Employment
Barbara A. Reeves, Esq., CEDS (Certified E-Discovery Specialist) is highly regarded as a successful employment mediator by counsel for employees and employers.
Ms. Reeves has mediated and settled countless employment disputes with issues involving discrimination for protected classes, wage and hour claims, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and California Family Rights Act (CFRA). She has also handled a wide range of arbitrations and is viewed as fair and efficient in guiding disputes towards resolution.
Ms. Reeves understands the importance of being treated with respect and dignity in the workplace, and the emotional impact of discrimination and termination, and she communicates well with all parties. She provides objective evaluations of the legal and factual strengths and weaknesses of each case in order to assist parties in resolving their disputes in an economic and rational manner. She is an evaluative mediator who will discuss candidly and thoughtfully the strengths and weaknesses of the case with each party and his or her counsel.
Representative Matters
- Class Action
- Successfully mediated dozens of wage and hour class actions, with class sizes ranging from 90 to 10,000 class members
- Representative matters include:
- Meal and rest breaks
- Overtime, including work performed off-the-clock
- Minimum wage violations
- Claims for reimbursement of mileage, tools, uniforms, and other expenses
- Claims that class members were misclassified as exempt
- Claims that class members were misclassified as independent contractors
- Wage and hour/off the clock "security screening" class action
- Claims brought under Private Attorney General Act of 2004 (PAGA)
- Mediated and consolidated class action involving wage and hour dispute against financial institution that had been brought as 250 individual arbitrations after the class certification was denied
- Discrimination
- Successfully resolved numerous disability discrimination claims involving failure to provide reasonable accommodation and discrimination for a variety of disabilities, both physical and mental
- Arbitrated class action involving racial discrimination against aerospace company
- Mediated race discrimination class action involving an insurance business
- Arbitrated disability discrimination claims involving failure to provide reasonable accommodation and discrimination
- Successfully mediated matters involving workers claiming national origin, age discrimination, race discrimination, and retaliation, often utilizing creative solutions providing desirable benefits for employees
- Arbitrated matters involving national origin and race discrimination claims and retaliation
- Mediated race discrimination class action involving an insurance company
- Successfully resolved numerous cases with males and females claiming sexual orientation discrimination and retaliation at workplace
- Arbitrated matters involving allegations of sexual discrimination
- Resolved gender bias claims with issues involving disparate treatment of multiple plaintiffs, unequal pay, and glass ceiling issues
- ERISA
- Arbitrated dispute involving medical payments for mental health facility
- Mediated class action against large employer and two plans involving continuation medical coverage under COBRA
- Mediated class action involving balance billing
- Mediated several disability and retirement benefit claims
- Harassment
- Successfully resolved claims of sexual harassment and discrimination involving supervisors and subordinates and co-workers; issues included constructive discharge due to management harassment, claims of favoritism and conflicts of interest because of sexual harassment, same sex sexual harassment, assault, and bullying in the workplace
- Wage and Hour
- Mediated wage and hour disputes against several Southern California companies
- Mediated and served as discovery referee in class action wage and hour cases
- Arbitrated wage and hour class action concerning on-duty meal periods
- Wrongful Discharge
- Matters involving wrongful discharge in violation of public policy
- Wrongful termination claims involving allegations of health and safety issues, accounting fraud, wage and hour violations, violations of business and professions code
