Jade Butman

What do you focus on?

I assist clients from all industries with “wage and hour” matters (class actions, individual actions, labor commissioner audits, and counseling); discrimination and harassment litigation; government agency hearings; and handbook/policy drafting.

My experience extends across all aspects of employment litigation and counseling. I have litigated dozens of “wage and hour” class actions.

What do you see on the horizon?

I’ve been following the changing landscape regarding the “gig economy” and independent contractors, which I believe will greatly impact businesses and employers in the years ahead. In addition, I have been counseling employers regarding adjustments that need to be made regarding remote workforces and other issues that have come up related to the current pandemic and new legislation.

Representative Experience

• Secured stipulated dismissal of an FLSA putative collective action on behalf of a manufacturing company after opposing conditional certification.
• Secured summary judgment on behalf of a manufacturing company facing allegations of employment discrimination (disparate impact and disparate treatment) and wrongful termination in Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles. Demonstrated to the court that the practice at issue did not have a disparate impact, and that the client had valid, non-discriminatory reasons for terminating the plaintiff.
• Secured summary judgment on behalf of a hospital system facing allegations of breach of contract and wrongful termination by an independent contractor in arbitration before JAMS in San Francisco. Demonstrated to the arbitrator that regardless of the classification of the plaintiff as a contractor or an employee, the governing contract had merely expired and plaintiff had no right to continued employment thereafter.
• Secured summary judgment on behalf of a hospital system facing allegations of employment discrimination and wrongful termination in Superior Court for the County of Sacramento. Demonstrated to the court that the majority of plaintiff’s factual allegations were irrelevant because she had not proven the applicability of the continuing violations doctrine, and that plaintiff was not constructively discharged when she resigned while out on stress leave.
• Secured summary judgment on behalf of a hospital system facing allegations of employment discrimination and wrongful termination in Superior Court for the County of San Francisco. Demonstrated to the court that client had valid, non-discriminatory reasons for terminating the plaintiff.
• Successfully defended a transportation company against an employee’s wage and hour complaint filed with the Office of the Labor Commissioner for the State of California. Plaintiff sought nearly $200,000 in wages, damages, and penalties, but was awarded only $15,000.
• Successfully defended a landscaping company against an employee’s wage and hour complaint filed with the Office of the Labor Commissioner for the State of California. Plaintiff sought thousands in wages, damages, and penalties, but was awarded nothing.
• Prevailed on behalf of a medical foundation facing claims it owed a medical assistant more than $17,000 for 775 missed rest breaks over a three-year period. The Labor Commissioner for the State of California ruled in favor of the medical foundation, awarding the employee nothing.
• Defended a medical center against claims that it owed an employee more than $6,000, plus interest and penalties, in a dispute over meal and rest periods. The Labor Commissioner for the State of California ruled in favor of the medical center, awarding the plaintiff nothing.

Speaking Engagements

• “Gender Identity and Expression, A Legal Framework,” Nixon Peabody MCLE Program, January 2020 (presenter)
• “Pay Equity in the Bay Area,” Bay Area Compensation Association, April 2017 (panelist)