O'Melveny & Myers LLP‘s employment litigation practice is noted for its broad sectoral expertise. As well as representing clients in the hospitality, sports, and financial services sectors, it is called upon by numerous passenger and cargo airlines seeking support with issues relating to unions and collective bargaining negotiations. The practice’s work often includes wages and hour class actions and PAGA representative actions; litigation involving sexual misconduct allegations, whistleblowers and related retaliation claims, and trade secrets. The department is jointly directed by Apalla Chopra in Los Angeles, who specializes in complex class action discrimination and wage and hour mandates. Alongside her, Eric Amdursky co-leads from Silicon Valley and handles trade secret misappropriation, breach of non-competition, and executive compensation disputes. Over in New York, Jeffrey Kohn acts as regional litigation head; in San Francisco, Susannah Howard focuses on discrimination matters.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The employment team knows our company very well, is extremely responsive and has a wide bench of experienced employment lawyers.’
‘Their responsiveness and knowledge of our company - Mark Robertson, Adam KohSweeney, Kelly Wood, Tristan Morales, and Charles Mahoney, in particular. They are valued partners on whom we rely almost exclusively for certain complex issues and litigation.’
Key clients
- Airlines for America
- American Airlines
Work highlights
- Represented real estate brokerage Century 21 and its parent company, showing that California Labor Code Section 2778 does not force real estate agents to become employees of the brokerages they work with.
- Secured a 2022 dismissal of a putative class action against CSU University Chancellor and the Board of Trustees following decisions that resulted in severe sanctions, including suspension and expulsion, for students who were found responsible for engaging in sexual misconduct.