Carol Gillam

To understand how Gillam became an advocate for whistleblower rights and those facing discrimination, you have to go back to the late 1980s and her days as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Central District of California.

There, she worked on a number of cases dealing with the civil rights of migrant workers, including one where a Ventura County flower rancher pleaded guilty to charges he enslaved hundreds of Mexican laborers and paid $1.5 million in back pay.

"I felt like I wanted my clients to be the workers and not the United States government," Gillam said. "So I went into [private practice] with a passion for representing individuals against the biggest and the baddest."

Mission accomplished. As she celebrates the 25th anniversary of her practice, Gillam has made a name for himself representing those brave enough to report malfeasance and misconduct.

She continues to represent Charles M. Erhart, the auditor who filed a whistleblower complaint against Bank of the Internet in San Diego, claiming the bank retaliated against him after he disclosed alleged misconduct to federal authorities. The case is set to go to trial September 17. Erhart v. BofI Holding Inc., 15-CV02287 (S.D. Cal., filed Oct. 13, 2015).

And this past February, Gillam won a first-impression case in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, overturning a lower court decision that a group of bus drivers could not pursue a class action alleging they received inaccurate pay stubs and sending the case back to the U.S. District Court. Humes v. First Student Inc., 17-17072 (9th Cir. Feb. 25, 2019).

"People thought for a while that these were throwaway claims," Gillam said. "But now we're seeing that they're actually the kind of claims that can be a certified for classes because it's so easy to prove a common practice."

Still, a lot of Gillam's work remains focused on plaintiffs' cases dealing with sexual and disability discrimination though she's seeing more cases dealing with age discrimination. She finds joy in helping those who have lost jobs because they were told they were too old, had a perceived disability or wouldn't succumb to a manager's advances.

"I continue to be very passionate about individual plaintiff cases like these," she said, "even though I also have branched out and done a number of class actions."

-- Glenn Jeffers