Claudette Wilson has been a partner with the firm since its founding in 1991, and leads the Employment Law Practice Group.  Claudette has been representing companies in employment litigation for over 30 years.  Her litigation practice includes both wage and hour class actions and single plaintiff claims of discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other employment-related matters.  She regularly counsels employers on employment-related issues, including avoiding claims, reductions in force, disciplinary actions and terminations.  Claudette represents businesses of all sizes in a wide variety of industry sectors.

Claudette has significant trial experience in state and federal courts in a wide range of employment matters, including disability and age discrimination, wrongful termination, failure to hire, defamation, breach of contract, and trade secret theft.  She has sought and defended claims for injunctive relief involving trade secrets and non-compete agreements, has handled government agency hearings and trials, and argued employment issues before the California Court of Appeal and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Claudette is honored to have been named San Diego Employment Law – Management Lawyer of the Year by The Best Lawyers in America in 2019, which is her third time receiving this honor.  Claudette has also been designated as one of the Top 25 Women Super Lawyers in San Diego every year since 2007, and selected as one of the Top 10 Super Lawyers overall in San Diego County for two of those years. Claudette was also named one of San Diego’s Best Attorneys in 2014 by San Diego Metropolitan magazine.  Claudette has Martindale-Hubbell's highest peer rating (AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating) for legal ability and ethical standards. Claudette is a past President of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers San Diego Chapter and is a Master in the Louis M. Welsh American Inns of Court.

Affiliations

• Association of Business Trial Lawyers, San Diego Chapter - Past President and Former Board Member
• American Inns of Court, Louis M. Welsh - Master 
• Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference - Former Lawyer Representative
• Lawyers Club of San Diego - Member and Former Co-Chair, Sexual Harassment Task Force
• California Women Lawyers Association

Speaking & Publications

• Speaker, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego (November 2014) 
  “Do I Have A Case (Or Just A Bad Boss)?”
• Speaker, San Diego SHRM 2009 Law Day (January 2009)
  “When No News is Good News: How to Avoid Mistakes Regarding Harassment, Discrimination and Retaliation Laws that Result in High-Profile Jury Verdicts”
• Moderator, State Bar of California Labor and Employment Law Section 26th Annual Meeting (October/November 2008)
  “Too Old to Matter? Not a Cultural Fit?”
• Speaker, San Diego SHRM 2008 Law Day (January 2008)
  “An A to Z Guide on Religious Accommodation In the Workplace”
• Speaker, San Diego SHRM 2007 Law Day (January 2007)
  "Challenges in Compliance - - Disability and Accommodation"
• Speaker, MCCA 5th Annual CLE Expo (March 2006)
  "Tips for Preventing and Defending Against FLSA Class Actions”
• Speaker, SDEA 25th Annual Employment Law Seminar – Managing A Workforce in 2006 (February 2006)
  "Wage & Hour Mistakes – California Employers’ Greatest Liability Risk”
• Speaker, San Diego SHRM 2006 Law Day (January 2006)
  "How Not to Get Sued: Top 10 Mistakes Employers Make and How to Avoid Them"
• Speaker, Joint Los Angeles and Orange County Bar Associations, Corporate Counsel Sections, Meeting (September 2005)
  "Identifying and Addressing Bias"
• Speaker, The Bar Association of San Francisco (June 2005)
  "The New Whistle Blowers and Sarbanes-Oxley"
• Speaker, Association of Business Trial Lawyers Annual Seminar (October 2004)
  "Whistleblowers Retaliation Claims"
• Moderator, American Bar Association, Section of Labor and Employment Law, Technology Committee (April 2003)
  “Regulatory Compliance in An Electronic World”
• Participant, University of San Diego Executive Round Table (March 2003), "Women in Leadership"

Representative Matters

• Successfully secured a defense verdict for a Fortune 500 retailer in a three-week long jury trial on wrongful termination and FEHA retaliation claims brought by a former high-level manager (Broten v. Target Corp. (Cal.Ct.App., Apr. 4, 2018, D070712) 2018 WL 1615403 [affirming post-trial orders denying employee's motion for attorney's fees and awarding employer over $66,000 in costs])
• Demurrer sustained with prejudice for national healthcare staffing company in lawsuit brought by a former traveling nurse alleging claims for discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, breach of contract, and interference with prospective economic advantage
• Summary judgment affirmed by 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on a FEHA disability discrimination and failure to accommodate case where the employee alleged she was wrongfully terminated pursuant to the employer’s leave of absence policy (Markowitz v. UPS, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86245 (C.D. Cal. June 30, 2016))
• Successfully defended client in a lawsuit resulting in 12-0 defense verdict for parcel delivery company on FEHA disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, failure to engage in the interactive process, retaliation, and defamation claims
• Secured a defense verdict on behalf of a Fortune 500 company in a disability discrimination case where the Plaintiff, a current employee, claimed he was discriminated against because of a perceived disability and wrongfully forced on a leave of absence. Plaintiff had a work-related injury which resulted in permanent restrictions that he was contesting through the workers’ compensation system. 
• Obtained summary judgment for a Fortune 500 company in a disability discrimination case where the Plaintiff claimed the company failed to accommodate his mental disability and forced him to resign. Plaintiff suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after witnessing a gang shooting and requested to transfer to a different location away from the alleged incident. The company established that it properly engaged in the interactive process by identifying locations with vacancies and that the Plaintiff was the one who failed to respond to its efforts and instead voluntarily resigned. 
• Successfully defended major pharmaceutical company in non-jury trial of age discrimination and retaliation claim brought by former sales representative; judgment affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Honors and Recognition

• Featured in the Best Lawyers "Women in Law" Spring Business Edition 2019
• Selected for inclusion in San Diego Daily Journal's Top Labor and Employment Lawyers 2018 
• Named San Diego Employment Law-Management "Lawyer of the Year" in Best Lawyers in America (2012, 2016, 2019)
• Selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers of America, Labor and Employment Law specialties by Best Lawyer (2007 - 2020)
• Selected a Super Lawyer – Employment Defense (2007 - 2020; California) by Thomson Reuters magazine.  Listed as one of the top 10 lawyers in San Diego County overall in 2008 and 2009, Top 25 Women Lawyers (2007 - 2015, 2018-2020) and Top 50 San Diego Lawyers (2018)
• Named one of San Diego's Best Attorneys in 2014 by San Diego Metropolitan magazine
• Recipient, San Diego Daily Transcript's Top San Diego County Attorneys; Employment Category (2005 - 2010, 2012)
• Recipient, San Diego Business Journal's San Diego Women Who Mean Business Award (2002)
• "AV" Preeminent Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell