Cameron W. Fox

Fox, chair of Paul Hastings’ Los Angeles employment law department, has secured full defense verdicts in high-profile cases involving allegations of retaliation against whistleblowers, and in cases alleging discrimination for political and religious expression.

In executive mobility and trade secrets, she has obtained multi-million-dollar jury verdicts against former employees who have stolen intellectual property from her clients. She is handling sensitive #MeToo cases for clients, including cases in which sexual assault of a female employee is alleged. Fox also maintains a traditional labor practice and is a deputized district attorney for Los Angeles County.

Clients include the University of Southern California, Google LLC and its parent Alphabet Inc. and the defense contractor AeroVironment Inc.

Fox’s frequent travels from Los Angeles, where she lives, to San Francisco, where she keeps a second office, have been curtailed by the pandemic. “When this is over I think we’ll all be getting back to office work. What makes a high-level law practice really sing is the in-person collaboration, especially when you’re doing trial work.”

A major employment case for Google and Alphabet is on appeal. Fox obtained favorable rulings at the NLRB and in San Francisco County Superior Court on claims over the lawfulness of the companies’ confidentiality, data security and conduct policies as applied to a workforce of about 65,000 employees worldwide.

Notably, the San Francisco trial judge held that the issues litigated at the NLRB preempt similar claims in state court. Doe v. Google Inc., CGC-16-556034 (S.F. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 20, 2016). A state appellate panel disagreed, and Fox and colleagues are preparing to petition the state Supreme Court for review.

“On these facts, our preemption argument is very strong,” Fox said.

In a separate part of the dispute, the plaintiffs in Doe sought $1.3 million in catalyst fees arguing that their complaint, though unsuccessful, caused Google to make workplace changes. San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo rejected that effort because the plaintiffs had not sought the fees in their complaint and because they could not show their claims motivated Google to make the changes.

“This was an unusual employment case, full of novel issues. It’s very much what I enjoy doing,” Fox said.

— John Roemer