Cheryl A. Sabnis

Cheryl A. Sabnis

SAN FRANCISCO - Employers are saying no, Cheryl A. Sabnis said. They’re saying enough is enough. They’re fighting back.

“They’re not willing to roll over and just pay every plaintiff that comes down the pike,” said Sabnis, who recently left King & Spalding LLP for Vedder PC. “They’re fighting back against claims that they don’t think have merit or laws that are unclear or opportunistic litigation tactics.”

There was a time when employers hit with putative class actions, particularly ones with wage and hour claims, would settle quickly, she said. But lately, many employers are “pushing back on whether or not these putative classes are even, in fact, realistic and can be tried.”

Recently, she succeeded against plaintiffs’ attorneys trying a novel approach “to weaponize the unfair competition law in combination with the health-and-safety component of the Labor Code… to establish a new theory of liability” for when employees are injured on the job in addition to workers’ compensation.

Sabnis defeated a class certification motion in April. “They’re taking the Labor Code a bridge too far,” she said.

But that’s just one example. Sabnis said she is fighting a number of wage and hour lawsuits that would not be manageable as class and PAGA actions. “My clients are willing to fight through those issues and force the plaintiffs to face the fact that what they have filed actually cannot be maintained,” she said.

Sabnis also defends employers in individual lawsuits filed by former senior executives. Those cases usually go to trial. In fact, Sabnis is set to try an unusually complex case in November against her client’s former president. Shainman v. Getac Inc., 30-2020-01125066 (O.C. Super. Ct., filed Jan. 17, 2020).

Sometimes, Sabnis leads confidential internal investigations for her clients. Some investigations grow from complaints of sexual harassment against top executives. More difficult for employers are complaints about workplace culture. “Even if [executives are] not engaging in unlawful behavior, if they’re engaging in disrespectful behavior, that becomes incredibly complicated and difficult,” she said.

She has learned that employers shouldn’t ignore even over-the-top complaints. “You can’t assume that because only one person… made a complaint that there aren’t other individuals out there with similar concerns.”

-Don DeBenedictis