Morin I. Jacob

Jacob's area of expertise is defending public agencies in employment litigation, and recent legal and social developments have kept her docket full. On top of that, she's the managing partner of the firm's San Francisco office.

Jacob is advising agencies on adapting to recent legislation, such as with personnel records requests, and conducting #MeToo-related investigations. She is also defending agencies in lawsuits stemming from Flores v. City of San Gabriel, a decision that said employees who waive health insurance benefits must receive the commensurate opt-out payments as part of their hourly pay. Flores v. City of San Gabriel, 824 F.3d 890 (9th Cir. 2016).

In the last couple years, Jacob has represented public agencies throughout the state in at least half a dozen Flores-related actions.

"Really what Flores reminds us is that it's incredibly important for employers to be on top of their pay practices, to audit their pay practices to ensure they are including all of those dollar amounts that are required to be included in the regular rate of pay," Jacob said.

Agencies are adapting their policies to comply with the decision, both retroactively and on a go-forward basis, Jacob said. It's possible other benefits, like holiday pay, could also be included in the regulated rate of pay in the future, she said.

Jacob also handles other types of employment matters, like wage and hour and personnel issues.

In March, Jacob obtained a win in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. A former in-house attorney claimed he was terminated by his supervisor, general counsel Robert Fabela, for political Facebook posts he made, alleging a 1st Amendment violation.

Fabela, Jacob's client, actually terminated the employee because of cantankerous relationships with other employees, according to Jacob. Regardless, Jacob argued Fabela was entitled to qualified immunity as a government official.

The trial court denied her motion for summary judgment, but the appellate panel reversed and remanded. Ryan v. Fabela, 18-15232 (9th Cir., May 26, 2019).

Aside from the concept of qualified immunity, which is unique to government officials, the plaintiff was an attorney, raising additional complications, Jacob said.

"There's a question of how the role of being an attorney impacts the 1st Amendment speech right," Jacob said. "Those ethical obligations, the duty of confidentiality, the duty of loyalty, he owed those duties to [the Valley Transportation Authority]."

-- Erin Lee