Sandy has been practicing labor and employment law for more than twenty-five years, and is well versed in all aspects of the practice. She has litigated on behalf of employers in federal and state court cases involving wage and hour issues, discrimination and harassment claims, disputes over unfair competition and trade secrets, whistleblowing claims, and more. She frequently also handles litigation on behalf of employers in labor arbitrations and in proceedings before quasi-judicial agencies including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the National Labor Relations Board and the Department of Labor. Her complex litigation experience is vast as well, having led teams in the successful defense of federal and state class actions involving overtime, on-call time, meal/rest breaks, and business expenses, to name a few.

Due in large part to her extensive labor and employment litigation experience, Sandy provides effective and trusted counsel to employers that helps to avoid litigation, on all matters having to do with employees. She regularly consults regarding the full panoply of employment concerns, such as wage and hour issues, managing leaves of absence, union relations, protection of trade secrets, and compliance with disability and family leave laws. She also leads teams in employment compliance audits, negotiates and drafts various agreements between employees and employers, and works with her clients to develop workable and defensible personnel practices and procedures.

Bar Admissions

• California
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• California Supreme Court
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan

Education
J.D., cum laude, University of California, Hastings College of the Law (1994)
B.A., cum laude, Brandeis University (1990)

Professional Associations

• Bar Association of San Francisco, Labor and Employment Section, Work Life Balance Task Force
• State Bar of California, Labor and Employment Section
• Queen's Bench

• Employer Notice: Families First Coronavirus Response Act Becomes Law

  By Sandra Rappaport |March 2020

Additional Articles“New Masking Guidance for California Employers,” Labor & Employment Law Alert (March 2022)
"New CDPH Recommendations and Revisions to Cal/OSHA's COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards in Effect on January 14," Labor & Employment Law Alert (January 2022)
"Third Time's A Charm: Cal/OSHA Standards Board Passes Revisions To Its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard After Two Aborted Attempts," Labor & Employment Law Alert (June 2021)
"Important Update to the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards," Labor & Employment Law Alert (June 2021)
"EEOC Issues May 28 Updated FAQs For Employer COVID-19 Vaccination Programs," Labor & Employment Law Alert (June 2021)
"California Employers Face New COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Requirement," Labor & Employment Law Alert (March 2021)
"New California Labor Laws to Look Out For in 2021," co-author, BenefitsPRO (December 2020)
"New California Family Rights Act: State Family Care and Medical Leave Expanded," co-author, Labor & Employment Law Alert (October 2020)
"California Issues New COVID-19 Employer Playbook for a Safe Reopening," co-author, Labor & Employment Law Alert (July 2020)
"Employer Notice: Families First Coronavirus Response Act Becomes Law," co-author, Labor & Employment Law Alert (March 2020)
"California Supreme Court Weighs in on Rest Day Policies," The Recorder (May 2017)
"The “Rest” Of The Story: California Supreme Court Clarifies The Obligation To Provide Rest Days To Employees," co-author, Labor & Employment Alert (May 2017)
"Class Cert. Challenges For Meal Period Premium Claims," Law 360 (April 2017)
"Additional hurdles for nonexempt employees on commission," Daily Journal (April 2017)
"Give Me a (Paid) Break: Compensating Piece Rate and Commissioned Employees for Rest Breaks and Non-Productive Work Time," co-author, Labor and Employment Law Alert (March 2017)
"New California Laws 2015 - AB 1897: 'Client employers' share with 'labor contractors'," The New California Laws supplement to the Daily Journal (January 2015)
"Roundtable: Labor & Employment," co-author, California Lawyer (December 2014)
"Governor Signs New Paid Sick Leave Law: Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 [AB 1522]," co-author, Labor and Employment Alert (September 2014)
"Confidentiality In The Workplace As Retaliation?" co-author, Labor and Employment Alert (August 2012)
"California Employment Law Answers" and "California Wage & Hour Advisor," both published by Employer Resource Institute, Editorial Advisory Board
"How to Prevent Off-the-Clock Work," California Employment Law Update (December 2010)
"7 Deadly Timeclock Sins," California Employer Daily (December 2010)
"Sexual Harassment Training in California: Considerations in Complying With Government Code § 12950.1," co-author, California HR Decision Support Network, BNA (February 2010)
"A Hiring Tip That Can Keep You Out of Court," California Employer Advisor Link provided with the permission of Employer Resource Institute (November 2008)
"Splitting Up Meal Breaks: A Bad Idea," California Employer Advisor Link provided with the permission of Employer Resource Institute (September 2008)
"Resident Employees Not Entitled to On Call Pay," California Apartment Association News (2008)
"Customer Tips About Employee Drug Use—What To Do?" California Employment Law Answers (August 2008)
"Independent Contractors: What Do I Do with My 1099 Contractor Who Performs Employee Work but Doesn't Want to Become an Employee?" California Employment Law Answers (July 2008)
"Age Discrimination: We Have a Five-Year Training Program; Can We Hire Only Younger People?" California Employment Law Answers (June 2008)
"Discrimination: Can We Require New Hires to Speak English?" California Employment Law Answers (February 2008)
"Drugs and Alcohol: Can We Implement a Random Drug Testing Policy?" California Employment Law Answers (October 2007)
"Probationary Periods: How Do Probationary Periods Affect Employers' Legal Rights?" California Employment Law Answers (October 2007)
"Technology: Can We Prevent Our Employees from Putting Up a Company Website Just for Employees?" California Employment Law Answers (September 2007)
"Theft: Can We Deduct the Cost of a Loss from the Whole Team?" California Employment Law Answers (January 2007)
"Hiring: Do We Need to Wait Until All Checks Are Complete to Make an Offer of Employment?" California Employment Law Answers (November 2006)
"Employee Theft: Do We Have to Pay a New Employee Who Stole From Us?" California Employment Law Answers (September 2006)
"Background Checks: Can We Refuse to Hire Someone with a DUI?" California Employment Law Answers (July 2006)
"Absences: When Exempt Employees Exhaust Their Sick Leave but Don't Return to Work, What Should We Do?" California Employment Law Answers (July 2006)
"Training: We've Done Our Sexual Harassment Training; What Other Types of Harassment Training Do We Need?" California Employment Law Answers (March 2006)
"Meal Periods: Can We Force Workers to Work Through Them?" California Employment Law Answers (November 2005)
"Workplace Privacy: Can an Employer Open an Employee's Mail?" California Employment Law Answers (October 2005)

Appellate Insight

Hanson Bridgett LLP

A Hanson Bridgett blog updating on current Appellate news/events.

HB Briefly

Hanson Bridgett LLP

Briefly is designed to provide readers with updates on the latest litigation developments in California. Our focus is on general litigation as well as issues surrounding class actions, products liability, discovery, privacy, cybersecurity, and the professional practice of law.