Gay Crosthwait Grunfeld

Grunfeld's recent significant wins included having a state statute declared unconstitutional because it excluded male prison inmates from an early release program and continuing to secure the Americans with Disabilities Act rights of prisoners and parolees with disabilities. She also filed a high-profile wage and hour class action for current and former general managers of ULTA Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. stores in California and is pursing litigation settlements for a local union, a Canadian software company, prisoners at a Bay Area jail and several individual executives and workers.

The most gratifying case, Grunfeld said, was Sassman v. Brown. It was a successful equal protection challenge to a state statute that let low-level female offenders, but not their male counterparts, participate in an out-of-custody release program to care for their children during their final two years of a prison sentence. "I believe so strongly in the importance of fathers being involved in raising their children and the importance of treating men and women equally in employment and other areas," she said.

She followed that victory by filing a follow-on case, Berman v. Brown, on behalf of additional male offenders who wished to challenge the same statute. Not surprisingly, an Eastern District judge ruled for the men, citing Sassman and the collateral estoppel doctrine. "Needing to bring this case highlighted the intransigence of the state. Its lawyers dug in their heels and continued to defend the indefensible," Grunfeld said.

She also worked on cases involving elder care and assisted living facilities clients, including Pacific Institute for Medical Research Inc. and AgeSong Inc. "What I love about my practice is being able to help in such a wide variety of situations," Grunfeld said.

When a Monterey County Public Defender James S. Egar exposed inhumane conditions in the county jail, Grunfeld helped win a sweeping preliminary injunction for prisoners and a sub-class of prisoners with disabilities. She and firm colleagues obtained and are enforcing a unique ruling that their clients could assert federal claims against the jail's private medical provider. "That ruling could be put to use to improve jail conditions around the state," she said.

John Roemer