Lisa S. Charbonneau Associate

Lisa represents cities, counties, and special districts throughout the state in litigation, advice and counsel, and all other matters pertaining to labor and employment law, including investigations, public employee discipline, wage and hour compliance, the Public Safety Officers’ and Firefighters’ Procedural Bill of Rights Acts, and labor relations.  She also works with the firm’s school clients on wage and hour and other education law matters. 

She has secured successful results, including dismissal or summary judgment, for clients in litigation matters ranging from Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective actions to disability discrimination to First Amendment retaliation.  She has also successfully represented clients before numerous administrative bodies and personnel commissions, including the California Labor Commission, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  A significant part of Lisa’s advice and counsel work involves counseling clients on FLSA issues, conducting FLSA audits for clients, reviewing employer compliance with wage and hour laws, and assisting with payroll system upgrades and modifications to achieve compliance with wage and hour laws.  Her practice also includes training on such subjects as harassment, FLSA compliance, freedom of expression in the workplace, fire district/department management, and supervisory skills. 

Lisa received her JD from U.C. Hastings College of the Law in 2006 and was admitted to the California State Bar in December of that year. While at Hastings, Lisa served as an Equal Justice America fellow and received a grant to work on community economic development issues for the City of Detroit. Lisa earned her Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Government from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and soon after that worked at a political magazine, The American Prospect, until she began to pursue her law degree.

Lisa was recognized as a "Rising Star" by Northern California Super Lawyers in 2012, 2013, 2014-2016, and in 2010 received a Community Partner Award for pro bono work with the Transgender Law Center in San Francisco, California. She is a member of the California State Bar's Litigation Section and Women Lawyers of Alameda County. 

LITIGATION

Douglas Maner v. County of Stanislaus, Birgit Fladager (2016) - Represented the County of Stanislaus and District Attorney Birgit Fladager and secured complete summary judgment after two motions were brought by each defendant. The County and Fladager had conducted investigations against Plaintiff Maner after receiving complaints of misconduct from judges, law enforcement, victims' next of kin, and co-workers. In 2006, Fladager was elected district attorney, and Maner had supported the opposition candidate. In 2013, he resigned his employment, claiming his work conditions were so intolerable because he had not supported Fladager in the election in 2006, that he was forced to resign. Defendants claimed all of the employment actions taken against Maner were non-retaliatory and a result of his bad behavior in the workplace. The court entered summary judgment in favor of the County and Fladager, finding that Maner had failed to show that the actions taken against him were based on his support of an opposition candidate in an election.

Mark James et. al. v. City of Santa Clara (2016) - Represented the City of Santa Clara and secured complete summary judgment on behalf of the City after three motions were brought against each plaintiff. The City had instituted numerous cost-cutting measures to avoid a fiscal crisis, including layoffs. Plaintiffs, all over 40, were laid off and claimed the City's RIF Plan had a disparate impact on older workers, and that these three plaintiffs were subjected to disparate treatment because of their age. City's position was that the layoffs were part of an age-neutral decision, the City was immune from suit for any actions related to the layoffs, and that the three plaintiffs failed to show that City's legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for the layoffs were.

Women Lawyers of Alameda County

California State Bar Litigation Section