Art

Employment Litigation

• Defended the subsidiary of a major consumer products company in a federal district court class action claiming unpaid overtime and travel expense reimbursement violations. After challenging whether common issues of fact existed among the class members, plaintiffs waived deadline for filing motion to certify the class and filed a separate action for 52 other individuals in California Superior Court. After the state case was removed to the federal district court, 62 individual plaintiffs agreed to a settlement on terms favorable to the defendants.
• Defended a company that had relied on a background check company’s forms to be compliant with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act in a class action filed on behalf of more than 17,000 individuals claiming technical noncompliance with the act. We asserted that the company was not liable for the technical errors and successfully persuaded a general liability insurer to support a class-wide settlement of all claims on terms favorable to our client. Less than 30 percent of the class responded to the claims forms sent out by a third-party administrator.
• Defended a national retailer in this and other litigation in Alameda County Superior and other state courts alleging misclassification of employees and failure to pay overtime. Directed the collection of information pertaining to salary and hours of work data. Assisted in bringing the matter to early settlement without protracted litigation.
• Defended a national retailer in a class action claim alleging failure to reimburse employees for expenses and failure to provide meal and rest periods. Resolved the dispute in a mediation on favorable terms.
• Defended a retailer in a class action claim alleging misclassification of store managers and assistant managers, failure to pay overtime, and failure to provide meal and rest periods. Successfully opposed certification of meal period class, and led an eight-day bench trial resulting in a reduction of the class size by approximately 60 percent.
• Defended a national nurse staffing company in a class action involving over 3,500 nurses alleging failure to pay overtime, improper pay practices, and meal period violations. Litigated case to the point of settlement on terms acceptable to the client.
  Defended a staffing company in federal district court against federal and state law claims that on-call employees working during off-hours were entitled to hourly pay. Successfully obtained an order that federal collective action opt-in procedures trumped state class action opt-out procedures, then obtained summary judgment resulting in dismissal with prejudice of all claims.
• Defended a video game production company in a class action in San Diego Superior Court alleging misclassification, failure to pay overtime, inaccurate wage statements and Section 17200 claims Settled before class certification hearing.
• Defended a fundraising organization in a class action in San Francisco Superior Court alleging failure to deliver final paychecks on time and various penalty claims. Settled in mediation before class certification hearing.
• After three administrative law judges and a trial court found a subsidiary of a major manufacturer liable for failing to pay retention bonuses to a class of employees who had been laid off, the client rejected the plaintiffs’ counsel demand of $1.8 million to settle. On appeal of the trial court’s award of $99,000 and an award to plaintiffs of over $880,000 in fees, persuaded the California Court of Appeal that our client had no obligation to pay the bonuses in the first instance. The court reversed the award of fees. On a second appeal following the trial court’s award of $307,000 in catalyst attorneys’ fees, obtained reversal and a remand directing the trial court to award our client all fees and costs in the eight-year litigation.
• Represented an international software company in recovering hardware and software following cybersecurity breaches by an employee who removed servers and laptops out of state without prior authorization.