Click hereEEOC Charges and DFEH Complaints
How an employer responds to investigations conducted by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing is critical as such will affect the outcome of the charge or complaint filed against it. Both agencies employ a variety of strategies, tactics and discovery devices to gather information from employers on the complainant and on its other employees, including making requests for documents and on-site inspections, issuance of overly broad subpoenas, etc. We respond to requests for information from the EEOC and DFEH on behalf of our clients and represent employers in administrative proceedings before said agencies, and on petitions seeking judicial review of agency decisions in court.
Lawsuits Alleging Discrimination, Harassment, Retaliation and Wrongful Termination
In addition to defending employers before administrative agencies such as the EEOC and DFEH, we counsel and represent employers in litigation brought by employees through private counsel in court alleging various forms of employment discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination and assorted employment-related causes of action such as breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, defamation, interference with contractual rights, and the negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress. From the outset, we conduct discovery aggressively with an eye toward disposing of the plaintiff’s lawsuit short of trial through the use of dispositive motions. We have obtained numerous favorable jury verdicts in federal and state court on behalf of our clients.
Arbitration of Employment-Related Claims and Counterclaims
Employers sometime enter into formal employment contracts with their employees that provide that all disputes regarding their relationship shall be subject to final and binding arbitration. We have represented employers in regard to employment-related claims brought in arbitration, prevailed on counterclaims advanced by an employer against its employee, and secured an award of attorney’s fees in favor of our client in arbitration.
Lawsuits Involving Unfair Competition, Trade Secrets and Workplace Violence
We commence actions on behalf of employers against their former employees (and sometimes our client’s competitors) for injunctive relief and/or damages for breach of employment agreements that contain no-raiding, non-solicitation, non-competition, and confidentiality clauses, for misappropriating our client’s trade secrets, such as sensitive customer information or electronic data, and for violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. We also obtain temporary restraining orders (TROs) and commence actions seeking injunctive relief and/or damages on behalf of employers against their former employees who engage in conduct in violation of the Workplace Violence Safety Act and other laws.
California Labor Commissioner
Given the short amount of time an employer is afforded to evaluate a complaint for wages filed by an employee with the California Labor Commissioner, it behooves an employer to be prepared to settle or secure the dismissal of the complaint at a settlement conference that is scheduled before a formal administrative hearing. We represent employers before the California Labor Commissioner and in trial de novo proceedings, and provide our clients with the tools they need to ensure compliance with the federal and state wage and hour laws. We have also defended our clients before, and in connection with audits conducted by, the U.S. Department of Labor and the California Bureau of Field Enforcement.
Class Action Lawsuits Involving Wage and Hour Issues
In addition to representing employers before the California Labor Commissioner, we defend our clients in federal and state courts in wage and hour lawsuits brought by employees as class actions. From the outset of the class action litigation, we conduct discovery aggressively with an eye toward defeating the inevitable motion for class certification the plaintiffs bring prior to trial, obtaining an award of attorney’s fees incurred by our client against the plaintiffs, and securing a jury verdict on behalf of our client.
Appeals and Writs
During the course of litigating a case, it sometimes becomes necessary to petition an appellate court for a writ of mandate or prohibition. Our firm has filed several petitions for extraordinary writs with the appellate courts, several of which have resulted in published decisions favorable to employers. We have also prosecuted and defended appeals on behalf of employers following the entry of final judgments in the federal and state trial courts.
Federal OSHA and Cal-OSHA
We represent employers in regard to safety and health-related matters, including in connection with citations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and California OSHA.
Workers’ Compensation 132a and Serious and Willful Petitions
Claims for benefits made by employees who suffer on-the-job injuries are generally handled by an employer’s workers’ compensation insurer. Our firm becomes involved in workers’ compensation proceedings when an employee also files a petition for increased benefits pursuant to Labor Code Section 132a, or a petition claiming that he or she was injured as a result of the serious and willful misconduct of the employer, both of which are generally not covered by our clients’ workers’ compensation insurance policy.
Advice and Training
We provide counseling and advice to our clients on potential problems with the goal of eliminating or reducing the chance that such will result in formal litigation. Such counseling and advice takes many forms ranging from how to best deal with an employee’s request for a leave of absence to formal training for many supervisory employees on such topics as anti-harassment, workplace violence or wage and hour issues.
Employee Handbooks and Severance Agreements
By not having a well-written employee handbook, an employer relinquishes its ability to run its business the way it desires and provides unintended assistance to a litigious employee in an employment-related lawsuit. We assist employers by first identifying the policies and procedures that should be essential components of their personnel operations and then drafting employee handbooks that complement their application, interview and hiring processes. We also assist our clients by preparing formal agreements to “sever” the employment relationship with an employee, ensuring that all matters have been addressed and finalized.