Practice
Areas
Employment
Law:
Hadsell Stormer Keeny Richardson & Renick, LLP is one of
the leading plaintiffs’ side civil rights firms, and
our attorneys have been among the most successful practitioners
in the area of employment law for over 15 years.
Employment
Discrimination
In 1991, partners Dan Stormer won a $17 million dollar
sex discrimination verdict in a sex discrimination case
against Texaco and Barbara Hadsell won a $4 million dollar
verdict in a sexual harassment case against the Long Beach
Police Department. Since that time, members of the
firm have represented employees in matters involving discrimination
and harassment on the basis of sex, race, disability, age,
sexual orientation, and other protected categories. We
have litigated some cutting edge discrimination issues,
including discrimination on the basis of transgender status,
and discrimination against victims of domestic violence.
Whistleblowers/Retaliation
HSKRR represents employees who are retaliated against after
speaking out against unfair or illegal practices, such
as police abuse, discrimination, or improper use of taxpayer
money.
Severance Agreements and Breach of Contract
HSKRR
skillfully guides terminated employees through the process
of negotiating favorable severance agreements. We
also represent partners and employees in fraud or breach
of contract cases. In 2005, we won an arbitration
against KPMG representing a partner who had been terminated
in violation of his Partnership Agreement.
Federal and State Leave of Absence Issues
In
addition to suing for disability discrimination, HSKRR
assists employees who need to take time off for a serious
medical condition of their own or so as to provide support
to their families. Often, employees are completely
prevented from taking time off that is legally due them,
or are retaliated against if they take the time.
Forced Labor and Slavery
HSKRR
represents employees who have been physically and mentally
prevented from leaving their employment. HSKRR was
co-counsel on a case involving Thai workers in El Monte,
and successfully litigated through trial the wealthy employers
of a Filipina woman forced to work as a domestic in their
home, who was relegated to sleeping on a dog bed.
Entertainment Industry
Many
of our cases involve harassment or discrimination taking
place in companies in the entertainment industry. For
example, we have represented plaintiffs in harassment and
discrimination cases against Aaron Spelling, Universal
Studios, the Screen Actors Guild, and Buena Vista Productions.
International
Human Rights Law:
HSKRR
is one of the few private law firms in the United States with a substantial
international human rights practice. We co-counseled the precedent
setting case of Doe v. Unocal in which 11 Burmese villagers
brought suit against Unocal Corp. for its complicity in building
a pipeline in conjunction with the government of Burma using forced
labor. We are currently co-counsel in Bowoto v. Chevron
Corp., based on incidents in which the Nigerian military, with
Chevron’s assistance, direction and payment, attacked and killed
villagers who were protesting Chevron’s environmental and economic
practices in their communities.
Wage
and Hour Class Actions:
HSKRR represents classes of workers who are illegally denied overtime,
minimum wage, and meal and rest breaks, in addition to workers who
are wrongfully misclassified as independent contractors or exempt
employees. HSKRR has successfully resolved many multi-million
dollar class actions involving hotel and restaurant workers, janitors,
and other employees working in a wide variety of settings.
Civil
Rights and Constitutional Defense:
As
a private firm dedicated to public interest law, HSKRR takes a broad
view of civil rights actions. For example, HSKRR represented
the South Central Farmers in their effort to retain a unique 14 acre
community garden in South Central Los Angeles. With the Western
Center for Disability Rights, we spearheaded litigation that forced
the Los Angeles Superior Courthouses to improve their access to the
disabled. We represented garment workers who were sued after
they protested their employer’s wage and hour violations. We
have also affirmatively sued the LAPD on behalf of protesters who
were illegally detained and arrested during protests of the Democratic
National Convention, and defended the community organization ACORN
which was sued for its alleged vandalism at the California Republican
Party Headquarters.
Consumer
Rights:
HSKRR
represents consumers against fraudulent and deceptive practices. We
were co-counsel in a class action against Great Western on behalf
of seniors who were fraudulently sold retirement vehicles, and in
another class action against vocational schools for their fraudulent
advertisement to entice students to enroll in their programs. In Cundiff
v. Verizon, we obtained a multimillion dollar class action settlement
against Verizon, based on its longstanding practice of charging consumers
for rental phones that did not exist or were obsolete without clearly
disclosing the charge on consumers’ phone bills. We
also represent toll road users who have been assessed unconscionable
penalties for violations of the Orange County toll road system.
Slumlord
and Housing Conditions:
HSKRR
represents low income tenants in their struggles to obtain clean
and safe housing. We presently represent tenants forced to
live in substandard conditions in the Westlake region of Los Angeles,
thereby endangering not only their own health and safety but also
members of the public with whom they interact at work and school. With
the Inner City Law Center, Hadsell & Stormer co-counseled Pineda
v. Wallman, a case in which an entire apartment complex collapsed
due to neglected maintenance, killing one man, injuring numerous
others and displacing the more than 100 people who lived in the building.
Education:
HSKRR
also pursues litigation on behalf of disadvantaged students. We
have sued the State of California on behalf of Spanish speaking students
for refusing to test them in Spanish under the No Child Left Behind
Act. We also successfully sought to intervene along with
the ACLU, NAACP LDF and MALDEF in a case defending the LAUSD’s
magnet program against a challenge by the Pacific Legal Foundation
that the magnet case violated the non-affirmative action provisions
of Proposition 209. We also represent a high school student
who was sexually harassed by her teacher.
Police Abuse:
HSKRR represents victims of severe police abuse, such as an undocumented
woman who was beaten by Riverside police and an African American
librarian whose vision was significantly impaired following an out-of-policy
beating using nightsticks by the LAPD. In McLaughlin v.
Riverside, Dan Stormer successfully represented detainees in
a case that went to the United States Supreme Court, establishing
the right to a prompt determination of probable cause, in no event
later than 48 hours after arrest. We presently represent a
class of detainees in the Orange County who were subjected to unconstitutional
prison conditions. |
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