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Jeff has been with the Firm since 1990, and a shareholder since 1997. As head of the Firm's Employment Law Group and a member of the Litigation Group, Jeff represents companies and executives in employment litigation, administrative board actions, workplace investigations and mediations. He regularly advises companies in their daily operations, focusing on labor law and human resources counseling, sexual harassment and discrimination claims, wage & hour and compensation disputes, severance pay issues and terminations. Jeff also handles cases involving intellectual property rights (trade secrets), non-compete agreements and restrictive covenants, other employment contract disputes, and related insurance coverage issues. He has appeared many times before the California and federal courts, EEOC, DFEH and the Department of Labor's Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE). He has been named a Northern California Super Lawyer in Employment and Labor (www.SuperLawyers.com).
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Representative Matters:
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- Defense of companies and their executives before the California Superior Court and Federal District Courts, EEOC, Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH) in cases of alleged sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, race, gender, national origin and age discrimination;
- Negotiation on behalf of companies and high-level executives of employment agreements, separation and release agreements, and complex equity and severance pay packages;
- Investigation of sexual harassment and other sensitive and confidential workplace issues;
- Preventative counseling in many areas of employment law, including development of employee handbooks and policies (including equal employment opportunity and sexual harassment policies for restaurants and other industries, privacy and information technology policies), and advice regarding compensation and commission plans, health coverage and employee benefits;
- Insurance coverage disputes involving employment and intellectual property issues, general liability coverage (including advertising injury), and Directors & Officers (D&O) coverage disputes on behalf of insured companies and executives;
- Jury trial of fraud case in Superior Court, involving lost profits in golf course development venture;
- Defense of companies in court and administrative proceedings before the California Labor Department, in wage & hour cases (including the alleged failure to pay overtime, meal and rest breaks, accrued vacation, wages and penalties).
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Speaking Engagements:
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Jeff is a frequent speaker to companies and their managers concerning the prevention of harassment, discrimination and retaliation in the workplace, and has developed a compliance course for the newly-required AB 1825 sexual harassment training for managers and supervisors.
He also conducts "best practices" seminars for executives and front-line managers.
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Community Activities:
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Jeff served as President of the Palo Alto Area Bar Association and on the Board of Directors of Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo.
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Education:
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University of San Diego School Of Law J.D. 1990
Law clerk to Justice Gilbert Nares at the California Court of Appeal
University of California at San Diego B.A.
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Thoits, Love Hershberger & McLean
285 Hamilton Avenue, Suite 300
Palo Alto, CA 94301
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Email: jsnyder@thoits.com
Telephone (650) 327-4200
Facsimile (650) 325-5572 |
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