Nemeth v. County of Los Angeles (2019) – LCW, with Geoff as lead counsel, obtained summary judgment in a lawsuit alleging various violations of the Public Safety Officers’ Procedural Bill of Rights Act.
Moreno, et al. v. City of Beverly Hills (2019) – Geoff was co-lead counsel defending the City in a lawsuit brought by four employees of the City’s police department. The four plaintiffs alleged that they were subjected to a number of different adverse employment actions that they contented were motivated by illegal discrimination and/or relation. Some of the plaintiffs also alleged they were subjected to illegal harassment. After a trial that lasted more than four weeks, the plaintiffs asked the jury to award them more than $20 million. While the jury found some liability, the plaintiffs received just a fraction of the damages they claimed to have suffered.
Lee v. City of Montebello (2016) – LCW obtained summary judgment in this lawsuit, in which a former employee alleged that her termination was in retaliation for reporting errors by the City in calculating her PERS contributions and for making complaints about her manager. Plaintiff also alleged that she was terminated without constitutional due process. The trial court granted summary judgment, finding that plaintiff’s complaints did not involve matters of public concern under the First Amendment, and that her due process claim was barred because it had been adjudicated in a writ proceeding she filed contesting her termination.
Biggers v. City of Indio (2015) – LCW prevailed for the City in police officer’s petition for writ of administrative mandamus challenging his termination for dishonesty associated with false statements on his application materials
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, et al. v. County of Los Angeles, et al. (2012) – LCW, with Geoff as co-lead counsel, represented the County in a FLSA collective action where the U.S. District Court granted several key motions filed by LCW on behalf of the County The lawsuit involved the “donning and doffing” claims of approximately 3,000 deputy sheriffs in two different, yet consolidated, collective action lawsuits filed against the County and its Sheriff. The trial court also granted the County’s motion to decertify the remaining “off-the-clock” work claims. The District Court’s rulings effectively ended two large collective/class action lawsuits after several years of litigation.
Rosales v. County of Los Angeles (2011) – In this FLSA collective action, a class of 700 IHSS social workers who evaluated IHSS recipients’ needs and made recommendations regarding the services to be performed by IHSS providers sought compensation for unreported overtime and certification of the class. LCW successfully defeated plaintiffs’ attempt to certify the class and limited the case to just one social worker. The case then settled for nuisance value.
Nolan v. City of Los Angeles (2011) – 43 LAPD supervisors claimed that the LAPD violated the FLSA by failing to pay them overtime for pre-shift and post-shift work, missed meal breaks and donning and doffing of their uniforms. LCW obtained summary judgment for the LAPD on plaintiffs’ donning and doffing claim. Following a seven day jury trial on the claims of four representative plaintiffs, the jury returned a partial verdict for plaintiffs, but awarded them less than 3% of the damages they sought. The parties then resolved the remaining claims for the other plaintiffs based on the jury’s verdict.
Moon v. City of Downey (2010) – LCW obtained summary judgment in an action brought by a fire fighter who alleged he was harassed, retaliated against and denied promotion based on his sexual orientation. Plaintiff could not state a prima facie case for any of these causes of action, and the City demonstrated legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for promoting another individual over plaintiff.
Petersen Law Firm v. City of Los Angeles (2009 and 2013) – LCW, with lead counsel Geoff Sheldon, prevailed on an Anti-SLAPP motion in a case challenging investigation of police officers. After the matter was appealed and remanded, the trial court reconsidered the City’s motion for attorney’s fees and ruled that the City was entitled to recover the entire amount of attorney’s fees and costs it requested.
Bentley v. County of Los Angeles, et al (2009) – In a federal lawsuit a County client defeated a motion for conditional certification of a collective action filed by a potential lead plaintiff in a Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) wage and hour action.
Maciel v. City of Los Angeles (2008) – Plaintiff sued for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act alleging he was entitled to overtime pay for time spent “donning” and doffing” his police uniform; and various “off-the-clock” tasks performed pre-shift, post-shift and during unpaid meal periods. LCW obtained a defense verdict on all claims.