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Experience
Employment Litigation
Biotech Company
Private Arbitration
Represented Seattle biotech company in a breach of contract action. The case was litigated before a three-arbitrator panel and settled.
Cameron Dollar v. Seattle University
Private Arbitration
Trial counsel for Seattle University in two-week arbitration involving breach of contract and race discrimination claims brought by former head men’s basketball coach. Successfully compelled arbitration after action was originally filed in state court. Award to Seattle University.
Purnell-Carlson v. The Boeing Company
Superior Court of Washington, Snohomish County
Trial counsel for Boeing in a case alleging disability discrimination and failure to accommodate. Defense verdict after a two-week jury trial. Affirmed on appeal.
Osborne v. Recreational Equipment, Inc.
Superior Court of Washington, King County, Washington State Court of Appeals
Trial counsel for REI in a case alleging age discrimination, retaliation, disability discrimination and failure to accommodate. Defense verdict after a three-week jury trial. Affirmed on appeal at Osborne v. Recreational Equipment Inc., 2016 WL 6601634 (Wa. Ct. App. 2016).
Handson v. Overlake Hospital, et al.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Represented Overlake Hospital and two individual defendants in a race and disability discrimination and harassment lawsuit brought by a former IT employee. Summary judgment for defendants affirmed on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
Garcia et al. v. City of Everett, et al.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Represented the City of Everett Police Department and two individual defendants in lawsuit brought by three former police officers alleging race discrimination, harassment and retaliation. Summary judgment for defendants affirmed on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
Acharya v. Microsoft
King County Superior Court
Washington Court of Appeals
Washington Supreme Court
Represented Microsoft in lawsuit alleging sex and age discrimination and retaliation. Voluntarily dismissed. Acharya v. Microsoft Corp., 188 Wash. App. 1025 (Wash. Ct. App. 2015).
Kearney v. The Boeing Company
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Counsel for Boeing in a case alleging age and sex discrimination and sex harassment. Summary judgment for Boeing.
Alexander v. Boeing
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Lead trial counsel for Boeing in FMLA and WLAD suit where the plaintiff alleged failure to accommodate, disparate treatment and interference with FMLA rights. Defense verdict after a two-week jury trial.
Washburn v. Gymboree
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Lead trial counsel for Gymboree and two individual managers in FMLA, ADA and WLAD suit where the plaintiff alleged failure to accommodate, harassment, disparate treatment and interference with FMLA rights. Defense judgment after a four-day bench trial.
Marealle v. Qwest Corporation
Private Arbitration of Washington
Lead trial counsel for Qwest in disability discrimination arbitration where the plaintiff alleged disparate treatment and a failure to accommodate. Defense award for Qwest after a five-day hearing.
Kennedy, et al. v. Campbell Soup company, inc., et al.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Counsel for Campbell Soup in a five-plaintiff, race harassment and discrimination lawsuit. Settled.
Hua v. The Boeing Company, et al.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Lead trial counsel for Boeing in a race and national origin harassment and discrimination lawsuit. Defense verdict for Boeing.
Sterling v. DaVita Inc.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Counsel for DaVita in ERISA action seeking to invalidate client's efforts to require documentation for dependent beneficiaries of employer health care plan. Action dismissed with prejudice.
Axon v. The Boeing Company
Superior Court of Washington, Snohomish County
Trial counsel for Boeing in disability discrimination lawsuit where the plaintiff alleged a failure to accommodate. Defense verdict for Boeing.
Coulombe v. Total Renal Care Holdings Inc., et al.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Counsel for DaVita in lawsuit seeking millions in lost stock option profits. Summary judgment for DaVita affirmed by the Ninth Circuit. 2008 WL 4817111 (9th Cir. Nov. 4, 2008)
Cherrington v. Cingular Wireless Inc.
King County Superior Court (Washington), Washington State Court of Appeals
Counsel for Cingular Wireless in breach of contract dispute involving an employee bonus plan. Summary judgment affirmed on appeal. 139 Wash. App. 1072, 2007 WL 2084989
Vincent, et al. v. The Boeing Company, et al.
King County Superior Court (Washington)
Lead trial counsel for Boeing and a Boeing manager in two-plaintiff breach of contract and employee handbook case. Defense verdicts for Boeing and the individual defendant after a seven-week jury trial.
Zajaczkowski v. The Boeing Company, et al.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Lead trial counsel for Boeing and a Boeing manager in a disability accommodation case. Defense verdicts for Boeing and the individual defendant.
Sellie v. The Boeing Company
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Counsel for Boeing in an age discrimination case. Summary judgment for Boeing; affirmed. 2007 WL 3230341 (9th Cir.)
Trade Secrets
Morgan Stanley v. RBC
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Private Arbitration
Represented RBC and an individual defendant in an action alleging trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract. Successfully defeated motion for preliminary injunction and moved the matter to FINRA arbitration. One-week arbitration.
Unisource v. Ong
King County Superior Court (Washington)
Counsel for departing employee in trade secret and breach of contract action. Settled.
Calence LLC v. Dimension Data Holdings, plc., et al.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Served as trial counsel for Dimension Data and company vice president in trade secret, unfair competition and employee raiding lawsuit. We defeated motions for temporary and preliminary injunctive relief. The case was affirmed on appeal to Ninth Circuit and settled after the first week of scheduled three-week jury trial.
Amazon.com Inc. v. Christopher Zyda
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Represented Amazon.com Inc. in noncompetition agreement/trade secret dispute involving eBay's hiring of a senior Amazon.com executive. Settled.
Noncompetition Litigation
Willis of Seattle v. Parker Smith & Feek, et al.
Superior Court of Washington, King County
Counsel for Willis Group in action alleging breach of non-competition agreements and related tort claims. Settled.
Creme v. butter London
King County Superior Court (Washington)
Successful enforcement of noncompetition agreement.
Fluke Corporation/Danaher Corporation v. Morrow, et al.
King County Superior Court (Washington), Washington State Court of Appeals
Trial counsel for Fluke and Danaher in noncompetition/trade secret/employee raiding suit. Obtained preliminary injunction after four-day bench trial; later reversed on appeal. Settled after summary judgment for plaintiffs.
Avenue A Inc. v. Boone
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Counsel for Avenue A (now part of Microsoft) in noncompete dispute. Obtained temporary injunction, agreed consent decree and attorney fee award of $155,000.
Copiers Northwest v. Gold, et al.
King County Superior Court (Washington), Washington State Court of Appeals
Counsel for two individuals in suit claiming breach of a non-compete agreement. Obtained summary judgment and attorney fee award of $189,000.
Litigation
Dwango Co. Ltd. v. SV Networks, et al; JMS Partners v. Dwango Co. Ltd.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington; Superior Court of Washington, King County
Counsel for Dwango in related actions. Dwango operates niconico.jp, a video-sharing website that is one most visited websites in Japan. We represented Dwango in two related lawsuits adverse to Dwango’s former US partner. The lawsuits involved allegations of fraud, breach of contract and related tort claims and were settled.
Kim v. Delta Inn, et al.
King County Superior Court (Washington)
Trial counsel for defendant in a dispute over ownership of a group of hotels. Complete defense judgment after a four-week bench trial.
Employment Class Actions
Wilson v. Independent Brewers United
King County Superior Court
Defense of proposed class action involving service charges and meal and rest breaks. Settled.
Beck, et al. v. The Boeing Company, et al.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Defense of Title VII sex discrimination class action with 30,000 class members. Settled on eve of trial.
Brunner, et al. v. Gruma Corporation
Represented tortilla manufacturer in class action arbitration involving overtime claims and alleged misclassification of grocery distributors. Voluntarily dismissed.
Traditional Labor
CityIce Cold Storage Company v. Port of Seattle
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Counsel for CityIce Cold Storage in a successful NLRA challenge to a tariff issued by the Port of Seattle. CityIce prevailed on summary judgment and recovered more than $220,000 in attorney fees.
Mason v. Qwest
Counsel for Qwest in a discharge arbitration. The grievance was granted in part and the grievant was conditionally reinstated without backpay.
