san francisco bay area
civil rights employment attorneys

Terry Boyd was a residential real estate appraiser for Bank of America and stepped forward to say that appraisers should be getting paid overtime, but were misclassified as exempt. Bryan Schwartz Law, P.C. won certification of a class and collective action for more than 700 appraisers, and proved that appraisers should be classified as non-exempt. Bank of America paid $48.8 million in settlements with appraisers nationwide.

Seema Bhat was the water quality manager for Washington, DC’s water provider. After she was wrongfully terminated for disclosing to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) excessive lead levels in the drinking water, Bryan Schwartz helped her obtain complete public vindication in a highly-publicized trial and judgment. The Washington Post editorial after her victory was entitled, “Justice for Seema Bhat.”

Angela Quiles was a restaurant worker working for minimum wage plus tips when she was denied her meal and rest periods at a small chain of sushi restaurants, without being paid the required premiums. She hired Bryan Schwartz Law, P.C. to bring a class action on behalf of herself and her co-workers. When the owner of the restaurants, Artie Parent, said “get rid of her,” she was fired, but Bryan Schwartz Law, P.C. won her a jury verdict and judgment of approximately $950,000. Meantime, the class action proceeded and Parent wound up personally paying $2.2 million to settle it, so that her workers got thousands of dollars each, on average.

Nita Nigam was a mid-level manager at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) when a Cabinet Secretary discriminated against her based upon her race and national origin, denying her a promotion and then a bonus, after she complained, when he retaliated against her. Bryan Schwartz litigated her case and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission awarded the full damages sought, plus extensive injunctive relief, including posting of notices nationwide about the Secretary’s unlawful actions.

Angela Sposito was an administrative assistant for San Francisco State University for over a decade. When she returned to work after receiving aggressive treatment for cancer, she was falsely accused of demonstrating signs of “chemo brain,” placed on leave, and required to attend a fitness-for-duty psychological exam. Bryan Schwartz Law, P.C. helped her obtain a $575,000 settlement.

Janet Herold was the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Western Region’s chief legal officer until her termination in the final weeks of the Trump administration. Bryan Schwartz led her response to the DOL’s termination action, alleging retaliation against her for her vigorous prosecution of pay discrimination claims, and she was reinstated to her position.