Cameron W. Fox

A partner in the employment law department of Paul Hastings, Fox has successfully defended employers in jury and bench trials, in arbitration and on appeal against claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, breach of contract and defamation.

Fox represents Google LLC and its parent Alphabet Inc. in related matters before the National Labor Relations Board and in California state court regarding the lawfulness of the companies’ confidentiality, data security and conduct policies as applied to a workforce of about 65,000 employees worldwide.

The NLRB — in the first major unfair labor practice case against a Silicon Valley tech company — alleged the defendants’ confidentiality policies violate the National Labor Relations Act. A parallel claim over the same issues is in litigation in San Francisco County Superior Court. Doe v. Google Inc., CGC-16-556034 (S.F. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 20, 2016).

The complaint notes, “Google’s motto is ‘don’t be evil.’ Google’s illegal confidentiality agreements, policies, and practices fail this test.” It asserts that Google’s allegedly overbroad confidentiality agreement, which all employees must sign, violate provisions of the California Labor Code. The anonymous plaintiff seeks claims for recovery under the California Private Attorneys General Act on claims about excessive confidentiality demands by Google.

“However, a publicly traded company with Google’s reach, power, and close ties to the federal government cannot be permitted to declare to its workforce that everything it does and everything that happens — from the location of a water cooler to serious violations of the law — is ‘confidential’ upon pain of termination and the threat of ruinous litigation,” the complaint states.

Last year, Fox and her team secured dismissal of all but one of the causes of action in the case. Last month, Google settled the case for slightly more than $1 million plus an easing of its confidentiality requirement, according to court documents.

In another Google case, Fox is defending the company against a potential class action filed by former employee James Damore, who alleges that Caucasians, males and political conservatives suffer race, gender and political discrimination on the job. Damore was fired in August after circulating a memo critical of Google’s diversity programs. He also blamed biological differences for the relative lack of women in tech. Damore v. Google LLC, 18CV321529 (Santa Clara Super. Ct., filed Jan. 8, 2018).

“The timeliness of those cases are, in some ways, unique consequences of the divisive political environment we see our country in right now,” Fox said in an earlier interview.

— John Roemer