Donna M. Mezias

Mezias represents employers in class actions and individual discrimination cases. Her clients include The Home Depot USA Inc., MediaNews Group Inc., Marvell Technology Group Ltd., Monsanto Co. (Now Bayer Corp.), AT&T Inc. and the San Francisco 49ers.

Her firm has plans to reopen, but no firm date. "We're closely watching local guidelines," she said in late June. "I'd be surprised if we reopen in San Francisco before the fall. There's really no rush--working remotely is going very well, though it certainly is a crazy time."

Mezias said that when the shelter-in-place orders arrived in March, "I had 12 depositions all prepared to go. My first thought was that I would be having a little break, workwise, but that didn't happen. There were a flurry of calls and they haven't let up."

For Santa Clara-based semiconductor maker Marvell Technology Group Ltd., Mezias advised the company on all employment aspects of its recent multiple transactions, including the acquisition of Avera Semi, Aquantia Corp. and Cavium and the divestiture of its wireless connectivity portfolio to NXP Inc. The work involved complex integration and reorganization actions, reductions in force and office closures and consolidations impacting the combined companies' domestic and international workforce.

"Those transactions are completed and there are no U.S. acquisitions that are public at this time," Mezias said, adding that she's happy the deals were done ahead of the confusion caused by the pandemic. Her advice these days, she said, depends on how clients go about initiating transactions in a time of uncertainty. "Companies in a strong financial position will still be looking for opportunities. Others will be more cautious. Companies will be looking with a fresher eye at situations that lend themselves to remote work, such as semiconductor design."

The institution of videoconferencing some years back did not really take off as some had expected, Mezias said. "Video conferencing was a big deal that people thought would change the legal business, but until now it never quite got the predicted liftoff. There was a lot of discussion back then in Silicon Valley about telecommuting, but that kind of folded. Steve Jobs said people needed to be in the office together. That was a legitimate line of thinking, but now we are forced into a situation where it is getting another hard look."

One of her major cases, a misclassification action by newspaper carriers against MediaNews Group, is on pause due to court closures. Mezias has filed a motion for summary judgment. Gorton v. MediaNews Group Inc., RG18915525 (Alameda Co. Super. Ct. filed Sept. 3, 2018).

"Our position is that we are not the carriers' employer; the distributors are. So we can't be liable," Mezias said.

-- John Roemer