Klein & Patel P.C.
labor & employment
The firm is widely recognized for its labor and employment practice and has been recognized as a "Go-To Law Firm" by In-House Law Departments at the Top 500 Companies.
Our attorneys counsel clients on a wide range of employment issues, including compliance with state and federal employment laws, drafting employment policies and handbooks, and the handling of day-to-day employment-related issues, such as workplace investigations and employee discipline. In addition, our labor and employment attorneys regularly conduct seminars for the human resources departments of our employer clients.
Our firm specializes in labor arbitration arising out of collective bargaining agreements ("CBAs") negotiated between our clients and various labor unions - such as the United Food and Commercial Workers ("UFCW"), Teamsters and International Longshore & Warehouse Union ("ILWU"). We have successfully arbitrated dozens of such cases before various arbitrators in Northern and Southern California.
Our attorneys have extensive experience representing employers and employees in litigation and before various administrative agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (and similar state agencies along the West Coast) and the California Labor Commission. The firm regularly represents its employer clients in binding arbitration conducted under collective bargaining agreements.
In litigation, we provide efficient, economical representation and have an outstanding rate of success in resolving cases at their early stages. Acting as the defense, our labor and employment practice boasts an excellent track record of having meritless cases dismissed on summary judgment. Principal cases handled by our attorneys include employee class actions, claims for sexual harassment, various forms of gender, race, or national identity discrimination, failure to accommodate under the Americans with Disabilities Act and alleged violations of non-compete clauses. If necessary, we aggressively prepare for trial and use a cache of well-known experts and consultants to assist us in doing so.
On February 17, 2012, in the case of McSwain v. Rite Aid, a class action with a proposed class of over 40,000 retail employees, KHIP, representing Rite Aid, successfully defeated the plaintiffs' motion for class certification before Judge Nancy Wieben Stock in Orange County Superior Court. Judge Stock agreed with Rite Aid's contention that the plaintiffs' wage and hour claims did not merit class treatment.