Kristen J. Nesbit

Kristen J. Nesbit

LOS ANGELES - Kristen J. Nesbit handles high-stakes matters in the labor and employment arena for national and international clients in various industries, including manufacturing, aviation, technology and retail. She co-chairs the firm’s California litigation practice group.

She recently represented United Airlines in a lawsuit by an employee challenging the company’s COVID-19 face mask mandate. Bezzina v. United Airlines, 2:21-CV-05102-JFW-JPR (C.D. Cal., filed June 23, 2021). The plaintiff, who sought a six-figure sum in alleged damages, claimed he should be permitted to wear a face shield instead of a face mask, which he said he could not use because of a disability. He alleged that United’s accommodation–a leave of absence–was unreasonable.

“He was alleging disability discrimination, failure to accommodate and failure to engage in the interactive process because of United’s mandatory face mask policy, which aligned with all of the various federal and state mandates regarding wearing face masks on airport property,” Nesbit said.

The case was the first challenge to the airline’s face mask policy brought by a United employee in California. Nesbit filed a motion for summary judgment, which was granted in its entirety.

“I always like to look at it from what are the client’s goals? What are their policies?” she said. “I try to understand what the basis is for the underlying policies, and then be very meticulous about developing a litigation strategy to establish their affirmative defenses or poke holes in the weaknesses of the case. So that was the approach here.”

Nesbit also dedicates her time and efforts to help diverse business owners succeed. She assists disability, minority, women and veteran-owned businesses develop their employment policies, practices and procedures to meet government and corporate supplier diversity objectives. She also routinely volunteers as a mentor and resource for minority business owners.

“This is something I feel is incredibly important. Especially when starting out, sometimes owners are so busy just trying to get the business off the ground that they forget about protecting the foundation–the need to have employee policies, being mindful of employee relations and employee culture. Without those things, you can expose yourself to a labor and employment lawsuit,” she said. “So I spend a lot of time volunteering to give that type of advice to those businesses that might not have access to a labor and employment lawyer at a big firm, but certainly need to be aware of those issues as they’re as growing their small business.”

--Jennifer Chung Klam