Christina T. "Tina" Tellado 

Christina T. “Tina” Tellado is a labor and employment partner at Holland & Knight LLP. Her skill set includes an ability to whittle down class actions from thousands of potential plaintiffs to a handful, making her a go-to wage-and-hour litigator within California’s strict system of employment laws. Her expertise extends to complex litigation involving race, sex, harassment and discrimination claims.

She’s currently co-lead counsel in California’s largest array of complex employment litigation as she defends Tesla, Inc. against multiple lawsuits by individuals and by the California Civil Rights Department involving claims of racial and sexual harassment and discrimination at the electric vehicle maker’s fabrication factories.

Tellado joined Holland & Knight in 2018 after working at Reed Smith LLP, Greenberg Traurig LLP and Littler Mendelson P.C.

Earlier, Tellado clerked for a magistrate judge in Texas who handled the employment law docket for a district court judge, then worked at the U.S. Department of Labor during the President George Bush administration.

“I got great insight into the labor department’s massive bureaucracy,” she said. “Littler was another great foundation for my career.” At Reed Smith in Philadelphia, she saw employment law from the perspective of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a generally employer-friendly venue. “I was there when FLSA collective actions were just taking off,” she added, referring to the time a decade ago when the number of Fair Labor Standards Act wage and hour suits began to increase significantly.

“That gave my career focus,” she said of defending FLSA suits. “Then I came to California and my world flipped,” she added, referring to this state’s pro-employee laws, largely backed by the 9th Circuit.

As if to emphasize her point, Tellado spoke on the mid-July day when the California Supreme Court reinforced the Private Attorneys General Act in the face of an opposing view by the U.S. Supreme Court. “They found a way around Viking River,” she said, naming the U.S. high court’s anti-PAGA opinion. “It’s very interesting to practice here.”

Tellado declined to discuss her Tesla work. She manages cases both in Northern and Southern California. Several are class actions, one with more than 6,000 class members. Tellado oversees about 20 attorneys on teams doing document review, discovery and motions. The state’s action was filed as Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Tesla, Inc., 22CV006830 (Alameda Co. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 9, 2022).

The employment law field is where Tellado wants to be. “It’s definitely enjoyable. They say the law is what you make it, and I feel this is an opportunity to help shape the law.”

—John Roemer