David M. deRubertis

The last few years has seen an uptick in high-level executives blowing the whistle on their companies over financial improprieties, according to deRubertis. Representing them has become his niche practice.

“We’re seeing a renewed realization of the importance of the whistleblower that’s kind of cutting across political lines,” deRubertis said.

Many of the claims fall under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which is meant to increase corporate transparency. According to deRubertis, the cases skew more complex than typical employment cases, often involving delving into financial accounting.

Fresh off resolving a whistleblower suit against Wells Fargo & Co. over back pay in April, deRubertis said he’s just starting up another Sarbanes-Oxley claim against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. by a former senior executive.

Tri Huynh, a former director of business development, alleges the company fudged numbers to show inflated e-commerce sales to better compete with Amazon.com Inc. — and was fired for complaining about it. Huynh v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., CV01631 (N.D. Cal., filed March 15, 2018).

DeRubertis said he’s come to realize that the common assumption that a jury would not sympathize with a wealthy executive is inaccurate.

“At the end of the day, juries understand the importance of people who speak truth to power, whether they’re people who make a million dollars a year or make minimum wage,” he said.

Despite his recent spate of affluent clients, deRubertis — who likes to wear shorts and T-shirts at the office — said his primary focus is “the little guy.”

In early July, he secured a tentative $1.4 million win for a packing company manager who said he was laid off after more than 30 years at the company because of his age and a surgery that left him unable to perform heavy lifting. Moreno v. Clougherty Packing, BC659252 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed April 27, 2017).

— Lila Seidman