Representing corporations in labor and employment litigation matters, Rebecca M. Aragon focuses her practice on the defense of class, collective, multi-plaintiff and hybrid wage and hour actions. She has a proven track record of helping national and California-based clients navigate the intricacies of federal labor law and California’s complex Labor Code to achieve favorable outcomes in a variety of claims ranging from misclassification to unfair competition. Her employment litigation experience also extends to defending clients against employee claims of wrongful termination, sexual harassment, retaliation, whistleblowing, breach of contract, invasion of privacy, misrepresentation, defamation, and discrimination.

In addition to serving as litigation counsel, Rebecca advises clients on compliance issues in every aspect of labor and employment law and also counsels clients on federal and state law compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act. She has used alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, such as neutral evaluations, direct negotiations, mediations and court-ordered settlement conferences to secure favorable decisions.

Rebecca represents many companies employing large Spanish-speaking workforces and has provided Spanish-language services to employers in connection with union avoidance matters, anti-harassment and sexual harassment prevention, wage and hour issues and internal investigations.

Her practice also involves advising foreign government consulates on sovereign immunity issues and the applicability of federal and state employment laws to their employees in the U.S.

In over two decades of successfully representing clients in employment matters, Rebecca has:

• Waged a successful declaration campaign resulting in opposing counsel's abandonment of all class action claims in a suit where the plaintiff alleged that thousands of computer technicians were misclassified as exempt professionals
• Defeated class certification in a wage and hour class action involving claims of misclassification of hundreds of personal attendants, meal and rest period violations, and unfair competition
• Resolved a difficult class action against joint employers where the plaintiffs demanded over $3,000,000 in unpaid wages for less than 5% of that amount in total employee wage compensation
• Obtained a defense verdict in a four-week jury trial for a hospital accused of wrongfully terminating six employees for alleged whistle-blowing
• Defeated claims of race and gender discrimination and wrongful termination against a medical center on summary judgment
• Prevailed in dismissing a widely-publicized federal wage and hour class action involving claims that hundreds of individuals working for a large non-profit organization were misclassified as volunteers
• Defeated a motion for class-wide injunctive relief wherein the plaintiff alleged that her employer engaged in unfair business practices when it allegedly violated wage and hour laws
• Obtained a court order dismissing a similar 900-employee class action against the same employer and persuaded opposing counsel to exclude discovery concerning "opt-out" plaintiffs before allowing class-wide discovery
• Compelled plaintiffs, in two cases, to submit entire class actions (each involving hundreds of employees) into binding arbitration
• Successfully resolved a 400-employee wage and hour class action for less than 15 dollars per class member

Rebecca previously served as a law clerk to Judge Terry J. Hatter, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY AFFILIATIONS

• Member, Board of Directors, Mexican American Bar Foundation
• Member, Hispanic National Bar Association
• Member, California Indian Law Association
• Member, Labor and Employment Law and Litigation sections – State Bar of California