J. Bernard Alexander III

Alexander Morrison + Fehr • Los Angeles


The prominent plaintiff-side employment law litigator J. Bernard Alexander III's long streak of high-value wins for clients continued in 2023 with multimillion-dollar jury verdicts and confidential settlements. Alexander and his nine-attorney boutique, Alexander Morrison + Fehr LLP, frequently partner with other firms on major cases.


Alexander was named 2024 trial lawyer of the year by both the John M. Langston Bar Association of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association.


He's busy. "There's no shortage of work," he said. "I turn away many more cases than I can take. As long as there are human beings at work, there'll be discrimination and retaliation in the workplace."


In one unusual case, he won a $7.99 million discrimination and retaliation jury verdict for two female attorneys of color -- one Black, one Indian -- who worked in the general counsel's office at the East Bay Municipal Utilities District in Alameda County. Beyond the verdict, Alexander negotiated a $750,000 punitive damages settlement that the general counsel will pay personally. Pierce and Bland v. East Bay Municipal Utility District, 3:21-cv-04325 (N.D. Cal., filed June. 7, 2021).


"After the jury had deliberated for five court days, the handwriting was on the wall," Alexander said. 


The evidence had exposed failure to prevent discrimination, retaliation and constructive discharge by the general counsel. "We all knew the jurors were angry at him, and he wanted to avoid exposing his personal finances to further scrutiny, so he agreed to the payment," Alexander said. 


The general counsel, Craig S. Spencer, has since retired and is on the State Bar's inactive list. "He told false negative information about the women to investigators, and the jury got it," Alexander continued.


The punitives deal with Spencer is currently on hold while EBMUD appeals the outcome. "The general verdict has to stand for the punitives to stand," Alexander said. "It's difficult to litigate against a government entity, and even more difficult to get punitive damages against an individual within the entity," he observed.


In another case last August, Alexander obtained $9.46 million -- more than half of which was punitive damages -- from a federal jury for an African American employee wrongfully terminated during a claimed reduction in force at a large packaging company. McCray v. WestRock Services LLC, 2:21-cv-09853 (C.D. Cal., filed Dec. 22, 2021).


"That was a great result," Alexander said. "He'd worked there for 27 years, and when he complained about racism on the job, the company did not investigate and terminated his position after he went on disability leave. It was clear they wanted to get rid of him because he complained." The outcome is on appeal.


As often happens, Alexander co-counseled on the case, this time with Shadie L. Berenji of Berenji Law Firm APC. "We came in at the last minute," Alexander said. "Co-counseling is a big part of what we do."