Partner

Cheryl D. Orr is a partner and co-chair of the national Labor & Employment Practice Group.  She concentrates her practice on defending employers against FLSA collective actions and state and federal wage and hour class actions.  Cheryl also regularly litigates discrimination, harassment, and unfair competition claims, conducts high-level workplace investigations, develops plans for reductions in force and offers employer advice and counseling.

Published Opinions:

• Combs v. Greenfield, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54622 (N.D. Cal. May 11, 2010).
• Wren v. RGIS Inventory Specialists, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74789 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 24, 2009).
• Gomez v. Lincare, Inc., 173 Cal.App.4th 508 (2009).
• Murphy v. RGIS Inventory Specialists, LLC, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61179 (Aug. 3, 2007).
• Johnson v. RGIS Inventory Specialists, 554 F. Supp.2d 693 (E.D. Tex. 2007).
• Wells v. Board of Trustees of California State University, 393 F.Supp.2d 990 (N.D.Cal. 2005).
• Wolfe v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Insurance Co., 46 Cal.App.4th 554 (1996).
• Spellman v. Securities, Annuities & Ins. Services, Inc., 8 Cal.App.4th 452 (1992).

Representative Experience and Accomplishments:
Wage and Hour Experience

• Acted as lead trial counsel on over 25 multi-party wage and hour actions including state and federal class actions, national FLSA collective actions and Business & Professions Code section 17200 representative actions. Recent wage and hour litigation accomplishments include:
  • Defeating conditional certification of a national FLSA collective action filed in the Northern District of California alleging unpaid overtime for all non-exempt employees of a major retailer and getting claims dismissed against individual executives;
  • Obtaining voluntary dismissal of a statewide California putative Labor Code section 212 class action claim alleging check cashing claims and obtaining costs for the employer (following discovery and negotiation);
  • Obtaining complete dismissal of a national FLSA collective action involving "on call" pay and overtime issues for the client's drivers;
  • Prevailing on summary judgment to dismiss entire state wage and hour class action for statutory and contractual overtime claims;
  • Defeating conditional certification of a national class in a FLSA collective action and then prevailing on a decertification motion in a case involving travel pay and overtime issues;
  • Bringing a demurrer to dismiss a Business & Professions Code section 17200 case and having plaintiff voluntarily dismiss this overtime exemption case while the motion was still pending; and
  • Convincing plaintiff to dismiss class allegations in actions prior to any significant discovery due to candid discourse over the underlying facts.
• Spearheaded national wage and hour audits in multiple industries both: 1) directed at federal and state wage and hour compliance generally and 2) focused on particular issues, e.g., proper classification of exempt employees.                    

General Labor and Employment Experience

• Conducted numerous investigations regarding employment and regulatory issues for for-profit and non-profit educational institutions.
• Managed reductions in force for employers of all sizes while avoiding subsequent litigation.
• Represented trustee of oil distribution company's Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in ERISA litigation against the former trustee and owners obtaining favorable settlement of $13.1 million on behalf of client.
• Supervised defense of hundreds of single- and multi-plaintiff litigation matters resolved through favorable early settlements, on dispositive motions and at arbitration and trial.
• Conducted internal high-level investigations regarding sensitive client issues including investigation for national media chain arising out of statements raised in antitrust trial by newspaper publisher.  

Bar Memberships.  Cheryl is admitted to practice in all California State Courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

In General.  Cheryl received her bachelor's degree in political science, magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota.  She received her J.D. from Columbia University Law School.  She is a frequent writer and lecturer on employment law topics, most recently for ACI, Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Small Businesses Program, the California State Bar, Employment Rights Institute, Lorman Education Services and Bridgeport Programs.