Employment Issues and Litigation

Leone Alberts & Duus is uniquely qualified in employment litigation and has years of experience defending cities, school districts, community colleges and universities. We currently handle a wide-variety of employment litigation for public entity employers throughout Northern and Central California. Several of our attorneys are highly specialized in the representation of public entities and are familiar with unique strategies and defenses.

We handle litigation in both state and federal court, as well as administrative matters before PERB, EDD, DFEH, EEOC and the State Personnel Board. We are experienced in handling all facets of employment litigation, including administrative writs, arbitrations, preventative advice and appellate work.

Typical cases cover claims of sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, whistle blowing, failure to accommodate, violation of free speech, due process violations, wage and hour disputes, employee classification, use of temporary employees, contract claims, workplace investigations, defamation, invasion of privacy and employee discipline matters.

Our attorneys are well versed in the issues and defenses available under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, Title VII, ADEA, ADA, 42 USC §1983, and the Cal. Labor Code, among other laws. Frequently we obtain summary judgment in these matters circumventing the need and expense of a trial. For one Bay Area city, we recently prevailed on summary judgment against a former chemical inspector employed by the Fire Department who sued the City, the Fire Chief, the Deputy Fire Marshall, the City Attorney, and two co-workers for sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. After judgment was entered on behalf of all defendants, the City was awarded and collected over $20,000 in costs from the plaintiff.

We also have extensive trial experience in employment matters and have obtained many defense verdicts over the years. For another Bay Area city, we prevailed on summary judgment and judgment on the pleadings on claims of sexual harassment asserted against the City and two of its supervisors at the water treatment plant, and we also obtained a defense verdict for the City following a jury trial on the retaliation claim in the same case.