Robert H. Pepple

My focus

My passion is to bring aggressive and high-quality representation to employers of all sizes in all industries—because the Plaintiff’s Bar is after every employer in California. Over the course of my career, it has been my honor to represent employers in numerous industries, including healthcare, hospitality, sales and merchandizing, security, warehousing, employee-staffing, entertainment, telecommunications, retail, manufacturing, and many more.

Wage and Hour Litigation

The core of my practice is wage and hour advice and litigation, for which I have developed a suite of tools that allow me to diagnose an employer’s compliance with California law with unrivaled efficiency and accuracy. This allows me to present clients with a clear picture of what’s “at stake” at the beginning of a lawsuit, rather than much later in the case, which is the norm in the industry. It is my belief that this information is vital to developing strategies that make both legal and business sense. My philosophy is to pursue what is best for your business’s reputation, legal exposure, and bottom line.

This philosophy carries over into the other areas of law in which I have substantial litigation and advice experience, including: discrimination, whistleblowing, harassment, retaliation, violations of family leave, tort claims, and restrictive covenants and cases arising under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, Defend Trade Secrets Act, and National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), as well as the California counterparts to these federal laws.

Workplace Investigations

I have significant experience in managing and conducting workplace investigations arising from allegations of discrimination (race, age, sexuality, etc.), retaliation, leaves and accommodations, sexual harassment and hostile work environment, unfair labor practices, and misappropriation of trade secrets. Similar to my wage and hour practice, I create and develop customized tools that assist in the investigation, analysis, advising, and reporting on such investigations to the appropriate government agencies.

Labor Relations

In addition, I represent clients in traditional labor law matters including collective bargaining negotiations and union elections, and defending against unfair labor practice (ULP) charges. I help clients meet their business goals without compromising employee loyalty, enthusiasm, or productivity.

Insights

• "U.S. Supreme Court in Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt clarifies "salary basis" test for HCEs paid on daily basis," Client Alert, February 28, 2023
• "Strategies for severance agreements after NLRB’s decision in McLaren Macomb," Client Alert, February 27, 2023
• "Ninth Circuit holds California’s attempted ban of mandatory arbitration preempted by the FAA," Client Alert, February 22, 2023
• "California Court of Appeal clarifies rules surrounding weekend paydays," Client Alert, January 9, 2023
• "Lemm v. Ecolab — California Court of Appeal holds that “percentage bonuses” based on regular and overtime hours comply with California laws," Client Alert, January 6, 2023
• “California Enacts Pay Transparency Bill,” Client Alert, October 5, 2022
• “MacIntyre v Carroll College—The squeaky wheel gets the grease,” Client Alert, October 3, 2022
• “California’s AB 257 greenlights civilian law-making council for large fast food employers and franchised brands,” Client Alert, September 23, 2022
• “Seviour-Iloff v. LaPaille provides guidance on numerous California wage & hour issues, including personal liability,” Client Alert, September 9, 2022
• “NP Impact Pride 2022: LASNNY and Alliance for Housing and Healing,” Client Alert, June 22, 2022
• “Viking River court holds that employers can compel PAGA lawsuits to individual arbitration—if their arbitration agreements have two key components,” Client Alert, June 22, 2022
• “California Supreme Court characterizes break “premiums” as wages,” Client Alert, June 2, 2022

Representative experience

• "California Labor & Employment Update," Nixon Peabody Annual Seminar, November 17, 2022