Katessa Charles Davis

Davis hasn’t seen an uptick in sexual harassment cases in the wake of the #MeToo movement, but has seen increased sensitivity and responsiveness by employers.

An employment litigator representing companies and managers for upward of 20 years, Davis said “typically what happens in Hollywood is just a microcosm of what’s really going on in workplaces throughout the country.”

Away from the spotlight and status are regular employees emboldened to speak up about workplace incidents, said Davis, who also handles wrongful termination and other forms of discrimination related to race, disability and gender.

“Whereas before they may not have spoken up, they’re speaking up now,” Davis said.

To help her clients respond appropriately, Davis is counseling employers to get up-to-date with training their managers and staying on top of new laws coming out of Sacramento, pointing to a bill passed last year prohibiting asking interviewees about their salary history.

While Davis said the high cost of litigation has led her recently to seek early settlement opportunities for clients, she’s “always ready to pull the trigger and go to trial.”

She narrowly averted a five-week trial in December in Portland involving a man suing for race discrimination.

After subpoenaing his past employment records, she found that the plaintiff had sued two previous employers over similar issues.

“Here’s a plaintiff that when he’s about to be disciplined or things get rough, he plays the race card,” Davis said.

“Now that may not be something any other trial counsel may be comfortable saying, but I can, easily,” said Davis, a past president of the Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, “and I think the jury would see me as a credible person saying that.”

The case, set for the period between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, settled on the eve of trial.

— Lila Seidman