Adam P. KohSweeney

KohSweeney specializes in labor and employment issues related to the airline and hospitality industries.

"It's an interesting time to be an employment lawyer, what with everything so politicized and with so many new questions arising from the pandemic," he said.

Most of his time is usually spent in litigation, he added, but the coronavirus has upended that. "It's very much the reverse now, mostly counseling. There are discrimination questions--can employers take workers' temperature at the door when they come in? And is that compensable time? Folks are struggling with that. Some agencies say yes, but built in is the implication that it will change as the situation improves."

Of course, not all workers do come in to work now. "We're moving to reassess the feasibility of working from home. Some people can't wait to get back to the office, but a lot of organizations are rethinking the workplace. There's going to be a large subset that may not fully return. So that leads to issues over keeping track of time, or the expenses associated with working from home, or meal breaks and rest periods."

In January 2020 KohSweeney obtained affirmance from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals of part of the summary judgment he'd won for client US Airways in a certified class action by ramp agents alleging overtime claims. Angeles v. US Airways Inc., 18-16096 (9th Cir., opinion filed Jan. 24, 2020).

The issue was shift-trading by the agents, an important practice that lets agents partly control their work schedule. "It's beloved in the industry," KohSweeney said. The question was whether it clashes with California overtime laws, as plaintiffs claimed; KohSweeney argued for the airline that it is exempt. The panel agreed to decertify the class, holding that common issues did not predominate.

"It was a good win--a lot of money was on the table here, because ramp agents are well-paid and there was potentially four years of overtime pay at stake," KohSweeney said. "I enjoy taking a case from its start through the appellate process."

In June 2019 KohSweeney prevailed for client The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. LLC. The case involved claims that mandatory service charges imposed by the hotel on banquet events were wages that had to be distributed to employees. KohSweeney persuaded the court that the charges were not tips because there was no evidence that customers intended them to go to workers. The judge agreed in a bench trial and was affirmed by a state appellate panel. Robinson v. The Ritz Carlton Hotel Co. LLC, A150239 (1st DCA, opinion filed June 5, 2019).

"Here and in the airline matter, the issues were more important than in the individual cases," KohSweeney said.

-- John Roemer