Jahan C. Sagafi

While Sagafi’s practice spans the country, he recently won a $10 million settlement with ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc.

In the suit, Sagafi represented a class of software engineers alleging pervasive gender and race discrimination at the company. What Sagafi takes pride in is the multifaceted nature of the settlement.

“There are two components,” he said. “One is the plain vanilla dollar amount based on your title and how long you worked there, and whether you’re in California or not. The other component is a $1.9 million fund built into the $10 million that is a claims process for emotional distress and harassment.”

The settlement also provides administrative relief and pursues a culture change at the company, including more stringent checks by human resources to ensure employees are treated fairly moving forward. Del Toro Lopez v. Uber Technologies, Inc., 4:17-cv-06255 (N.D. Cal., filed Oct. 27, 2017).

“The settlement provides injunctive relief in form of improved [human resources] and a three-year monitoring process where Uber has to meet with us to update us on the progress it’s made in turning over a new leaf in its employment practices,” Sagafi said.

“We’re certainly very proud of and pleased with the result, and we think it’s a great outcome for the software engineers. More importantly, we hope that this sends a signal to all of Silicon Valley that women and people of color are willing to stand up for their rights and ensure that they get treated equally in terms of pay, promotions, and a fair work environment,” he added.

“We’re happy that Uber is taking very strong meaningful steps to correct the errors of the past and improve its practices and culture.”

In the winter, Sagafi also won a federal jury trial on behalf of 1,000 computer support employees who sued claiming they were misclassified as overtime-exempt. He argued that case in Connecticut, just another in a long line of jurisdictions he has claimed a win in. The Outten & Golden San Francisco partner-in-charge said the nation is at an intersection right now, with a liberal voice in the populace and a conservative one growing in its institutions, a challenge for plaintiff’s attorneys.

“I think we’re at an unusual moment in that it feels like much of the population is fairly liberal and eager for fairness, and fair pay and decent treatment of workers, but the power structure is such that there’s a disproportionate voice for conservatives,” he said.

“People keep knocking on our door about injustices, but there may be changes in the law and legislation that put up obstacles. Our job is to work hard, be creative, and find ways around it.”

— Andy Serbe