Kenneth D. Sulzer

Sulzer opened the Los Angeles – Century City office for Constangy in February 2016, quickly growing it from three attorneys to 17. He serves as the managing partner of the office, as well as the chair of the firm’s California practice.

Sulzer has handled matters for employers in the health care, hotels and resorts, college and professional sports, and real estate sectors.

He served as lead counsel for the National Collegiate Athletic Association in a recent high-profile case on the question of whether student-athletes are employees for the purposes of minimum wage and overtime laws. Dawson v. NCAA, 16-cv-05487-RS (N.D. Cal. April 25, 2017).

A former University of Southern California football player filed the class action against the NCAA and the associated conference, seeking minimum wage and overtime payments, among other compensation. The federal district court judge dismissed the case, ruling that student-athletes at NCAA Division I schools are not considered employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“I think we exceeded expectations, and won a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, outright. It was a complete and absolute victory, and the other side is appealing it to the 9th Circuit now,” Sulzer said. “It was a very sophisticated, cutting-edge issue that’s going to continue to be litigated at the appellate level.”

Sulzer also has particular expertise in matters involving the “outsourced and gig economy.” Employee functions that aren’t part of a company’s core business are increasingly being outsourced to staffing companies and fulfilled by independent contractors. Large employers see outsourcing as a way to minimize risk.

“Employment laws didn’t really anticipate this level of segmenting, so there are some complicated issues to work through,” Sulzer said. “There’s no textbook you can look at for that, because it’s developing law, and we’ve got a big chunk of that space here.”

— Jennifer Chung Klam