Overview
Raymond Bertrand is a partner in the Employment Law department of Paul Hastings. His practice focuses on advising clients and leading large and complex litigation matters in state and federal courts, in cases involving all aspects of employment law, including wage-hour, wrongful termination, breach of contract, trade secrets, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. His clients include major companies in the financial services, entertainment, media, communications, information technology, manufacturing, defense, and high-tech industries.
Experience
- Provides business and strategic advice for a broad array of companies relating to their employment practices and helps build employment and pay systems in a way designed to minimize legal risk
- Provided strategic guidance and compliance advice in connection with conversion of 5,000 workers from independent contractor to employee status
- Conducted dozens of federal and multi-state wage and hour compliance reviews for employers across various industries
- Skilled trial attorney with more than 20 defense verdicts
- Trial victory for General Electric in age discrimination and retaliation lawsuit brought by employee with 20 years of service
- Secured defense verdict for Prudential Realty in Title VII discrimination and retaliation lawsuit
- Obtained defendant’s verdict for Sempra Energy Trading in sex discrimination, harassment, and retaliation lawsuit
- Obtained numerous summary judgments and favorable defense rulings in federal and state courts
- Prevailed on summary judgment for Waddell & Reed in putative nationwide wage-hour class action challenging company’s classification of 2,000 registered representatives as independent contractors
- Summary judgment for AIG in putative class action alleging misclassification of Hearing Representatives
- Summary judgment for Citigroup in age discrimination action
- Dismissal of SOX whistleblower claims against pharmaceutical company
Education
- Albany Law School of Union University, J.D. (cum laude), 1995
- Binghamton University, B.A., 1992
news
Recognitions
insights
- Looking Beyond 2020: Eighteen New Employment Laws Employers With Operations In California Need To Know For 2021 - October 12th, 2020
- AB 1867: California Enacts Supplemental COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Law - September 14th, 2020
- California Legislature Gives Entertainment and Other Industries Some Relief from Restrictive “ABC” Independent Contractor Test - September 11th, 2020
- DOL Withdraws Prior Rule That Prevented Certain Employers from Relying on the Commissioned Sales Exemption from Overtime Requirements - May 21st, 2020
- City of Los Angeles Adopts Worker Recall and Retention Ordinances - May 4th, 2020
- San Francisco Enacts Public Health Emergency Leave Ordinance to Assist Employees Impacted by COVID-19 - April 20th, 2020
- New Judicial Guidance Addresses No-Accrual Vacation Policies Under California Law - April 6th, 2020
- PH COVID-19 Client Alert Series: Employers May Qualify for Significant Tax Credits and Government Reimbursements to Cover Paid Coronavirus-Related Leave - March 24th, 2020
- Once Aggrieved, Always Aggrieved: The California Supreme Court Holds an Employee’s Settlement of Labor Code Claims Does Not Bar a PAGA Lawsuit - March 16th, 2020
- California Supreme Court Holds Employers Must Pay Non-Exempt Employees for On-Site Security Screenings - February 26th, 2020
- Department of Labor Issues Major Update to FLSA Regulations Governing the Regular Rate of Pay - December 20th, 2019
- Department of Labor Issues Final Rule Increasing Salary Thresholds for Overtime Exemptions - September 27th, 2019
- Department of Labor Proposes Update to FLSA Regulations Governing the Regular Rate of Pay - April 2nd, 2019
- Department of Labor Proposes Increased Minimum Salary for Exempt Employees - March 12th, 2019
- California Takes the Lead on #MeToo Legislation - October 16th, 2018
- California Supreme Court Replaces Tests for Determining Independent Contractor Status - May 1st, 2018
- Preparing for Dynamex: California Supreme Court Set to Decide Legal Standard for Determining Independent Contractor Status - April 19th, 2018
- A Tale of Two Governments: Ten New Laws Impacting Employers with Operations in California - November 6th, 2017
- California Supreme Court Answers Unsettled Questions Regarding California’s “Day of Rest” Requirements - May 12th, 2017
- Overtime Rule Blocked - November 28th, 2016
Engagement & Publications
- Editor-in-Chief of Matthew Bender’s California Employers’ Guide to Employee Handbooks and Personnel Policy Manuals
- Department Of Labor Issues Final Overtime Regulations, Paul Hastings’ Client Alert (May 2016)
- A Critical Review of the U.S. Labor Department Wage and Hour Division Administrator’s Interpretation (No. 2015-1) on Misclassification of Independent Contractors Under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin (Jan. 2016)
- An Employee By Any Other Name . . . Is Still An Employee. Guidance on California’s Common Law Test for Determining Employee Status, Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin (Jan. 2015)
- Best Practices in Outsourcing Agreements, Bender’s Labor & Employment Bulletin (Feb. 2014)
- Navigating California’s Wage-and-Hour Law Calls for Planning and Precision, Daily Labor Report (Nov. 2014)
- President Obama’s Directive That the Labor Department "Update" and "Modernize" the FLSA Overtime Exemptions: What does it Mean? Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin (Jul. 2014)
- Best Practices in Drafting Independent Contractor Agreements, Bender’s Labor & Employment Bulletin (Aug. 2013)
Involvement
- Association of Business Trial Lawyers, Board of Governors, San Diego chapter
- San Diego County Bar Association
- Lieutenant, United States Navy, Judge Advocate General’s Corps (1995-2000)
- Member of the California, New York, and Connecticut Bar Associations
Practice Areas
Employee Mobility and Trade Secrets
Litigation
Employment Litigation
Financial Services
Trade Secrets
Class Actions
Labor/Management Relations
Employment Counseling and Preventive Advice
Employment Law
Labor/Management Relations
Languages
English
Admissions
Connecticut Bar
California Bar
New York Bar
Education
Albany Law School, J.D. 1995
Binghamton University, State University of New York, B.A. 1992