Individual Releases Secured Low Settlement

We were retained as lead counsel in addition to insurance panel counsel to defend two related wage and hour class actions brought against an Orange County car wash owner.  We mounted an aggressive strategy to reduce potential damages, including an audit of payroll and timekeeping records, individual interviews with over...

Statewide Settlement of Class Action on Individual Basis

We represented an Orange County company in a class action lawsuit filed by a former inside sales representative, claiming that he and over 100 other individuals were misclassified as exempt from the overtime requirement.  Given a significant risk of misclassification, and without timekeeping records, we worked with the company to...

“Regular Rate” Class Action Settlement

After being threatened with a class action, we assisted an Orange County company in performing a confidential internal audit of its overtime regular rate calculations.  We determined that the company had not properly considered bonuses in the regular rate for overtime pay.  This resulted in substantial liability for unpaid wages...

Favorable Resolution at Early Mediation for “Bonus Overtime” Class Action

Payne & Fears LLP represented a Bay Area transaction processing service center in a “bonus overtime” class action where the plaintiff alleged miscalculation of the overtime rate in violation of the California Labor Code. Despite the challenge of a nondiscretionary bonus program that supported plaintiff’s theory of the case, our...

Prevailed on Summary Judgment in a Race Discrimination / Retaliation Case

Payne & Fears LLP was recently retained as trial counsel in a hotly contested race discrimination and retaliation case. At mediation, Plaintiff was demanding $6 million to settle and prior counsel had been unable to resolve the case. The trial team of Dan Fears, Jeff Brown, Ray Boggess and Sean...