Siegel & LeWitter is one of the most highly regarded San Francisco Bay Area employment law firms. Siegel & LeWitter represents employees or plaintiffs in individual and class action employment litigation and represents labor organizations. The firm is located in Oakland, California where it has been since 1988. The firm's partners, Jonathan H. Siegel and Jody I. LeWitter, are known for their expertise in employment and labor law, and for their vigorous, cutting edge and creative representation of employees which has resulted in substantial verdicts in employment cases. Both of the firm's partners have been recognized as California Super Lawyers in employment/labor law for years, and have the highest (AV) rating by Martindale Hubbell, which ranks lawyers throughout the country. They were both singled out by the Bay Area's legal newspaper, The Recorder, as Top Employment Lawyers, Honorable Mention, in the paper's ranking of employment attorneys. The firm is on the cutting edge of employment litigation, obtaining verdicts and settlements in difficult cases in state court, federal court and before arbitrators. The partners have taught trial skills to lawyers and numerous seminars and classes in the employment and labor field. Jonathan Siegel has been practicing law since 1978 and Jody LeWitter since 1982. The firm also has four knowledgeable associates, who practice only in the area of employment and labor law, as well as experienced support staff.
Siegel & LeWitter takes on difficult cases and fights hard for its clients. The firm has obtained substantial awards for its clients, including a number of the largest verdicts around such as the largest wrongful termination award in Contra Costa County at the time ($1.25 million plus attorneys fees and costs in a 1991 age discrimination case), the largest employment award in San Francisco Superior Court for the year ($451,000 plus a finding that punitive damages could be awarded before the case settled in 1992), and the largest reported California employment fraud case at the time ($2.64 million in 1999).
The firm has obtained significant class action awards and settlements for unpaid overtime and missed meal and rest periods for employees in a wide range of jobs from factory workers to lower level managers. In 2009, Siegel & LeWitter settled an overtime class action on behalf of close to 700 utility employees for $17.25 million that compensated the employees for their back pay and attorneys' fees and required the employer to pay many of the employees overtime compensation in the future.
Siegel & LeWitter has also been one of the earliest firms to demonstrate that employees can obtain large awards - including punitive damages - even when the employees are required to litigate their cases before arbitrators. Siegel & LeWitter obtained a finding of race discrimination for three African American employees of a national employer, including a finding of constructive termination, and a finding that the employer acted maliciously and thus that punitive damages were appropriate. The case resulted in the payment of millions of dollars to the three individuals. The firm also arbitrated an age discrimination claim against a national corporation which replaced a 61 year old employee with an employee in his mid-50s, with the company citing a lengthy list of performance issues. Siegel & LeWitter was able to demonstrate that the list of performance issues was pretextual and the real reason for the employee's termination was his age and retaliation for his complaints about age discrimination. The arbitrator awarded the employee over $1 million in economic and emotional distress damages, plus attorneys' fees, costs and interest, with findings for additional punitive damages.
Siegel & LeWitter has also gone to bat for employees in egregious harassment cases involving racial harassment and sexual harassment, proving that victims of harassment are entitled to awards for their emotional distress, regardless of whether they have suffered lost wages or have been terminated from their jobs, using the testimony of psychological experts, family members and co-workers to obtain damages.
Siegel & LeWitter's practice emphasizes employment discrimination (sex discrimination, sexual harassment, race and national origin discrimination/ harassment, marital status discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, disability discrimination, age discrimination, family leave, and Equal Pay Act claims, etc.), wrongful termination claims including breach of contract, public policy, misrepresentation/ fraud and related claims. The firm also represents employees in class action cases for unpaid overtime, denial of meal and rest breaks, and other labor law violations, as well as class action discrimination and other cases.
Siegel & LeWitter's practice is in state and federal court and arbitrations, including class actions, advice and negotiations, and individual litigation.
If you believe Siegel & LeWitter could provide you with assistance, please contact the firm.