Dustin L. Collier

Since Collier launched his namesake firm three years ago to practice plaintiff-side employment law, he has obtained more than $26 million in judgments and settlements for clients. Collier has nine years' experience as a trial and deposition skills instructor for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, the California Employment Lawyers Association and the University of San Francisco School of Law's intensive advocacy program.

"I've been a trial skills consultant since I was a first year attorney, after a long background in debate," said Collier, who was admitted to the State Bar in 2009. Another lawyer who brought him in to try a case--Valinda Kyrias of Petaluma--led them to develop a theory regarding the application of the state's Private Attorneys General Act to public entities over claims of Occupational Safety and Health Administration violations.

"We realized there were big policy implications at stake here," Collier said. The case involved a whistleblower who disclosed asbestos contamination at a major campus building at Sonoma State University. A settlement of the PAGA component of the case compelled the school to spend up to $90 million to renovate the building. Benjamin v. Board of Trustees of the California State University, SCV-258408 (Sonoma Co. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 16, 2016).

The theory is being tested by a state appellate panel in a similar case, in which the defense protests that PAGA claims cannot apply to public entities. The allegations involved lead contamination on the Sonoma State campus and retaliation against a whistleblower who reported the matter. A jury ruled in the plaintiff's favor and awarded $387,000 in damages. It also found more than 15,000 OSHA violations and awarded $2.9 million in PAGA penalties plus $7.8 million in attorney fees. Sargent v. Board of Trustees of the California State University, SCV-255399 (Sonoma Co. Super. Ct., filed May 5, 2014).

Collier's appeal, filed with appellate specialists at Pine Tillett Pine LLP, argues that PAGA applies unambiguously to public entities. The matter remains under submission at the 1st District Court of Appeal.

In what Collier describes as "Sargent and Benjamin on steroids," he and colleagues at Rosen Saba LLP allege another whistleblower retaliation case and OSHA-based PAGA action over alleged violations at all of CSU's campuses statewide. The case is headed for trial in Los Angeles. Shepler v. Board of Trustees of the California State University, BC705095 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed May 4, 2018).

"When this came along, I was young and had no PAGA or OSHA experience," Collier said. "These weren't the kind of employment cases people were bringing, and the asbestos added another layer of complexity. We just had to figure it all out. We felt like pioneers. The Sargent appeal will open the floodgates if it goes our way."

-- John Roemer