Practice Expertise

  • Labor and Employment
  • Complex Employment Litigation
  • Unfair Competition and Employee Raiding
  • Wage and Hour Class Actions

Areas of Practice

  • Complex Employment Litigation
  • Labor and Employment
  • Unfair Competition and Employee Raiding
  • Wage and Hour Class Actions

WSG Practice Industries

Profile

Karen is an experienced employment attorney who provides efficient, effective legal representation in employment, wage and hour, and public accessibility litigation. 

As a member of the labor and employment team, Karen represents employers in employment cases presenting claims of discrimination (race, sex, age, national origin and disability), harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, wage and hour violations, and wrongful termination. Her practice also includes prosecuting and defending trade secret misappropriation cases involving employee raiding and anti-competitive activity by former employees and competitors.

Karen draws on her significant experience and ability to partner with business executives when counseling clients on a broad range of employment issues in order to minimize the risk of litigation.

Following law school, she gained valuable legal experience providing high-quality representation to technology companies while an associate at a large Silicon Valley firm. She honed her ability to provide cost-effective representation when she joined former big law attorneys who formed a boutique  employment litigation and counseling firm in the Bay Area. At Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Karen is able to utilize these skills and experience while working with a team of professionals dedicated to providing clients with quality, efficient and creative service.

Relevant Experience

  • Successfully defended cable company against claims of discrimination based on disability, race and national origin, failure to provide reasonable accommodation, failure to engage in the interactive process, and retaliation.
  • Significantly narrowed Fair Labor Standards Act wage and hour collective action, resulting in favorable settlement of claims by three remaining plaintiffs on behalf of digital health care company.
  • Defended Fortune 50 cable and internet company in multi-plaintiff lawsuits in California state and federal courts presenting meal period, rest break, and overtime violations of California wage and hour laws.
  • Second-chaired five-day arbitration in an employee raiding case, involving claims of breach of contracts, misappropriation of trade secrets, tortious interference with contractual and business relations, and unfair business practices.
  • Represent employers in matters before the EEOC and California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
  • Routinely advise clients on various employment matters, including employment agreements, severance agreements, vacation and sick leave policies, and employee handbooks. 

Education
BA, University of Southern California, 1992

Areas of Practice

  • Complex Employment Litigation
  • Labor and Employment
  • Unfair Competition and Employee Raiding
  • Wage and Hour Class Actions

Professional Career



Articles

Additional Articles
  • California Supreme Court’s Clarification of ‘Background Check’ Laws, The Recorder
  • #MeToo arbitration bill heads to President Biden’s desk for signature, Daily Journal
  • California’s Whistleblower Law Applies Even When Employees Report Unlawful Conduct That the Recipient Already Knew, The Recorder
  • EEOC Targets Employers’ Prescription Drug Use Policies, Law360
  • California Supreme Court Clarifies Burden of Proof in Whistleblower Retaliation Claims, The Recorder

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