Experience

Ortega v. Nestle Waters

Represented defendant Nestle Waters in a putative state-wide class action by delivery drivers and warehouse employees alleging wage and hour violations, wage statement defects, and failures to reimburse business related expenses. The parties reached a mediated settlement of all claims.

Ortiz v. Ghirardelli

Defended a wage and hour class action brought by hourly restaurant and retail employees for all California locations. The complaint included meal and rest break violations, unpaid overtime, non-compliant wage statements, unreimbursed business expenses, and PAGA claims. We resolved all claims prior to class certification through mediation, and the court approved the settlement.

Topete v. Treasury Wines

Defended Treasury Wine Estates Americas Company in a putative class action by all current and former non-exempt employees who worked for the company in California from 2011 through 2016. Plaintiffs alleged Treasury failed to include all non-discretionary incentive pay in the regular rate of pay for overtime purposes; failed to provide second meal periods to its non-exempt employees on shifts over 10 hours; implemented an uneven time-rounding practice; and failed to maintain and issue accurate payroll records. Civil penalties were sought under the Private Attorneys General Act. Without formal discovery, we reached an early mediated resolution of all claims minimizing litigation costs for our client.

Correa v. Sabah International

Defended class action involving field service technicians who were required to drive company vehicles. The main claim centered on the compensability of time spent traveling from home to the various work sites (i.e. whether the technicians were “subject to the control” of Sabah during that commute). Ancillary claims include compensation for the completion of work reports, cell phone calls, and maintaining the company vehicle. All claims were settled at mediation, court approval is pending.

Bonner v. SFO Shuttlebus

Defended class action brought by hourly commuter bus drivers alleging failure to pay for compensable time, including pre- and post-trip inspection time, time spent waiting between shifts, medical examination and license maintenance time, and rest break violations. Analyzed bus drivers covering numerous different routes to various clients, including Google, Facebook, and Genentech. Settled claims after taking depositions of class representatives.

Firm Highlights

Publication

Achieving Compatibility Between Solar Project Developers and Mineral Estate Holders

By Dirk R. Mueller , Alyssa Netto , and Will Russ Texas and California lead the country in terms of solar energy generating capacity while also maintaining major oil and gas production operations, which...

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News

Lawdragon Names 7 Farella Lawyers Among “Leaders in Environmental Law”

Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel is pleased to announce that seven lawyers were selected to The Lawdragon Green 500: 2024 Leaders in Environmental Law . Farella lawyers selected for inclusion: Sarah...

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Publication

Nonprofit Basics: Unpacking Prudent Investments, PRIs and MRIs

Welcome to  EO Radio Show - Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . Episode 73 discusses frequently used terms in the nonprofit world pertaining to investment activities. Public charity and private foundation directors and officers need...

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Publication

Corporate Transparency Act: A Guide on Beneficial Ownership for Nonprofit Executives

The Corporate Transparency Act, enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, represents a significant shift in regulatory requirements for entities across the United States. This act, set to...

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News

Winston Liaw Named a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow

Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel is proud to announce that Winston Liaw has been named a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellow for 2024. Winston joins a select group of...

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News

Brookfield Forecloses on 2,150-Unit Veritas Portfolio With Uncontested $464M Bid

Restructuring, insolvency, and creditors rights partner Gary Kaplan provided expert commentary in The Real Deal  article, "Brookfield forecloses on 2,150-unit Veritas portfolio with uncontested $464M bid." Read the full article  here  (subscription may be...

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News

Scraping Battles: Meta Loses Legal Effort to Halt Harvesting of Personal Profiles

Alex Reese spoke to Matt Fleischer-Black of  Cybersecurity Law Report about the Meta v. Bright Data decision and its impact on U.S. scraping case law. Read the article here (paywall or trial).

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News

Farella Announces 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Pathfinders: Taylor Rottjakob and John Ugai

Farella Braun + Martel is proud to announce that senior associates  Taylor E. Rottjakob and John M. Ugai have been named 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Pathfinders. Pathfinders have been identified as...

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Publication

Employment Law Update for Nonprofits With Holly Sutton

Welcome to  EO Radio Show - Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . Charities, foundations, and their founders often request help addressing employment practices and compliance questions. In this episode, host Cynthia Rowland is joined by Holly...

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Publication

California AI Proposal Rethinks Consumer Scope and Recordkeeping

The California Privacy Protection Agency will revisit its  draft  regulations for automated decision-making technology on March 8, including use of artificial intelligence to process personal information. Comment periods should be coming soon in 2024...

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