Carney R. Shegerian

Shegerian & Associates • Los Angeles


Carney Shegerian and his firm have been quite successful in the last few years representing employees suing their employers. According to the firm, they've won judgments and settlements totaling more than $400 million.


Part of the reason for their success, Shegerian said, is careful client selection. "One big advantage I have over the defense side is I get to hand select my cases and my clients," he said. All their clients were harmed by their employers. "They were put in a very bad position through not their own doing."


The firm is skilled at vetting clients "to make sure that we're representing not just a case where the law was maybe broken, but where it was significant and meaningful to our clients," he added. "That makes my job a lot easier and makes for that kind of success quite honestly."


This spring, Shegerian represented the only female doctor to serve as the director of UCLA's lymphoma program, who sued after she was forced to resign because of gender discrimination. "They tried to bring her down by criticizing her clinical trials, and it was all pretty much a fraud, quite honestly," he said.


He first tried the case in 2018, winning a jury verdict of $13 million. Reversed on appeal, he retried it this spring. The new jury awarded his client $14 million. Pinter Brown v. UCLA, BC624838 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed June 22, 2016).


He won another $14 million verdict in November for a bank manager who was fired after she took time off to care for her husband, who was dying from kidney failure. Shegerian said a subordinate who hated working for a woman filed a complaint that led to her termination. Sosa v. Comerica, BC675252 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Sept. 8, 2017).


In April last year, Shegerian represented a female supervisor in a vitamin factory who took a leave of absence due to arthritis from years of hard work. When she asked to return with accommodation, the company said it had no appropriate post. The jury awarded her almost $7.5 million. Martinez v. Pharmavite, BC671153 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Aug. 3, 2017).


The month before that verdict, Shegerian won a $5.4 million award over the wrongful termination of a UPS driver who repeatedly complained about safety issues, including being forced to drive sleep deprived. Galvan v. United Parcel Service, BC703891 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed April 25, 2018).


Shegerian also has taken on a few high-profile cases recently. In April, he sued Kanye West's company, accusing the star of creating a hostile working environment by discriminating against Black employees and disparaged Jews and LGBTQ people. In June, he brought a federal action against Los Angeles County on behalf of former Sheriff Alex Villanueva.


And in September, he won class certification in In re Pepperdine University Tuition and Fees COVID-19 Refund Litigation, 2:20-cv-04928 (C.D. Cal., filed June 3, 2020).