Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Partner and Chair of the firm's Employment Law practice Debra Ellwood Meppen and Senior Counsel Laurie DeYoung authored an article that examines the Equal Pay Act class action lawsuit filed against Google, Inc. in which the plaintiffs allege systemic and intentional pay gaps between men and women who perform substantially the same work and offer legal strategies to safeguard businesses against equal pay claims in California. Published in Law360 on February 15, their article "Google Equal Pay Case Could Have Far-Reaching Impact," describes the Google equal pay case as potentially the watermark for what could be eventually considered the "Decade of the Woman."
Recently, women have dominated the headlines demanding an end to decades' long mistreatment and seeking a reckoning for workplace harassment and discrimination. Included in this fight is a demand for equal pay. In their article, Debra Meppen and Laurie DeYoung shed light on the claims filed against Google, Inc. and interpret the Equal Pay Act in California. They forecast that if the Google class action is certified, ramifications from the case will trickle down into every business, large or small, that employs men and women. They also offer five legal strategies to help businesses navigate the Equal Pay Act and avoid the costly error of failing to comply with this California public policy.
To read the article in full, please click here.
Debra Ellwood Meppen represents employers and management in all aspects of Federal and California employment matters. She has an active employment litigation and counseling practice defending both private and public entities against claims of discrimination, retaliation, FMLA, wrongful termination, defamation and harassment claims. In addition, Ms. Meppen has handled, and is currently handling, large scale class action litigation throughout California and nationwide. Her client list encompasses numerous industries including Hospitality, Retail, Pharmaceutical, Medical, and Entertainment. Ms. Meppen has successfully handled all types of employment cases in both state and federal courts, as well as in administrative settings before the DFEH, EEOC, DLSE, and OSHA. She has tried numerous cases to successful verdict. She also heads the firm's Women's Initiative program and serves on its Diversity Committee.
Laurie DeYoung has substantive expertise in labor, employment, professional liability, financial services and general commercial litigation. She streamlines litigation by employing results driven, cost-effective and innovative big picture strategy from the outset of litigation. She has handled hundreds of depositions; written and argued dispositive motions; prepared and tried cases to the bench and jury; defeated class certification motions and participated in successful class settlement proceedings; participated in arbitrations, mediations and settlement conferences for plaintiffs and defendants and has briefed and argued matters before the state and federal courts of appeal.
Gordon & Rees is a national litigation and business transactions firm with more than 800 lawyers in 47 offices across the United States. Our lawyers provide full service representation to public and private companies ranging from the Fortune 500 to start-ups. Founded in 1974, Gordon & Rees is recognized among the fastest growing and largest law firms in the country and continues to climb the ranks of both the Am Law 200 and The National Law Journal. Additionally, in 2017 Law360 ranked the firm among the top 50 largest U.S. firms and The American Lawyer ranked the firm among the top 35 on its Diversity Scorecard.