Co-Chair of our Employment Class Actions Practice Group, Steven is an experienced litigator with a focus on defending California wage-and-hour class actions, Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims and high-stakes single-plaintiff claims.

He possesses extensive trial, appellate and arbitration experience, which positions him as a go-to litigator for Fortune 50 companies in an array of industries. Domestic and international employers often turn to Steven to handle bet-the-company litigation.

Steven defends employers in class and PAGA claims, handling every detail of these complex actions from start to finish. He has won complete dismissal of wage-and-hour class/PAGA actions for a variety of clients, including a nationwide retailer, nationwide technology company, nationwide hotel chain, several nationwide franchises, security company, and construction company.

Steven also works with companies (and their vendors) to correct hard-to-spot time and pay errors and to implement litigation avoidance measures involving:

• Minimum Wage and Overtime, including Regular Rate of Pay.
• Meal and Rest Break Compliance.
• Wage Statements / Pay Stubs.
• Final Pay (Waiting Time Penalties).
• Expense Reimbursements.
• Off-the-Clock Work (Pre- and Post-Shift Activities).
• Expense Reimbursements.
• Tip Pooling and Service Charge Distributions.
• Spread of Hours, Reporting Time, and Day of Rest Rules.
• Commission and Piece Rate Pay Agreements.
• Independent Contractor and Day-Rate/Piece-Rate Classification.
• Employee misclassification (exempt v. nonexempt).
• Travel time.
• Motor carrier exemptions.
• Commission and bonus agreements and related issues.

Steven counsels clients and their payroll vendors on how to implement compliant time and pay practices, often rewriting payroll coding himself.

Employers rely on Steven for advice on a full range of human resources policy matters, including arbitration agreements, class action waivers, drafting and revising employee handbooks and meal period waivers. He also conducts wage-and-hour audits and counsels businesses on day-to-day risks, such as discipline, terminations, leaves of absence and internal investigations.

He also advises on labor and employment matters for buy- and sell-side multistate and international mergers and acquisitions.