REPRESENTATIONS

Representative Wage-Hour Class Actions

Financial Services Firm: In a landmark victory for the financial services industry, defeated conditional certification and subsequently obtained summary judgment against three named plaintiffs in a “bet-the-company” action challenging the decision to classify more than 7,000 financial advisors as independent contractors.

 
Insurance Company: Prevailed on motion for summary judgment against named plaintiff in putative class/PAGA action exempt status misclassification lawsuit.  

Satellite TV Provider: Implemented individual settlement program in class/PAGA action challenging independent contractor classification of satellite installation technicians.  Eliminated hundreds of millions of dollars in exposure and successfully opposed plaintiffs’ attempt to invalidate the releases. 

Telecommunications Company: Successfully defended multi-billion-dollar public company against a series of wage-hour class/PAGA actions. Successfully defended multiple motions to intervene and challenges to the settlement. 

Successful defense of numerous class/PAGA actions alleging exempt status misclassification, off-the-clock work, meal and rest period violations, noncompliant wage statements, failure to pay wages, and various other wage-hour claims.

Representative Experience in Wage-Hour Class Action Appellate Matters

Velis v. AT&T Services: Persuaded the trial court and a unanimous Second Appellate District that California employers may provide employees with wage statements that split overtime pay into its component base and premium parts. 

Meza v. Pacific Bell Telephone Company: Convinced appellate court California employers need not include “rate” and “hours” information associated with overtime true-up payments on employees’ wage statements. 

Representative Experience in Constitutional Matters

First Amendment (Speech): Defended media company’s right to make casting decision to remove on-air talent following talent’s controversial remarks. 

First Amendment (Speech): Defended media company’s right to enforce COVID vaccination requirements to preserve the quality of its broadcasts. 

Article 1, Section 10 (Contracts Clause): Represented hotel industry in opposing City of San Diego’s municipal COVID wage ordinance that infringed on collective bargaining and severance agreements.

First Amendment (Free Exercise and Establishment Clause): Complete dismissal of DLSE’s $200,000 penalty citation and accompanying stop-work order issued against religious organization.

Other Representative Matters

Trials: Secured defense verdicts for numerous clients including General Electric, Prudential Realty and Sempra Energy Trading.

Mass Disability Discrimination Litigation: Successfully defended call center operator from over forty individual disability and leave lawsuits. 

Whistleblower Litigation: Defeated claims brought against pharmaceutical company under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act. Decision affirmed by Ninth Circuit.

Privacy/Data Breach: Represented Fortune 100 Company in a series of threatened actions involving the unauthorized disclosure of private information. 

Federal and State Department of Labor Investigations: Represented various companies in USDOL, DLSE, EDD and other agency investigations on a rage of wage-hour issues.

Business and Strategic Advice: Advise a broad array of companies on their employment practices and help build employment and pay systems in a way designed to minimize legal risk. Illustrative examples include: (i) providing strategic guidance and compliance advice in connection with conversion of 5,000 workers from independent contractor to employee status; (ii) conducting dozens of federal and multi-state wage and hour compliance reviews for employers across various industries; and (iii) preparation of 300 separate incentive compensation templates for national insurance company.

• Editor-in-Chief of Matthew Bender’s California Labor & Employment Law Bulletin
• Editor-in-Chief of Matthew Bender’s California Employers’ Guide to Employee Handbooks and Personnel Policy Manuals
• Hot-Button Provisions in Employee Agreements and Workplace Policies. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Brit K. Seifert, Cassidy R. Bolt, Geneva Cazares (May 2022)
• Non-Compete Agreements:  The Tight Grip in California and the Tightening Grip Nationwide. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (Mar. 2021)
• 5 Key Terms to Include in Remote Employee Work-From-Home Agreements. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (Oct. 2020)
• The New FLSA Joint Employer Regulations. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (Apr. 2020)
• One Year In:  Grappling With Dynamex’s Requirement That Independent Contractors "Perform Work Outside the Usual Course of the Hiring Entity’s Business" - Understanding Part B of the "ABC Test." Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert, James P. de Haan (May 2019) 
• Minimum Wage and Overtime for "Independent Contractors"? The California Supreme Court’s Dynamex Decision Installs a New "ABC" Test for Determining if a Worker Can Qualify as an Independent Contractor for Purposes of IWC Wage Orders. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Law Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (May 2018)
• California’s New Parent Leave Act:  What Employers are Covered and What Handbook Policy Changes are Warranted? Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (Dec. 2017)
• Emerging Issues in Employment Law. 60-minute live, online presentation to American Corporate Counsel Association.  Presenter: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jun. 2017)
• Screening Your Employment Application:  Out With the Old? (Old Questions, That Is). Bender’s California Labor & Employment Law Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert, James P. de Haan (Jun. 2017)
• California Supreme Court Replaces Tests for Determining Independent Contractor Status. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jun. 2017)
• Preparing for Dynamex: California Supreme Court Set to Decide Legal Standard for Determining Independent Contractor Status. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jun. 2017)
• Drafting Independent Contractor Agreements. 60-minute live, online presentation, hosted by Webcredenza. Presenter: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jun. 2017)
• Under New Law, California’s Agricultural Workers Now Entitled to the Same Overtime Pay, Meal Period, Day of Rest, and Other Wage and Hour Protections as Other Non-Exempt Workers. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (Oct. 2016)
• Government Creep Into Private Employer Policies. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (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. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jan. 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. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jan. 2016)
• "Joint Employers" Under the Amended California Family Rights Act Regulations Effective July 1, 2015:  How Do FMLA Standards Fit In? Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (May 2015)
• 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. Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (Jan. 2015)
• 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. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jan. 2015)
• Navigating California’s Wage-and-Hour Laws Calls for Planning, Precision.  Bloomberg BNA Daily Labor Report. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Blake R. Bertagna (Dec. 2014)
• Navigating California’s Wage-and-Hour Law Calls for Planning and Precision, Daily Labor Report. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (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. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jul. 2014)
• Best Practices in Outsourcing Agreements, Bender’s Labor & Employment Bulletin. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Feb. 2014)
• Best Practices in Drafting Independent Contractor Agreements, Bender’s Labor & Employment Bulletin. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Aug. 2013)
• MCLE, Survey of Connecticut Employment Libel Law. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Sept. 2012)
• Employee or Independent Contractor: How to Preserve Independent Contractor Status in an Increasingly Hostile Environment. Docket (publication of Association of Corporate Counsel). Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert Apr. 2011)
• Workplace Restructurings: Avoiding Costly Wage and Hour Mistakes. Bloomberg Labor & Employment Report. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (Mar. 2009)
• Family Leave Rules Affect Military Personnel: Employers Must Also Step Up Efforts to Publicize FMLA Benefits. Connecticut Law Tribune. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jan. 2009)
• U.S. Department of Labor Issues New FMLA Regulations Effective January 16, 2009. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Dec. 2008)
• U.S. Department of Labor Issues Final Regulations on Family and Medical Leave.  Paul Hastings Client Alert. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Maria A. Audero, James P. Carter, Julie D. Schisler (Nov. 2008)
• New Leave Rules Provide Guidance for Military Families. Daily Journal Newswire Articles. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Nov. 2008)
• Survey of Connecticut Employment Libel Law.. Authors: Carla R. Walworth, Raymond W. Bertrand, Christopher Reilly  (Nov. 2008)
• Employment Class Actions Plague Pharmaceutical Industry. Pharmaceutical Law Insight. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Barbara L. Johnson, Carla R. Walworth (Aug. 2008)
• Callifornia Court of Appeal Clarifies State Meal and Rest Period Requirements in Brinker Restaurant Corporation.  Paul Hastings Client Alert. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Maureen E. O'Neill (Jul. 2008)
• What Certifications are Required for the New Types of Leave? ABA Committee News. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Apr. 2008)

• 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