Craig Nickerson is a Shareholder in the Firm’s San Diego office and a member of the Labor & Employment practice group. His practice focuses primarily on litigation, with particular emphasis on representing and defending employers against claims of wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment (including sexual harassment), retaliation, wage and hour matters (both individual and representative or class claims), breach of contract, and other employment-related claims. Mr. Nickerson litigates such matters in state and federal courts, as well as before state and federal agencies, such as the California Civil Rights Department (“CRD”), formerly known as the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”), and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”),

Mr. Nickerson also provides advice and counseling to employers on a variety of employment-related issues, including personnel matters, hiring, termination, reductions in force/layoffs, accommodations and leaves of absence(i.e. FMLA, CFRA), and wage & hour compliance.  Mr. Nickerson also works with clients on conducting internal and external investigations, preparing and updating employee handbooks, arbitration agreements, and other company policies and procedures.  He also conducts training for employers on a variety of employment-related topics, including discrimination, retaliation, leaves of absence, and sexual harassment.

Awards and Honors

• Rising Stars® distinction in the field of Labor and Employment Law (2008 and 2009, Law & Politics)

Professional Involvement

• Member, California State Bar Association
• Member, San Diego County Bar Association

Bar Admissions

• California
• Massachusetts

Significant Accomplishments
<ul><li>Successfully litigated numerous matters through trial, arbitration, or to nuisance value settlements following mediation and/or dispositive motion practice.</li><li>Obtained defense verdict on behalf of a large auto dealership, following a month long jury trial, in a wrongful termination case involving allegations of whistleblower retaliation and race discrimination.</li><li>Successfully represented non-profit organization against claims of retaliation, failure to pay wages/overtime, and alleged meal and rest break violations, resulting in favorable jury verdict on retaliation claim and nominal settlement of wage-related claims during trial.</li><li>Summary adjudication granted in favor of health care employer against claims of wrongful discharge, age discrimination, and retaliation.</li><li>Summary judgment granted in favor of defendant/property owner where plaintiff/neighbor asserted prescriptive easement over defendant’s vacant land for use as a landing strip for his private airplane.</li><li>As part of a multi-firm legal team representing over twenty defendants in response to multiple lawsuits alleging physical and sexual abuse, obtained the voluntary dismissal of eighteen plaintiffs one week before the first trial was scheduled to begin. The dismissals, after nearly two years of highly-contentious litigation, resulted in a complete victory for the client.</li><li>Obtained favorable verdict for residential clients following five-day bench trial. Clients were five property owners seeking to stop construction of multi-family condominium complex in a residential neighborhood where such construction was strictly prohibited</li></ul>

• What is the Fair Chance Ordinance?
• Gender Bias in a Florida Court: Young v. Hector and the Competition Between Mr. Mom and the Poster Girl for Working Mothers
• God, Vodka, and Gender Relationships: Depictions of Soviet Life in the Fiction of Vasily Shukshin, 1958-74
• Red Dawn In Lake Placid: The Semi-Final Hockey Game at the 1980 Winter Olympics as Cold War Battleground