Tritia M. Murata

In March, Murata and her team landed a victory: a complete defense verdict in favor of their client, California supermarket chain Ralphs. The case was the first on suitable seating to go to trial since the state Supreme Court's ruling in Kilby v. CVS Pharmacy Inc, S215614 (Cal. 2016), Murata noted.

"That trial was just a really critical one, because the plaintiff was essentially challenging the way that our client did business, claiming that our client owed significant penalties," Murata, a partner and co-chair of the employment and labor group at Morrison & Foerster, said.

The plaintiff, a Ralphs cashier, alleged in her Private Attorney Generals Act complaint the supermarket chain owed penalties for not providing seats for cashiers at their check stands. Jill LaFace v. Ralphs Grocery Co., BC632679 (L.A. Sup. C.t, filed Sept. 1, 2016).

"From our client's perspective, and as the court agreed, providing seats inside the check stand would just create a terrible safety hazard," Murata explained. In the case, "there were challenges in the sense that it was the first case of its kind to go to trial, so you don't know what to expect and in that way you're kind of trailblazing, and creating a law, and creating precedent," she added. "But we did feel very strongly that the evidence supported our client's position."

Murata made significant strides in a series of cases over the last few years, defeating class certification and representative PAGA claims for several retail clients, and securing the dismissal of PAGA claims in by pharmacy technicians. She is looking forward to litigating more high stakes, complex employment actions in the next year, but she also has another goal in mind that isn't strictly legal.

"I really love mentoring and developing my associate team, so it's always an important part of my career plan to make sure that I'm providing them with the support and the guidance to help them achieve professional success and satisfaction," said Murata, who started her law career as a summer intern at Morrison & Foerster and has been there since. "I always try to focus on helping develop their legal skills and helping them to achieve a work life balance."

-- Jessica Mach