Employment & Labor Relations

I prefer to work with private and federal sector employees in claims or severance negotiations with wage and hour, misclassification, sexual or racial harassment or gender, race, age and disability discrimination issues.

• Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

• Affirmative Action
• Age Discrimination
• Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Disability Discrimination
• Discipline/Suspension
• Emotional Distress
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)
• Employee Rights
• Employment Contracts
• Equal Pay Act (EPA)
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
• Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA)
• Government Employees
• Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA)
• Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)
• Race Discrimination
• Racial Harassment
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
• Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866
• Severance Packages
• Sex Discrimination
• Sexual Harassment
• Termination
• Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act
• Wage & Hour Laws
• Whistleblower
• Wrongful Termination

• Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Compensation, Benefits, & Pensions
• Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)
• Disability Discrimination
• Discipline/Suspension
• Emotional Distress
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)
• Employee Rights
• Employment Contracts
• Equal Pay Act (EPA)
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
• Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA)
• Immigration Reform & Control Act of 1986 (IRCA)
• Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
• Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)
• Race Discrimination
• Racial Harassment
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
• Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866
• Severance Packages
• Sex Discrimination
• Sexual Harassment
• Termination
• Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act
• Wage & Hour Laws
• Whistleblower
• Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification (WARN) Act
• Wrongful Termination

CA, Dec 1976
Bar Number: 73245

California; U.S. District Court, Northern, Eastern and Central Districts of California; U. S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

California State Bar; Asian American Bar Association; Bar Association of San Francisco

Since 1990, I have been a panelist/speaker on over 20 employment law seminars/panels for the National Employment Lawyer's Association, the California Employment Lawyer's Association, the State Bar of California Labor and Employment Law Section, the Bar Association of San Francisco, the Asian American Lawyer's Association and the American Bar Association Employment and Labor Section. I attend or present at least two major plaintiff's employment law seminars each year.

Contributing Editor on federal employee rights: Employee Rights Litigation: Pleading and Practice, Matthew-Bender, Janice Goodman, Author.

I am also AV rated, the highest rating for attorney competence and ethics by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, a national compilation of attorneys.

By 1994, my plaintiff's employment law practice expanded to the point that I established an employment law group within the firm. The employment group represents federal, state and private employees in federal and state court and in various administrative forums, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Merit Systems Protection Board, the California Personnel Board and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. I also litigate major employment discrimination class actions, including the first federal case to certify a class based on a racially hostile work environment, Adams v. Pinole Point Steel, et al. In 2001, after seven years of litigation, I settled a federal employee class action on behalf of 2,500 female employees of the U.S.D.A. Forest Service in California, Donnelly v. Glickman.

19

California

Minami, Lew & Tamaki LLP began our practice in 1974, determined to provide quality legal representation at competitive rates with an emphasis on personalized service. In keeping with our roots as a minority-owned firm, we also were determined to play a leading role in making the world a better place through our pro bono work and community involvement. Since those early days, we have grown to 17 attorneys with offices in San Francisco and a satellite office in Silicon Valley (Los Gatos), providing legal representation in specialty areas comparable in quality to similar services offered by the most prestigious mid-size and large law firms.

Our firm has earned an "AV" rating by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, the highest rating for competence and ethics issued by that publication, and reserved for attorneys designated as outstanding in their field. We are also among the few small law firms that have the resources and experience to litigate major class action lawsuits. Our attorneys and staff are bilingual in a number of languages including Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish and Russian.

Our practice groups includes: Employment and Labor law (e.g. wrongful termination, discrimination, wage and hour disputes); Immigration (emphasizing employment visas); Commercial Litigation (including contract disputes, consumer fraud class actions, and unfair business practices); Business and Corporate (including mergers and acquisitions, start-up and emerging companies, technology licensing, real estate sales, acquisitions, development and leasing, commercial transactions, non-profit corporations; Personal Injury (including wrongful death, products liability, premises liability and automobile accidents); Criminal Defense (specializing in white collar); Family Law (dissolution and support, child custody, prenuptial agreements); Entertainment Law (professional athletes, news and weather anchors and reporters, independent film productions, public television and cable television productions); and Estate Planning.

Our clients include Google, Visa International, the Consulate General of Japan, the City and County of San Francisco, Kristi Yamaguchi, the State Bar of California, Del Monte Corporation, Baker Place, and Pacific Gas & Electric Company. We also represent a number of mid-size and small corporations and businesses, in their formation and transactional work. Our attorneys represent a number of other non-profit corporations including PRIDE Industries (the nation's largest private employer of disabled workers), the Asian American Journalists' Association, the National Asian American Telecommunications Association, the Go For Broke Foundation and Kristi Yamaguchi's Always Dream Foundation, among others.

Members of our firm have has been involved in major legal cases, including the successful reopening of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case of Korematsu v. the United States (overturning Fred Korematsu's criminal conviction for refusing government exclusion orders aimed at Japanese Americans during WWII based on the prosecution's misrepresentations and falsified evidence present to the United States Supreme Court in 1944); Popov vs. Hayashi (dispute over Barry Bonds' record- breaking 73rd home run ball); and Donnnelly vs. U.S. Department of Agriculture (class action sexual harassment case). Through these and other newsworthy cases, the firm's work has been spotlighted in national media coverage, including 60 Minutes, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Court T.V., and Fox television network news, the New York Times and the Washington Post. In this regard, the firm has significant experience in navigating high profile cases before local and national news media. Despite our status as a "small firm," we are well-known within, and enjoy an excellent reputation among, the legal community and the judiciary.

We also value maintaining a humane and harmonious work environment, and we share a commitment to public service by participating in numerous pro bono cases, community projects and organizations and boards and commissions. Our attorneys have been appointed to review committees for the selection of state and federal judges, have become commissioners on state and federal commissions and have volunteered services, time and effort to improving our local, state and national communities.

Partners have also been leaders in the legal profession, serving at one time or another as Presidents or Chair of the Criminal Trial Attorneys Association of Northern California, the Northern California Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Workplace Fairness, the California Attorney General's Asian Pacific Advisory Committee, the federal Civil Liberties Public Education Fund, Chinese for Affirmative Action and the Asian Pacific Bar of California. Our attorneys currently sit as members of the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission, and as members of the Board of Directors of the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Japanese American Chamber of Commerce of Silicon Valley, the Glide Foundation, Kimochi, Inc., the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, Kristi Yamaguchi's Always Dream Foundation and the Japanese American National Museum, among others.

1993 - present: Managing Partner (2006), Partner Minami & Tamaki, LLP; Civil Litigation and Business Counsel Practice; Personal Injury, Employment and Civil Rights, Business and Family Law litigation, Corporate Immigration and Entertainment Law. AV rated.

1995 - present: Adjunct Professor, Golden Gate University School of Law, Survey of Employment Law and Employment Discrimination Law classes.

1990 - 1993: Associate Employment Litigation Attorney, Minami & Tamaki, LLP

1979 to 1990: Assistant Regional Civil Rights Attorney, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in San Francisco, California. Enforcement of Title VI, Title VII and Rehabilitation Act

1976-1979: Staff Attorney for the Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission in San Jose, California. Investigate and mediate employment and civil rights complaints.

I have been a panelist or moderator at many employment law seminars and serve as counsel, co-counsel or advisor on federal employee cases around the country.

Carol Altamirano is the Office Manager. Briget Kilkenny is my legal assistant.

(415) 398-3887

Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Yes

Spanish; Japanese; Cantonese; Vietnamese.

Sunnyvale, CA
333 W. El Camino Real
Suite 350
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
(408) 739 1137

No flat or fixed price fees.

Sliding scale from $250 to $500 per hour.

I do provide free consultations after a preliminary discussion determines the case and client are appropriate. This usually means a good liability case with significant damages. I usually charge for consultations on a sliding scale hourly fee from $250 to $500 per hour depending on client and case circumstances and resources and the source
of the referral.

$2,500 to $5,000 advance fee payment into the client trust account depending on the scope of work.