Daniel F. Pyne III

• Age discrimination/retaliation – Prevailed at trial on behalf of a financial services company in an age discrimination and retaliation suit filed by an employee who was terminated just one day after complaining to the Chief Executive Officer about age discrimination.
• Unfair competition/employee mobility– Successfully defended two technology companies and three of their engineers in a case involving claims for more than $100 million based on alleged unfair competition and breach of non-solicitation covenants, obtaining a dismissal that did not involve any payment by the defendants.
• Age discrimination and retaliation – Won summary judgment for a technology company in a lawsuit with 11 causes of action filed by a former manager who alleged age discrimination and retaliation.
• Wage and hour class action – Defeated a motion to certify a class action lawsuit for violation of overtime laws filed by a group of truck drivers against a multi-state employer.
• Unfair competition/employee mobility/covenant not to compete – Successfully opposed a motion for injunctive relief against our client, a Fortune 50 company, alleging misappropriation of trade secrets and violations of non-compete covenants for hiring two executives from a competitor, leading to a favorable resolution that enabled the executives to work in the roles for which they were hired.
• Disability discrimination/reasonable accommodation – Successfully defended a national market research company against claims for discrimination and failure to provide reasonable accommodation, winning dismissal of both claims through a motion for summary judgment.
• Breach of contract/retaliation – Represented an executive who was terminated following complaints about non-payment of incentive compensation, settling his claims on favorable terms on the eve of binding arbitration.
• Unfair competition/trade secrets – Obtained temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions in two separate jurisdictions on behalf of a leading financial services company after a regional sales representative shared proprietary and confidential data with competitors.
• WARN Act/reduction in force – Successfully led a national manufacturer of semiconductor components manufacturer through a large workforce reduction without triggering the WARN Act or generating any claims from affected employees.
• Wage and hour class actions / PAGA claims– Successfully defended clients in numerous wage-and-hour class action and/or PAGA suits.

With a unique combination of counseling and litigation capabilities, Hopkins & Carley’s Employment and Labor team effectively lead clients through a myriad of regulations and litigation risks in a practical and cost-effective manner. We handle a broad range of employment law matters, including counseling on day-to-day issues and litigation of disputes before courts and administrative agencies.  We advise and represent clients in all sectors, including technology, professional services, manufacturing, transportation, agriculture and the public sector.

We provide clients with practical counseling advice on day-to-day issues such as:

• Employment contracts
• Discrimination and harassment
• Employee handbooks and personnel policies
• Employee mobility, trade secrets, and covenants not to compete, particularly in the tech sector
• Hiring “best practices”
• Leaves of absence
• Reasonable accommodations for disabled employees and applicants
• Reductions in force and WARN compliance
• Termination of employment and employee discipline
• Wage-and-hour compliance
• Whistleblower complaints
• Workplace violence

When litigation arises, our clients benefit not only from our deep knowledge of employment law, but also from our extensive experience in state and federal courts at both the trial and appellate levels, arbitration and mediation.  We handle a wide range of disputes, including:

• Class and collective actions
• Discrimination (sex, age, disability, race, etc.)
• Administrative agency complaints (including, EEOC, DFEH and EDD audits)
• Harassment
• Retaliation
• Trade secrets, unfair competition and employee mobility
• Wage-and-hour claims
• Wrongful termination
• Employee embezzlement

Hopkins & Carley’s history reflects the evolution, entrepreneurship and vibrancy of Silicon Valley, the Firm’s home since 1968. Over the past five decades, leading businesses in nearly all industries, high net worth individuals, and institutions, in California and beyond, have sought our assistance with complex transactions, must-win litigation, and trusted counseling on significant business and personal issues.

Our business clients rely on us for transactions and litigation involving commercial, corporate, financial and real estate matters, IP litigation and protection, and employment counseling, litigation and class action defense. For our individual clients, we handle everything from sophisticated legacy planning to personal employment issues to complex trust and other litigation. We have a deep bench of well-respected trial attorneys who collectively have tried hundreds of cases in local, state and federal courts.

Since its founding, Hopkins & Carley has established deep and strong roots in Silicon Valley, and the firm is proud to work with the third and fourth generations of some of our original clients.  We have been honored to grow alongside a number of companies that have evolved from small brick and mortar enterprises to multi-national businesses.  The firm understands the industries in which our clients operate, and recognizes that legal and business issues often are inextricably intertwined.