For more than 30 years, John’s practice has focused primarily on labor and employment law, and related litigation, on behalf of management, in trial and appellate courts. He has participated in multiple full trials and dozens of mediations, prepared numerous motions for summary judgment and other pre-and-post-trial motions, and briefed cases before the National Labor Relations Board. John also has handled several dozen appellate matters, including direct appeals, writ petitions, amicus briefs, and cases before the United States and California Supreme Courts. He has drafted briefs and given oral arguments in several cases resulting in published appellate opinions.
In addition, John provides employment law advice and counseling and has drafted employment contracts, personnel policies, arbitration agreements, and settlement agreements. He has written and co-written numerous articles that have been published in Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, and other publications.
John served as a law clerk to the late United States District Court Senior Judge Irving Hill, and then became an associate with the labor and employment law department at O’Melveny & Myers. More recently, John spent five years as a principal with the litigation boutique Nassiri & Jung LLP.
Admitted to Practice
- California
Court Admissions
Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of California
United States Courts of Appeals
- D.C. Circuit
- Third Circuit
- Ninth Circuit
- Tenth Circuit
United States District Courts
- Central District of California
- Eastern District of California
- Northern District of California
- Southern District of California
- B.A., University of Notre Dame
- J.D., UCLA School of Law
Supreme Court of the United States
- Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 140 S. Ct. 2049 (2020) (employment discrimination claims of Catholic elementary school teachers were barred by the “ministerial exception”)
United States Court of Appeals
- Windsor Redding Care Center, LLC v. NLRB, 944 F.3d 294 (D.C. Cir. 2019) (granting employer’s petition for review and denying National Labor Relations Board’s petition for enforcement because NLRB ignored crucial evidence in trial before an ALJ; the court of appeals set forth standards of review NLRB must follow if it overturns an ALJ decision)
- Venetian Casino Resort LLC v. NLRB, 793 F.3d 85 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (employer’s request that police issue criminal citations to demonstrators and block them from employer-owned sidewalk because of alleged trespass was protected under First Amendment right “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”)
- Venetian Casino Resort LLC v. EEOC, 530 F.3d 925 (D.C. Cir. 2008) (EEOC must give advance notice to employer and follow other requirements of Freedom of Information Act before disclosing employer-submitted confidential information to third parties)
- Venetian Casino Resort LLC v. EEOC, 409 F.3d 359 (D.C. Cir. 2005) (lawsuit challenging EEOC’s regulations on handling employer-submitted confidential information was “ripe” for judicial review)
United States District Court
- Moore v. County of Los Angeles, 194 LRRM 2279 (C.D. Cal. 2012) (granting summary judgment for employer on First Amendment retaliation claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983)
- Eng v. County of Los Angeles, 737 F. Supp. 2d 1078 (C.D. Cal. 2010) (granting summary judgment for employer on First Amendment retaliation claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983)
- Ochiai v. Regents of University of Cal, 2009 U.S. Dist. Lexis 115912 (C.D. Cal. 2009) (granting judgment on the pleadings for employer and individual defendants on various causes of action)
Supreme Court of California
- Reeves v. Hanlon (2004) 33 Cal. 4th 1140 (affirms a judgment in our client’s favor on claims for intentional interference with contractual relations, misappropriation of trade secrets and sets standards for claims of tortious interference with at-will employment contracts)
- Turner v. Anheuser-Busch (1994) 7 Cal. 4th 1238 (establishes the law in California on what is a constructive discharge)
Court of Appeal of California
- Bruni v. The Edward Thomas Hospitality Company (2021) 2021 Cal. App. LEXIS 402* (affirming judgment on demurrer in favor of hotel because the Santa Monica City Ordinance granting recall rights to certain laid off employees in a specific geographic area of Santa Monica did not apply to plaintiff because he had not been employed at the hotel for six months or more at the time of his layoff)
- Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel (2019) 40 Cal. App. 5th 1239 (hotel’s policy and practice of automatically rounding employee time up or down to the nearest quarter hour complies with California law; review granted by California Supreme Court on whether meal break payment should include all earnings or just the employee’s established hourly rate)
- AHMC Healthcare, Inc. v. Superior Court (2018) 24 Cal. App. 5th 1014 (upholds employer time clock rounding policy)
- GAB Business Services v. Lindsey & Newsom Claim Services (2000) 83 Cal. App. 4th 409 (court reversed jury verdict against our client, a company that provides independent insurance adjusting services, on claims against a former corporate officer and a competitor company for breach of fiduciary duty and unfair competition)
- Saret-Cook v. Gilbert, Kelly, Crowley & Jennett (1999) 74 Cal. App. 4th 1211 (upholds defense sexual harassment verdict, judgment on employer cross-complaint for emotional distress and $1 million attorneys’ fees award to employer improperly sued for sex harassment)
- Bardin v. Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Company (1999) 70 Cal. App. 4th 494 (upholds right of employer to give accurate references to inquiring third party reference seekers)
- Kirmse v. Hotel Nikko of San Francisco (1996) 51 Cal. App. 4th 311 (summary judgment upheld; at-will employment)
Honors
- UCLA Law Review
- UCLA Law Review Editor
- Publication: Comment,The Attorney-Client Privilege and its Availability to Insured Persons, 36 UCLA L. Rev. 977
- American Jurisprudence Award, Constitutional Law I
- American Jurisprudence Award, Property