Matthew E. Farmer represents companies in various employment matters, at both the advice and litigation stages. Because he believes that excellent litigation defense starts with litigation avoidance, Matthew works closely with his clients to avoid litigation or resolve issues before litigation commences.
When litigation does arise, Matthew has successfully defended lawsuits brought against his clients in both state and federal courts and in contractual arbitration. Appearing before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, he handles claims involving:
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)
- The California Family Rights Act (CFRA)
- Wage and hour
- Healthcare laws
- Trade secrets
Matthew also has extensive experience defending clients in complex wage and hour matters, including specifically class actions. His experience in this field has involved representation of both large and small clients.
Among his litigation successes, he secured a complete defense award for his client in a two-week arbitration to resolve a wrongful termination/discrimination case.
Matthew also offers litigation avoidance advice related to various personnel matters, including terminations, requests for leave and disability accommodations. His clients come from various industries and backgrounds, including:
- Healthcare industry (various physician and other practice groups, hospitals, and general and dependent care facilities)
- Food, service, and restaurant industry
- Retail entities
- Manufacturing and distribution centers
- Transportation industry
Matthew is an adjunct professor of law at San Joaquin College of Law where he teaches employment law, administrative law and other courses. He also teaches as an adjunct instructor at Fresno City College, teaching courses to paralegals in the fields of employment and administrative law.
In law school, he was a staff member and then assistant legislation editor of the Pacific Law Journal.