Age and National Origin Discrimination and Retaliation
Bolsega v. Marriott International
San Francisco Superior Court (2007)
The Firm defended Marriott International and two of its managers in a lawsuit brought by a former front desk agent employed at the Stanford Court Hotel in San Francisco, alleging claims for age and national origin discrimination and retaliation. The case settled at mediation following a favorable tentative ruling on the Firm’s motion for summary judgment.
Race Discrimination
Hardeman v. Amtrak
U.S. District Court, N. D. Cal. (2007)
The Firm defended Amtrak in a race discrimination action brought by a former Amtrak train engineer alleging disparate discipline in connection with his suspension and subsequent termination. The court granted the Firm’s motion for summary judgment directed to the termination claim, rejecting plaintiff’s assertion that he had been disciplined differently than similarly-situated engineers of other races. The remnant suspension claim settled shortly thereafter.
Walker v. Amtrak
U.S. District Court, N. D. Cal. (2004)
The Firm defended Amtrak and an Amtrak employee in a race discrimination action brought by a former train conductor, obtaining terminating discovery sanctions and dismissal of the case.
Wage and Hour
Elizondo v. Digirad
U.S. District Court, N.D. Cal (2006)
The Firm represented several nuclear technologists and paramedics in a lawsuit against a mobile cardiac testing company, alleging numerous violations of California wage and hour laws, including failure to pay overtime and provide meal and rest breaks. The Firm prevailed on defendant’s motion to dismiss and the case settled shortly thereafter.
Sexual harassment
Lawsuit against Krueger International
U.S. District Court, N. D. Cal. (2006)
The Firm represented a former District Manager of a major national furniture manufacturer alleging that the CEO had subjected the client and other female employees to a several-year campaign of sexual harassment. The Firm successfully argued that it should be permitted to conduct depositions directed to the CEO’s alleged romantic relationships with and harassment of other female employees, and defeated defendants’ motion for summary judgment. The case settled shortly thereafter.
Bartalini v. Winterland
San Francisco Superior Ct.
Clients Winterland, the nation’s then-leading manufacturer of music industry merchandise, a then-subsidiary of a Fortune 500 Company (MCA), and CEO, successfully defend same-sex sexual harassment action brought by male employee. The Firm successfully excludes a number of CEO’s allegedly offensive comments on grounds they are gender neutral and effectively uses video excerpts of plaintiff’s deposition testimony to rebut plaintiff’s emotional testimony at jury trial.
Disability Discrimination
Granda v. Law School Admissions Service
U.S. District Court, E.D. Cal. (2005)
The Firm filed an emergency lawsuit on behalf of a quadraplegic college student against Law School Admissions Service (“LSAC”), which administers the LSAT, seeking a temporary restraining order compelling LSAC to provide certain testing accommodations which had been denied to the client. The District Court granted in part the Firm’s application for a temporary restraining order, and the case settled shortly thereafter.
Race and Gender Discrimination
Holmes v. Amtrak
U.S. District Court, N. D. Cal. (2005)
The Firm defended Amtrak in a race and gender discrimination action brought by a former male train conductor who had been terminated for violating operating rules. The former conductor alleged that a female conductor of a different race had also violated the rules but had received lesser discipline. The court granted the Firm’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the case, ruling that the termination was justified and not race based.
Arbitration of Employment Claim
Williams v. Beehive
U.S. District Court, N. D. Cal. (2005)
The Firm represented Beehive Ventures, a venture capital concern, in an action brought by the CEO of an invested company alleging breach of his employment contract. The court concurred with the Firm that the arbitration clause in the employment contract was enforceable and obtained dismissal of the case on the ground that plaintiff had forfeited his right to arbitrate.
Stock Options, Fraud
Wright v. Gemplus
Arbitration (2004)
The Firm represented an accomplished inventor in a lawsuit against Gemplus, the world's largest smart card company (NASDAQ listed), seeking seven-figure damages for breach of a verbal agreement to grant client stock options and associated fraud. The Firm prevailed in arbitration on client’s contract claim, followed by a confidential settlement.
Defamation
Rivera v. Amtrak
U.S. District Court, N. D. Cal. (2004)
The Firm defended Amtrak and several individual Amtrak employees in a defamation action brought by a former Amtrak employee. The plaintiff accused his Amtrak co-workers of having made false statements to the authorities, which resulted in his arrest. The court granted the Firm’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the action, holding that as a matter of law the alleged statements were privileged.
Wrongful Termination, Misrepresentation and Interference
Thomas v. Signatures Networks, Inc., CMGI
San Francisco Superior Court (2003)
The Firm defended Signatures Networks Inc., the nation's leading manufacturer of music industry merchandise, CMGI (Signatures' then majority owner and NASDAQ listed), CMGI's chairman and two Signatures officers in a lawsuit filed by a Signatures' former Executive Vice President for wrongful termination, misrepresentation and interference. The Firm successfully obtained summary judgment to defeat all claims against CMGI and its chairman and obtained dismissal of most other claims. The remaining claims settled at mediation.
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