Tracey A. Kennedy

Longtime Los Angeles trial attorney Kennedy has seen it all when it comes to labor and employment litigation. Yet a case last year on which she served as lead trial attorney - involving claims by more than 29,000 former and current Taco Bell employees - even impressed Kennedy with its magnitude.

"If it wasn't the most significant case I've handled, it's at least the one where I lost the most sleep," said Kennedy, a partner at Sheppard Mullin in Los Angeles. "It was the sort of trial that tested everything you learned in law school."

The Taco Bell employees were in three certified wage and hour classes, seeking more than $25 million for meal period and rest-break violations and waiting time penalties. Medlock v. Taco Bell Corp. et al., 1:07-cv-01314 (E.D. Cal. April 8, 2016).

The three-week jury trial in federal court resulted in a verdict on one claim for $495,000; the verdict on all the other claims found that Taco Bell didn't violate meal period and rest break requirements.

After the jury trial, the sole prevailing class sought $122 million in penalties under the state labor code's Private Attorneys General Act, or PAGA, which allows aggrieved employees to file lawsuits to recover civil penalties.

After a two-day bench trial, the judge found there was no legal basis to award any PAGA penalties.

Wage and hour class actions are just one piece of Kennedy's practice. With Sheppard Mullin for 23 years, her work in state and federal court has spanned employment matters such as discrimination based on age, race, sex and disability; sexual and racial harassment; retaliation, and wrongful termination. She often counsels clients and provides lectures on these matters.

Kennedy is a fellow for the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, the American Board of Trial Advocates, the American Trial Lawyers Association, and the Litigation Counsel of America.

— Jennifer McEntee