Morin I. Jacob

Employment

San Francisco

Morin I. Jacob has been the managing partner of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore's San Francisco office for more than a decade. She specializes in defense-side employment litigation and investigations for public safety departments in cities, counties and special districts.

"I'd been practicing employment law in the private sector, and then a recruiter suggested that my values might be more aligned with clients in the public sector," Jacob said. "I went to law school wanting to help others, and the recruiter was right -- I found working with these mission-driven agencies very fulfilling."

She joined Liebert Cassidy in 2007. "I've been thinking about all the women who helped in my career, like that recruiter," Jacob said. "I never felt in my generation that I was held back because I'm a woman, but there were male-dominated environments and I had to figure out where I fit into these boys' clubs. It's different here at Liebert. There's much more of a gender balance. Now everyone is in the club."

Jacob's skill at performing investigations is currently in demand amid widespread protests on university campuses over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Typically, protesters will complain that the administration has violated school policies, and school officials will retain Jacob to look into those claims.

"I'm currently doing three separate investigations along those lines," she said. Due to the subject's sensitivity, she declined to name her clients.

Last year Jacob obtained summary judgment for Mendocino County after it terminated the agriculture commissioner for performance and management failings. He sued, claiming that five of his subordinated had harassed him. Grewal v. County of Mendocino et al., SCUK-CVPO-20-73798 (Mendocino Co. Sup. Ct., filed Aug. 25, 2020).

"This was a bit unique -- you don't see department heads accusing employees of harassment very often," Jacob said. Her defense asserted that the county had legitimate business reasons for firing the plaintiff. "His harassment claims came out of left field, and there was no evidence that he'd ever complained or reported anything."

In another Mendocino County case, Jacob won a motion to dismiss claims by three plaintiffs that the health and human services agency discriminated against them because of their heterosexuality or because of their resistance to efforts to promote a lesbian employee. Howe et al. v. County of Mendocino et al., 1:21-cv-00935 (N.D. Cal., filed Feb. 5, 2021).

Jacob won both at the trial court and on appeal when a former fire chief sued a fire protection district in Stanislaus County on retaliation claims. She demonstrated that the plaintiff failed to comply with the Government Claims Act; the court sustained her demurrer and an appellate panel agreed. Weigele v. Salida Fire Protection District, CV-21-000657 (Stanislaus Co. Sup. Ct., filed Feb. 22, 2022).

Jacob likes the work. "I'm accustomed to successfully connecting and communicating so that people open up to you," she said.

-- John Roemer