Employment – Executive Compensation

Waymaker regularly represents employers and highly compensated employees in a broad array of employment disputes. With the benefit of a litigator’s perspective, we advise clients on severance agreements and packages connected to major corporate mergers, restructurings, and workforce reductions. In doing so, we provide counsel on numerous matters related to the rights and duties of departing employees, including senior executives.

We are particularly experienced in litigating employment claims arising out of alleged trade secret misappropriation, breach of non-competition agreements, breach of fiduciary duty, wrongful termination, discrimination, wage and hour disputes, and sexual harassment. We have handled cases ranging from individual employment disputes to class actions involving Fortune 500 companies. The firm’s criminal and regulatory defense practices, which are helmed by a number of former federal prosecutors, are helpful to clients when allegations also concern potential criminal conduct.

Although the best outcome is often a negotiated pre-litigation resolution, the firm has a well-earned reputation for delivering results if those negotiations are not successful. The deep experience of the firm’s trial attorneys is indispensable before litigation commences because it provides the firm with credibility and the ability to spot litigation opportunities and vulnerabilities.

Representative Engagements:

• Byton North America Corporation v. Breitfeld
  Currently representing an electric automobile pioneer, co-founder and former executive of an all-electric vehicle manufacturer in claims against his former employer, a Chinese electric vehicle company. After the company sued our client, alleging misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty and other claims, we counterclaimed for breach of the employment contract and other employment claims.

• Holland v. Penthouse World Media, LLC
  Currently defending a corporation against a lawsuit filed by a former owner and executive. The plaintiff has asserted claims of wrongful termination, age discrimination, breach of contract, failure to pay wages, and other claims. We are aggressively pursuing our counterclaims.

• Charalambous v. SBEEG Holdings, LLC
  Currently representing a former executive of a major hospitality company, SBE, in a fraud and breach of contract lawsuit. The firm’s client alleges that his former employer has wrongfully failed to provide compensation owed to him under a profits interests agreement.

• Hernandez v. Price Waterhouse Coopers LLC
  Represented a former highly compensated employee of Google in an action involving international taxation advice that PWC provided to him in connection with his foreign assignment to Google’s Mountainview campus. The case was confidentially resolved shortly after being filed.

• Mainstream Communications, Inc. v. DIRECTV, LLC
  Represented DIRECTV in arbitration against a collection of former independent contractors seeking consequential damages arising out of several contracts. After claimants were awarded less than 20 percent of their most recent settlement demand, we petitioned for vacatur based on misconduct at arbitration. The parties reached a settlement for a fraction of the arbitration award.

• Bernardini v. Zodiac US Management, LLC
  Represented the former CEO of a large aviation company in an action under a written executive compensation agreement, asserting various claims in contract and under the California Labor Code. The case was resolved privately after we brought an early motion for summary adjudication.

• In re ICON Aircraft
  Represented a new aviation startup, a manufacturer of a revolutionary lightweight sport aircraft, with the resolution of various threatened claims by SpaceX arising from our client’s hiring of former SpaceX employees. The matters were resolved prior to litigation.