Upholding employee rights
Lieff Cabraser has a strong tradition of fighting for employee rights across America. Our employment cases challenge (a) discrimination based on employees' race, color, national origin, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation or disability; (b) wage violations, including failure to pay overtime, break time, or vacation time; and (c) misuse of employees' retirement benefits.
We also represent employees who "blow the whistle" on wrongdoing by their company as well as in other cases alleging violations of the law. For example, we represent technical, creative, and other salaried employees in a consolidated class action charging that Adobe Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corporation, Intuit Inc., Lucasfilm Ltd., and Pixar violated antitrust laws by conspiring to suppress their pay.
Successfully challenging unlawful employment practices
Our nationally-recognized employment lawyers have successfully challenged discrimination where female or minority employees are not hired, are paid less than their white male counterparts, or are given fewer opportunities to advance at the company; policies of requiring hourly workers to report to work early, stay late, or work through breaks for no pay (off-the-clock work); policies classifying employees as salaried who should have been classified as hourly workers and received overtime pay; and other employment-related claims including under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
We have repeatedly prevailed in and obtained significant recoveries for our clients in precedent-setting employment cases against the largest corporations in the U.S. and throughout the world, including Walmart, IBM, Federal Express, Smith Barney, and Home Depot.
Our goal is not only to recover compensation for employees and job applicants who have suffered legal violations but also to press employers to comply with the law. We are proud to have assisted our clients in ending unfair and illegal practices and inspiring industries to improve recruitment, hiring, promotion, and pay practices and other aspects of employment.
Assisting employees acting as whistleblowers
Corporations that knowingly defraud the government can be subjected to substantial liability under the False Claims Act. An employee with evidence of such fraud can serve as a whistleblower and share in the recovery the government receives if the lawsuit is successful.
Our whistleblower cases span a wide range of government programs, from false bills for health services paid by Medicare to fraud in federally-funded defense and education programs. We understand the unique pressures employees face when considering bringing a lawsuit against their employer or stepping forward as a whistleblower.
It is important that whistleblowers seek legal advice early and meet with counsel. Our lawyers are dedicated to protecting employees who have been treated unfairly and preventing retaliation against them for challenging illegal practices.
Expertise across markets and an outstanding reputation
Lieff Cabraser litigates employment cases spanning a wide variety of industries, including retail, medical, insurance, technology, banking, financial services, security, and many more industries. Commenting on the work of Lieff Cabraser in one employment case, the Court stated "the results achieved here could be nothing less than described as exceptional" and praised "the efforts of outstanding counsel."
U.S. News and Best Lawyers selected Lieff Cabraser as a 2013 national "Law Firm of the Year" in the category of Employment Law – Individuals. U.S. News and Best Lawyers ranked firms nationally in 80 different practice areas based on extensive client feedback and evaluations from 70,000 lawyers nationwide. Only one law firm in the U.S. in each practice area receives the “Law Firm of the Year” designation.
Benchmark Plaintiff, a guide to the nation’s leading plaintiffs’ firms, has ranked our employment practice group a Tier 1 national ranking, its highest ranking. The Legal 500 guide to the U.S. legal profession has also recognized Lieff Cabraser as having one of the leading plaintiffs’ employment practices in the nation for the past three years. The legal weekly The Recorder selected our employment group as one of the top plaintiffs’ employment practice groups in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Kelly M. Dermody chairs the firm’s employment practice group and leads the firm’s employment cases. The Daily Journal has recognized her as one of the top 100 attorneys in California, top labor and employment lawyers in California, and top women litigators in California. Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers have repeatedly recognized Ms. Dermody as one of top lawyers in San Francisco and Northern California. In 2007, California Lawyer magazine awarded Ms. Dermody its prestigious California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award.
