by an African-American employee with 20-plus years of seniority against a major defense contractor: summary judgment of the entire action was ultimately obtained in this matter after defendant demonstrated the employee engaged in drug deals on work premises, notwithstanding that a jury had previously exonerated the employee at a criminal trial for the same misconduct. 
• Represented a major defense contractor in an action for constructive termination by an employee with 20-plus years of seniority who had been rendered paraplegic by a stroke allegedly resulting from his supervisor’s harassment of him: obtained summary judgment and dismissal of the action. 
• Achieved a defense award following trial to arbitrator of wrongful termination, disability, pregnancy discrimination and retaliation claims. During trial, we proved that the plaintiff had been untruthful about authoring key documents and had concealed vital evidence from her own expert witnesses. 
• Obtained summary judgment in a sexual harassment case filed by an administrative assistant who claimed that she was constructively terminated as a result of sexual harassment by a female co-worker and a supervisor. 
• Persuaded arbitrator to issue arbitration award in favor of employer following three-day arbitration trial of claims alleging retaliation following report of workplace injury and resulting disability, after obtaining Court of Appeal reversal of trial court’s erroneous decision refusing to compel arbitration. 
• Obtained dismissal of a disability discrimination claim brought by ex-employee who was terminated after failing to return to work following a medical disability leave. We obtained a photo demonstrating that the plaintiff had in fact been on an international cruise. 
• Defended the local branch of one of the nation’s largest joint apprenticeship programs against a claim for wrongful termination of an apprentice’s agreement in the United States District Court, Central District of California, resulting in the case being dismissed. 
• Resolved claims for sexual harassment, discrimination and wrongful discharge against an international logistics company after effectively removing the case from superior court to arbitration. 
• Defended one of the largest cable companies in the United States against employment related claims, resulting in a favorable settlement on behalf of the client. 
• Defended national rent-to-own company on cases involving breach of contract, alleged violation of Federal and State Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and sexual harassment claims under California Civil Code § 51.9.  Negotiated highly favorable settlements on behalf of rental company of these numerous cases after completion of discovery and depositions. 
• Defended an employer and manager in a pregnancy discrimination, harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination case initially filed in state court. Successfully compelled plaintiff to submit claims against all defendants to arbitration based on arbitration agreement with the employer. At arbitration, the arbitrator issued a complete defense award in favor of both the employer and manager. 
• Represented an employer in a lawsuit filed in state court, alleging claims of race and disability discrimination, wrongful termination, and retaliation. The court granted a defense motion to compel arbitration despite plaintiff’s vigorous challenge to the enforceability of the arbitration agreement between the parties. At arbitration, the employer prevailed as to all claims after a multi-day hearing. Defeated plaintiff’s subsequent attempt to vacate the arbitration award in court. 
• Obtained summary judgment in state court for employer in a case involving claims for disability discrimination and wrongful termination. The plaintiff claimed she was terminated because of her alleged whistleblowing activities and because of a mental disability. The court rejected all of the plaintiff’s claims and entered judgment in the employer’s favor. 
• Obtained summary judgment in favor of client in U.S. District Court against claims for age, sex and race discrimination. 
• Represented industrial film laboratory in suit brought by approximately 50 employees alleging that exposure to chemicals in the laboratory caused them catastrophic physical injuries.  Was part of team that obtained successful resolution for laboratory. 
• Successfully defended a wrongful termination grievance against one of the largest beverage companies in the Americas, resulting in an award in favor of the employer. 

PRIVATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL ACT (PAGA)

• Assisted over 50 employers, including national retail companies, construction companies, healthcare providers, and restaurants in litigating and resolving representative PAGA actions. 

ARBITRATION, INCLUDING MOTION TO COMPEL ARBITRATION

• Brought over 75 motions to compel arbitration of pending FEHA, class action, and PAGA claims in state courts. 
• Represented large employer in an appeal before the California Supreme Court to defend the enforceability of the company’s employment arbitration policy. 
• Successfully moved to compel arbitration and enforce waiver of class claims on behalf of a major retailer. Plaintiffs appealed and matter was resolved during pendency of appeal. 
• Prevailed for a large, national employer in arbitration by former employee alleging age discrimination and retaliation. 
• Represented a large, national employer in arbitration by former employee alleging sexual harassment and gender discrimination; prevailed in arbitration. 
• Represented a large, national employer in arbitration by terminated employee alleging disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, and wrongful termination; prevailed in arbitration. 
• Represent a family-owned pest control company in employment action in arbitration; matter ongoing. 

TRIALS

• Obtained complete defense verdict after 10-day jury trial for client sued by former employer for trade secret misappropriation and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with formation of competing business. 
• Defended employer in an action by a human resources employee against a public agency for national origin discrimination for alleged failure to promote. This matter was completely defensed after a lengthy trial; a defense motion for mistrial as to inappropriate judicial remarks made during a lengthy voir dire forced the plaintiff to abandon a jury trial and agree to a bench trial. The court granted a defense motion for attorneys’ fees. 
• Acted for a major defense contractor in a discriminatory layoff allegation by an African-American employee with 30-plus years of seniority. The trial was successfully concluded in favor of the defendant, notwithstanding a supervisor’s condonation of a racially derogatory Sambo doll on work premises. 
• Obtained a complete defense verdict at trial for apartment complex owner against wage claims brought by the apartment manager. Obtained a complete defense verdict after a jury trial for a hospital accused of defaming a doctor. 
• Successfully represented a large employer in a lengthy trial involving claims of race discrimination and retaliation where plaintiff sought $1 million in damages. After the defense rested its case, the plaintiff dismissed her claims against the employer. 

UNION AND LABOR

• Achieved dismissal of an action by Teamsters representing the majority of an airline’s employees to prevent merger with another airline: obtained dismissal of the action despite language in the labor agreement expressly requiring the merged airline to assume all provisions of the Teamsters labor contract, thereby enabling the merger to go forward. 
• Defended clients in numerous arbitrations for clients with both union-represented and non-union represented employees, including arbitrations with the Airline Pilots Association and Teamsters, among others. 
• Handled more than 100 NLRB elections in recent years. 
• Assisted large employer in acquiring and divesting several unionized facilities, including “effects bargaining” and the setting of initial terms and conditions of employment. 
• Assisted major employer in developing and implementing effective responses to union “corporate campaigns.” 
• Represented clients in numerous union election challenges and objection proceedings 
• Obtained numerous arbitration awards upholding the discharges of union employees, including for job errors, poor documentation, attendance, sleeping on the job, poor patient care, poor performance, co-employee harassment and many other forms of misconduct.
• Negotiated a groundbreaking “pay for performance” collective bargaining agreement.
• Provided legal guidance and support in multiple strike actions, including a strike that lasted over a year.
• Defended employer in wage-hour union grievance class action arbitrations, as well as complex contract interpretation issues such as subcontracting and bargaining unit work issues.
• Vacated a multimillion-dollar arbitration award against a major client based upon an alleged benefit liability assumed in acquiring a facility out of bankruptcy. This complex federal court action involved the interaction between bankruptcy and labor law and was finally decided in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. 
• Negotiated and arbitrated multiple claims for violations of a collective bargaining agreement against one of the nation’s largest defense and aerospace contractors. 
• Successfully litigated bargaining unit issues, obtained dismissal of ULP charges and ultimately forced Teamsters to withdraw petition on eve of NLRB supervised election at manufacturing and warehousing operation.

HEALTHCARE

• Defended against a whistleblower action by a pharmacist against a major medical facility alleging conspiracy to cover up pharmacist drug abuses by hospital employees: obtained summary judgment despite significant discrepancies in the hospital’s ensuing investigation. 
• Obtained dismissal and award of attorneys’ fees and costs against the employee in a whistleblower case. The employee claimed that she had been terminated in retaliation for complaining about employer’s billing and collection practices. 
• Handled a nine-month arbitration (still pending) involving complex issues of first impression related to procedures for medical staff peer review of physicians and the extent of a hospital’s duty with respect to equipment provided to members of its medical staff.
• Represented a renowned medical facility in action by a physician against the facility for fraud and violation of public policy alleging the hospital provided unclean instruments and other improprieties. 
• Tried to an arbitrator sexual harassment and discrimination claims brought against a hospital and key surgeon by five female nurses who claimed that the surgeon was abusive and harassed them due to their gender. We proved that the surgeon’s verbal outbursts and explosive behavior were rooted in his patient care concerns and that all hospital employees – males and females – were held to the same high standards. 
• Assisted a major healthcare system in negotiating nationwide “Labor Accords” with the California Nurses Association, the Service Employees International Union and the United Nurses Association of California, as well as accompanying collective bargaining agreements 
• Assisted with the defense of various doctors and hospitals against lawsuits for employment-related claims such as sexual harassment and failure to reasonably accommodate a disability. 
• Defensed whistleblower claims by executive who complained about the employer’s alleged regulatory violations and financial improprieties, including alleged embezzlement by the CEO. 

CLASS ACTIONS

• Represented numerous companies in the defense of a class action and PAGA lawsuits alleging violations of the Labor Code.
• Obtained summary judgment for employers in numerous cases in both federal and state courts. 
• Recently obtained Court of Appeal decision enforcing class action waiver provision within employer’s arbitration policy, compelling putative class action plaintiff to arbitrate on an individual basis, thereby effectively defeating attempted class action lawsuit alleging wage and hour violations and PAGA claims under California Labor Code. Maiorano v. Professional Community Management, Inc., No. B220127, 2010 WL 3786721 (Cal. Ct. App. 2d Dist. Sept. 30, 2010). 
• Defeated class certification motion in putative class action lawsuit alleging companywide misclassification of retail employees as exempt management employees. 
• Forced individual settlement of putative class action after trial court granted anti-SLAPP motion on behalf of employer, striking class representative’s attempt to collaterally attack individual settlement agreements obtained by employer from 90% of individual putative class members. 
• Achieved numerous Successful settlements of wage and hour class and PAGA actions 

APPEALS

• Defended plaintiff employee’s appeal of trial court’s order dismissing court action following arbitration award and affirming previous grant of motion to compel arbitration. Court of Appeal held that because the plaintiff failed to timely seek vacatur of the arbitration award, the trial court lacked jurisdiction to consider the motion to vacate and the order of dismissal was an unappealable order. 
• Obtained ruling overturning trial court’s denial of motion to compel arbitration after U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Moriana v. Viking River Cruises upheld the right of employers to include provisions in arbitration agreements compelling individual PAGA actions to arbitration. 
• Obtained summary judgment and award of prevailing defendant’s attorneys fees on behalf of large grocery store chain against plaintiff alleging age discrimination and related wrongful termination theories 
• Persuaded arbitrator to issue arbitration award in favor of employer following three-day arbitration hearing of claims alleging retaliation following report of workplace injury and resulting disability, after obtaining Court of Appeal reversal of trial court’s erroneous decision refusing to compel arbitration. Reynolds v. Cornerstone Staffing Solutions, Inc., No. A110952, 2006 WL 2536712 (Cal. App. 1 Dist. Sept. 5, 2006). 

PREVENTIVE ADVICE AND PRE-LITIGATION COUNSEL

• Review and revise numerous handbooks for clients ranging from 5 to 5,000 employees, to ensure compliance with California and federal employment laws.