CURRENT CASES

Altshuler Berzon's docket currently includes:

• Dominguez v. Brown
  An action in the U.S. Supreme Court that presents the question whether consumers and providers of in-home support services can bring suit under the Supremacy Clause for injunctive relief to prevent enforcement of a state law that is inconsistent with the federal Medicaid Act. The Ninth Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the state law, which would have sharply reduced the wages paid to providers of in-home care to the elderly and disabled.
  
• Knox v. Calif. State Employees Ass’n, Local 1000
  An action in the U.S. Supreme Court that involves a challenge to a union’s collection of “fair share fees” from non-members brought by the anti-union National Right to Work Foundation.
  
• Luquetta v. Regents of the University of California
  A state court class action against the University of California alleging the University breached contracts by increasing fees for tens of thousands of undergraduate, graduate and professional students.
  
• 24 hour Fitness/D.R. Horton
  Cases of first impression before the NLRB and its Division of Advice arguing that an employer’s mandatory arbitration agreement prohibiting class or collective actions must be enjoined because it violates Sections 7 and 8(a)(1) of the NLRA.
  
• Hawaii State Teachers Association v. Lingle
  A separation-of-powers challenge in the Hawaii Supreme Court to the Hawaii Governor's decision to withhold 14 percent of funds allocated to the Department of Education.
  
• V.L. v. Wagner
  A federal court challenge to a California statute that would entirely eliminate or severely restrict the eligibility of about 120,000 elderly and disabled individuals for in-home support services on the grounds the statute violates the Due Process Clause, the Medicaid Act, and other legal requirements.
  
• UFCW v. Brewer
  First and Fourteenth Amendment and labor preemption challenges to two Arizona statutes, SB 1363 and SB 1365, that limit unions’ ability to collect member dues, to participate in political advocacy, and to engage in protected speech activities.
  
• M.R. v. Dreyfus
  A federal court challenge, on behalf of low-income elderly and disabled individuals receiving in-home care through the Medicaid program and the providers who care for them, to ten percent service cuts in Washington State.
  
• Friendly House v. Whiting
  A federal court constitutional challenge to Arizona’s 2010 law requiring State enforcement of immigration law.
  
• Keller v. California State University
  A state court class action lawsuit against the California State University alleging the University breached its contracts with thousands of students by imposing last-minute fee increases.
  
• Seven-Sky v. Holder
  Amicus briefs in the D.C. Circuit (and several other circuits) that defend the constitutionality of federal health care reform legislation based on Congress' power to impose taxes.
  
• Dallman v. Ritter
  A challenge to Colorado Amendment 54, which would ban public employee unions in Colorado from making political contributions in local and state elections.
  
• Air Line Pilots Ass’n, Int’l v. United Air Lines
  A state court lawsuit challenging a national airline’s violation of California’s “kin care” law by refusing to permit all airline pilots domiciled in California to use their accrued paid sick leave to care for ill family members.
  
• Sierra Club v. Brown
  A lawsuit against the Governor's administration for delays in adding substances to the list of chemicals in California that are known to cause cancer and reproductive harm.
  
• NRDC v. Kempthorne
  Federal environmental challenge to long-term contracts for the delivery of more than 2.3 million acre-feet of California Central Valley Project water, which pose a severe risk to the survival and recovery of the threatened Delta smelt.
  
• Harris v. Quinn
  The defense on appeal of a District Court decision upholding an Illinois statute that permits in-home care workers to unionize and negotiate collective bargaining agreements.
  
• Peterson v. Alaska
  Amicus brief in Alaska Supreme Court asserting that confidential communications between grievants and union representatives concerning grievance administration should be privileged from disclosure under state law.
  
• State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, AFL-CIO v. City of Vista
  A case in the California Supreme Court seeking to establish that the California law that requires workers to be paid prevailing wages on public construction projects applies to projects undertaken by charter cities.
  
• County of Los Angeles v. Matosantos
  Amicus brief to the California Court of Appeal on whether the California Constitution prohibits the redirection of redevelopment funds to purposes not related to redevelopment.
  
• Narayan v. EGL, Inc.
  A class action lawsuit asserting wage and hour claims under the California Labor Code on behalf of delivery truck drivers who were unlawfully treated as independent contractors rather than employees.
  
• Faulkner v. Dominguez
  The defense of a union representing airline ramp, operations, provisions and freight agents in an action for breach of contract.
  
• Behaein v. Pizza Hut
  A class action lawsuit on behalf of hourly restaurant employees, including drivers, for Pizza Hut's California restaurants alleging that Pizza Hut forces hourly workers to work through meal and rest breaks and fails to reimburse them for their out-of-pocket costs.
  
• Robert Bell v. Farmers Services
  A class action alleging that Farmers Services misclassifies tech support workers as exempt from overtime.
  
• Ronches v. Dickerson Employee Benefits
  An ERISA lawsuit against the former fiduciaries of a health trust fund alleging breach of fiduciary duty and prohibited transactions.
  
• Kairy v SuperShuttle International
  Interlocutory appeal to Ninth Circuit challenging district court's dismissal of an employment class action lawsuit brought by airport shuttle drivers as preempted by California Public Utilities Act.
  
• Hines v. KFC
  A class action lawsuit on behalf of hourly employees at KFC's California restaurants alleging that KFC forces hourly employees to work through meal and rest breaks and to work off the clock at the end of the last shift.
  
• Vasquez v. State of California
  Defense on appeal of attorney's fee award incurred in California Supreme Court case establishing the scope of California's private attorney general fees statute.
  
• Holloway v. Best Buy Co., Inc.
  A federal court class action alleging that a national electronics retailer discriminates against women and minorities in its hiring, promotion and compensation practices.
  
• Ruggeri v. Boehringer Ingelheim Corp./Copello v. Boehringer Ingelheim Corp./Batchkoff v. Boehringer Ingelheim Corp.
  Court challenges to a pharmaceutical company's failure to pay overtime compensation to their sales representatives.
  
• Van Zandt v. Apple, Inc.
  False advertising and breach of warranty consumer class action challenging design defect in iPhone 3G that limited connectivity speeds.
  
• Pryor v. Overseas Administrative Services, Inc.
  JAMS class arbitration and related federal court litigation challenging KBR/Haliburton's practice of not paying required contract wages to truck drivers in Iraq.
  
• Hernandez v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
  Appeal from denial of class certification in lawsuit on behalf of low wage restaurant workers who were denied meal periods and rest breaks.
  
• Pacific Gas & Electric Company v. SEIU Local 24/7
  The defense, in federal court, of an arbitration award holding that employer violated collective bargaining agreement by failing to pay its security guards for on-duty meal periods.
  
• D'Arrigo Bros. Co. of California v. UFW
  Litigating a motion under California's anti-SLAPP statute to dismiss a civil lawsuit seeking money damages for a union's alleged conduct in assisting the General Counsel of the ALRB in an administrative hearing regarding the union's unfair labor practice charges and election objections.
  
• United Teachers Los Angeles v. Los Angeles Unified School District
  Amicus brief to California Supreme Court on relationship between arbitration provision in collective bargaining agreement and statutory provisions of the California Education Code governing charter school formation.
  
• Salinas Elementary Teachers Council v. Governing Board of Salinas Elementary School District
  Appeal to California Supreme Court of Court of Appeal's holding that teachers union was required to arbitrate its claim that school district violated a non-waivable provision of the California Education Code before pursuing the claim in court.
  
• Reed v. Los Angeles Unified School District
  Appeal from a California Superior Court decision approving a settlement agreement that impaired the statutory and contractual rights of public school teachers, over the objection of the teachers' represntative (which had not agreed to the settlement), on the grounds that the approval of the settlement violated the teachers' due process right to an adjudication of the merits of the underlying claim and the requirements of the California statute regarding judgments based on settlements.
  
• Veronese v. Lucasfilm
  Defense on appeal of a pregnancy discrimination jury verdict, where the principal issue is whether California should apply a "motivating factor" or a "but for" test for proving unlawful discrimination under FEHA.
  
• Green v. Bank of America
  Ninth Circuit appeal from the dismissal of a complaint under California's Labor Code Private Attorney General Act, in which the trial court construed the mandatory language of California Wage Orders requiring employer to "provide" their employees with "suitable seating" as meaning they need only provide such seating upon an employee's specific request.
  
• Shoemaker v. Harris
  Civil rights action under state and federal equal protection clauses, challenging irrational classification distinction in California's mandatory sex offender registration statute.
  
• Gale v. First Financial
  Ninth Circuit appeal challenging dismissal of pro se plaintiff's Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act claims based on loan servicer's refusal to disclose loan owner's identity, and state law claims contesting non-judicial mortgage foreclosure proceeding.
  
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters, et al. v. U.S. Department of Transportation, et al.
  A federal court lawsuit to block the Obama administration's attempt to allow Mexico-domiciled trucks to travel throughout the United States without complying with specific congressional safety prerequisites and federal environmental law governing such action.
  
• Miscellaneous
  We also represent many local unions and apprenticeship programs on general matters, including litigation, negotiations, arbitrations and advice. In addition, we represent many workers in individual employment matters, we represent public agencies in selected constitutional cases, we defend public interest groups against SLAPP suits, we represent law firms and public interest organizations on statutory and common fund attorneys’ fees matters, and we provide legal advice on the drafting of legislation.