Melissa Grant 

Melissa Grant is a partner and lead trial attorney at Capstone Law APC, a 32-lawyer plaintiff-side boutique that focuses on labor and employment, consumer rights, automotive defects and securities fraud cases.

She joined Capstone in 2012 after working solo and for several large firms. She also spent a year as an attorney in the enforcement division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

“I need to be passionate about my career,” Grant said. “And that’s what I can do in employment law, really help people, especially in my specialty of certifying wage and hour class and PAGA actions, defeating motions to strike PAGA claims on manageability grounds and conducting trials.”

She added: “Over the past few years, I have been instrumental in certifying 19 class actions. I have succeeded in defeating half a dozen or more motions to dismiss PAGA claims on manageability grounds.”

Grant graduated summa cum laude from Southwestern Law School and clerked for the late Harry Pregerson at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“He was my hero and my mentor, a remarkable man,” she said. “He felt the courts are supposed to be a level playing field where little guys can confront big guys and get a fair shake.”

Grant is politically active as a co-founder and president of Grassroots Democrats HQ, which has 33,000 volunteers nationwide working on Democratic campaigns. “We helped flip Orange County in 2018, and now we’re working to get it back,” she said. “And this year, we helped flip the Wisconsin Supreme Court to a liberal majority.

In several cases, Grant has successfully argued for appellate opinions that benefit workers. Last year, a 9th Circuit panel agreed with her and reversed a district judge, holding that rules that require employees “must be available for productive work” during rest breaks contradict case law requirements that during rest breaks, workers are “freed from employer control over how they spend their time.” Castro v. PPG Industries, Inc., 21-55340 (9th Cir., op. filed Aug. 25, 2022).

“We got a conservative panel, but they recognized that any controls that keep workers on the premises during breaks could likely violate the law. It’s an advance, and we’re using the ruling in other cases,” Grant said.

In a current case, Grant is targeting meal waivers. “I also developed a theory of liability alleging that blanket meal waivers obtained during orientation are unlawful under Brinker,” she said, referring to the case in which the state Supreme Court clarified meal and rest break rules. A trial court disagreed, but Grant has the issue on appeal. Bradsbery et al. v. Vicar Operating, Inc., B322799 (2d DCA, filed Aug. 12, 2022).

Grant enjoys her work. “I’m very satisfied with this career,” she said.

—John Roemer