William (Geoffrey) Anderson is a member of the Labor & Employment practice group in Buchalter’s San Diego office. Mr. Anderson’s practice primarily focuses on defending wage and hour litigation, a majority of which is class and representative action lawsuits. His practice requires him to be well-versed in the California Labor Code, specifically including Labor Code section 2698, otherwise known as the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA). Mr. Anderson’s practice additionally includes the defense of wrongful termination, retaliation, harassment and discrimination-based lawsuits arising under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).

The remainder of Mr. Anderson’s practice is devoted to providing advice and counsel to clients, including drafting and updating employment policies and handbooks, arbitration agreements, and providing strategic guidance regarding employee discipline, separations, and severance agreements. He was raised in a multicultural household where Spanish was the primary language spoken. Mr. Anderson frequently employs his Spanish-language fluency in the defense of his clients, whenever applicable.

Professional Involvement

• American Bar Association
• San Francisco County Bar Association
• National Hispanic Lawyers Association
• University of Missouri Alumni Association – Life Member

Bar Admissions

• California

Significant Accomplishments
<ul><li>Successfully drafted/argued motions leading to direct dismissal/stay of class-action claims and of individual PAGA claims as held in U.S.S.C. ruling, <em>Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana</em>, exponentially slashing potential exposure at early stage.</li><li>Successfully negotiated myriad nominal-value settlements for matters internally evaluated at exponential valuations.</li><li>Frequent and relevant implementation of Spanish language fluency including via: organization of individual settlement campaigns as established in <em>Chindarah v. Pick Up Stix, Inc.</em>; comprehensive investigations in defense of FEHA-based litigation, often leading to discovery of fully exonerating evidence.</li><li>Prior employment experience at plaintiff’s side firm as associate attorney whom was part of four-attorney team that successfully argued before Supreme Court of California in <em>Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC</em>– establishing precedential case law banning meal period rounding practices in California.</li></ul>