Diversity Initiatives and Benevolent Employment Discrimination: Mitigating Claims for Well-Intentioned Companies

Ms. Sager has wide-ranging experience litigating complex wage-and-hour claims, as well as conducting wage-and-hour audits for clients grappling with the Fair Labor Standards Act, the California Labor Code, and the California Equal Pay Act. Her practice was established at the forefront of the wage-and-hour class and collective actions that are now commonplace throughout the country. Ms. Sager emphasizes proactive risk management to avoid litigation and employs efficient and aggressive strategies to help her clients minimize exposure when faced with class, collective, representative, multi-plaintiff, or single-plaintiff lawsuits. As part of due diligence, she also provides risk assessments of wage-and-hour exposure, as well as policy and procedure audits both pre- and post-merger. Ms. Sager is active in counseling and training employers on workplace harassment prevention and unconscious bias and regularly conducts workplace investigations into allegations of inappropriate conduct. Her experience also extends to the traditional labor realm, where she has helped clients prevail in elections, obtained injunctive relief to stop inappropriate union conduct, defeated organizing campaigns, and appeared before the National Labor Relations Board on countless issues.

Mr. Benard regularly represents both private and public clients in wrongful termination, harassment, and discrimination claims in both federal and state courts, as well as in administrative proceedings before federal and state agencies. His employment litigation experience includes jury trial success and significant wage and hour class action success in both Utah and California. Mr. Benard provides sound counsel to clients regarding employee relations, employee contracts, and employee handbooks, with extensive background with non-compete and non-solicitation provisions. He also has national level experience in advising employers related to the Americans with Disabilities Act and reasonable accommodations, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Mr. Benard frequently conducts highly interactive public and in-house seminars, workshops, and training on various labor and employment related issues. He served as the firm's Labor and Employment Practice Group Leader from 2016 to 2019, and as a member of the firm's five-partner Management Committee from 2011 to 2014.

Ms. Alejandro represents companies and local governments in a broad spectrum of management, operation, and planning issues. As a collaborative partner, Ms. Alejandro thoroughly guides, supports, and trains clients regarding a variety of employment issues. She advises and defends employers in wage and hour claims; wrongful termination claims and employee grievances; discrimination and harassment charges; and contract disputes, including noncompete and non-solicitation agreements. Ms. Alejandro also offers counseling on compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act; Americans with Disabilities Act; Fair Labor Standards Act; and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.