At Columbo Deol, we handle the employment matters that most affect our clients' careers and businesses. We represent senior executives, founders, investors, and other accomplished professionals, along with the companies that employ such individuals. Representing both sides of the workplace is uncommon among employment practices, and the perspective it gives us informs and gives us an edge in every matter we take on.
We negotiate, draft, and litigate the agreements that govern senior employment relationships. For executives, this includes offer negotiations, equity grants and acceleration, severance and change-in-control packages, and the disputes that follow when those agreements fall apart, including fights over deferred compensation, RSUs and stock options, carried interest, and the enforceability of post-employment restrictions. For companies, we structure executive compensation, draft and negotiate employment and separation agreements, advise boards on senior transitions, and litigate when a departing officer's claims put real value at risk.
We handle claims of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in state and federal court and in arbitration, including under Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, FEHA, and parallel state and local statutes. Our executive-side work often involves senior leaders pursuing claims after a sudden termination, a forced resignation, or a pattern of conduct that became impossible to ignore, including pregnancy, gender, age, race, disability, and national origin claims. On the company side, we defend employers against single-plaintiff actions, putative class actions, and PAGA representative actions, including sensitive matters involving allegations against C-suite officers and other senior personnel.
We represent both sides of whistleblower disputes under Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank, the False Claims Act, the California Labor Code, and parallel state laws. Our executive cases often involve a senior officer who refused to participate in or sign off on conduct she believed was unlawful and faced retaliation for it, including matters touching securities reporting, accounting, healthcare billing, and regulatory compliance. On the company side, we defend against retaliation claims, conduct parallel internal investigations, and manage the interplay between whistleblower complaints and regulatory inquiries.
We litigate trade secret claims and non-compete, non-solicit, and other restrictive covenant disputes, including the related claims that often follow when an executive moves to a competitor or starts a competing venture. For executives and founders, we defend against allegations of misappropriation, push back against overbroad restrictive covenants, particularly when the new role is in California, advise on lawful departure logistics, and handle the discovery fights that follow over devices, accounts, and recruiting communications. For companies, we enforce restrictive covenants, seek temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions, and pursue former officers and employees who have taken proprietary information, customer relationships, or talent on their way out the door.
We handle wage and hour matters at every level, including individual misclassification claims, exempt status disputes, class and collective actions, and PAGA representative actions. We have defended employers against complex class and collective actions involving claims of unpaid overtime, off-the-clock work, missed meal and rest breaks, expense reimbursement, and final pay timing. We also represent professionals and executives challenging their misclassification or seeking unpaid commissions and bonuses.
We conduct internal investigations on behalf of boards of directors, audit and special committees, and general counsel, including investigations involving allegations against C-suite officers and other senior leaders. Common engagements include investigating misconduct, harassment, and discrimination complaints implicating the highest levels of a company, reviewing financial or regulatory concerns raised internally, and assessing leadership conduct issues during periods of organizational change. Our investigations are designed to produce findings that hold up under outside scrutiny, whether from regulators, plaintiffs' counsel, or the press. We also represent executives who find themselves the subject of an internal investigation, including matters that run in parallel with regulatory or law enforcement inquiries.
Some employment matters cannot follow a normal timeline. When an executive is accused of misconduct, when a senior departure threatens to become a litigation or media event, when a regulator or board demands answers on a short timeline, or when an internal complaint could spill into the press, we step in fast. Common engagements include managing CEO and senior officer transitions during pending regulatory inquiries, advising boards on responses to misconduct allegations against high-profile officers, and counseling executives whose departures have become the subject of press attention.
A great deal of what we do, by design, does not involve a courtroom. We advise executives on offers, exits, severance, equity, and restrictive covenants before they sign anything, and on the everyday decisions that come up during the lifecycle of a senior role. We advise founders on hiring, structuring, and protecting their teams. We advise general counsel and human resources leaders on terminations, accommodations, leaves of absence, classification questions, reductions in force, and compliance with state, federal, and local employment law. We draft offer letters, employment agreements, severance agreements, handbooks, restrictive covenants, equity arrangements, electronic communications policies, and the other documents that govern the relationship between an employer and its workforce. We also deliver training programs for company leadership and human resources teams on the topics most relevant to their businesses.
We support buyers, sellers, and target companies on the employment side of transactions, including diligence, retention and transition agreements, change-in-control treatment of equity and bonuses, executive transition disputes, and the post-closing litigation that sometimes follows.
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