Elena R. Baca

The coronavirus pandemic placed Baca out front as a principal member of Paul Hastings’ Covid-19 Task Force, where she participates in a multidisciplinary approach to the legal issues that have arisen for employers.

“We continue to sort through the uncertainties around return-to-work,” she said. “As clients become aware that their remote workforce may be in place at least through the end of the year and possibly into early 2021, they are starting to look at policy changes such as more flexible hours. On the flip side, many have seen the demands on their businesses are oftentimes less. So you may be able to keep with, given a lower volume of work—but will this remain stable when things pick up?”

Baca and her colleagues have mounted a massive effort to assist as employers navigate new regulations and an evolving regulatory landscape. They have advised multi-state employers addressing worker safety, legal issues on essential worker situations and preparations to reintroduce employees to a central workplace, she said.

In early May, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that workers who contract Covid-19 on the job may be eligible to obtain worker comp. “But the employer can rebut that presumption,” Baca said. “Then there are claims along the lines of ‘My employer retaliated because I wanted to take time off due to Covid.’ We have seen cases filed recently over claims that employers didn’t follow CDC or Cal-OSHA guidelines,” she added, referring the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “Or workers will say, ‘You put me in a workplace without proper cleaning or social distancing or ventilation.’”

In a recent arbitration, Baca prevailed for client Gilead Sciences Inc. and a subsidiary in the face of claims of sex discrimination and retaliation by a former employee who sought more than $1 million in lost wages, emotional distress damages and stock benefits. Doe v. Kite Pharma Inc., 1220060309 (JAMS, filed Sept. 4, 2018).

At a seven-day final hearing in November 2019, Baca conducted a cross-examination of the plaintiff that proved fatal to her case. “We pulled it off, deconstructing her story and establishing that she was not credible,” Baca said. The plaintiff agreed to a walk-away settlement, eliminating threatened ERISA claims and an appeal.

— John Roemer