With over 40 years of experience, Judge Baines has significant experience in the many facets of employment law, including employment discrimination cases under both Title VII and FEHA (age, gender, race, national origin, handicap, sexual orientation, and sexual harassment claims), wage and hour claims, wrongful termination claims, control disputes among co-founders of hi-tech start-up companies, and the due process rights of public employees working in civil service positions.
During his 22 years on the bench in Silicon Valley, he successfully settled numerous employment law matters. Additionally, he presided over a number of significant employment discrimination trials, including a highly publicized sexual discrimination case (with claims of the employer’s failure to remedy the wrongful workplace environment) that resulted in a multi-million dollar jury verdict against a large parcel delivery company. He also presided over a significant toxic tort case brought by workers allegedly injured by exposure to work place toxins allegedly known to the employer but not disclosed to the employees (and thus giving rise to claims in civil court, rather than under workers compensation). Representative Mediations
- At JAMS, Judge Baines has successfully mediated cases across the full “landscape” of employment law, including:
- Sexual harassment claims (both cross-gender and same-gender harassment claims) against a wide variety of employers (e.g., restaurants, retail electronics stores, and real estate offices)
- Racial discrimination claims (brought by Hispanic, African-American, and Asian employees)
- Handicapped discrimination (including against the Federal Transportation Security Administration)
- Gender discrimination, including “failure-to-promote” claims
- Age discrimination (including against Silicon Valley businesses)
- Sexual orientation discrimination (including against Silicon Valley businesses)
- Wrongful termination claims (including for alleged “whistle-blower” conduct), as well as wrongful termination claims that essentially involved power struggles among co-founders of various start-up companies
- He has also mediated various “traditional” labor law claims at JAMS, including:
- Wage and hour claims including claims brought under the Private Attorney General Act (PAGA)
- Failure to provide or to reimburse employees for required company uniforms
- Allegedly improper “tip pooling” arrangements required by employer
- Judge Baines' approach in every case involves a full assessment of the interests and goals of the parties, not just an evaluation of their legal claims.
Representative Arbitrations
- While at JAMS, Judge Baines has formally arbitrated employment law cases including an employee’s claim of handicapped discrimination brought against a large HMO that allegedly failed to reasonably accommodate that employee’s disabilities.
