Seth Neulight is a dedicated labor and employment attorney with over 20 years of experience serving employers and executives. Seth represents clients in disputes before state and federal courts, administrative agencies, and in arbitrations, with an emphasis on complex class and representative actions. He provides practical, business-oriented advice on matters such as workforce restructuring, restrictive covenants, wage and hour laws, leaves of absence, and labor issues in corporate mergers and acquisitions. Seth serves clients in a range of industries, including technology, food and beverage, higher education, construction, retail, and hospitality.
I defend employers in complex wage-hour and discrimination class, collective and representative actions. I have served as lead defense counsel in hundreds of single- and multi-plaintiff lawsuits filed in California state and federal courts. I have significant experience with claims of employment discrimination, retaliation, and harassment, wrongful discharge, and wage and hour violations under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and California laws including the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Labor Code, and Unfair Competition Law (UCL). I help clients navigate difficult employment issues such as leave obligations, disability accommodation, employment terminations, and reductions-in-force. I negotiate and draft executive employment contracts and offer letters, incentive compensation plans, confidentiality and invention assignment agreements, and separation agreements. I help clients develop personnel policies. I regularly speak on employment law developments trends, and best practices for workforce management.
My practice also includes traditional labor relations. I help clients respond to union organizing campaigns, provide union avoidance training, and negotiate collective bargaining agreements. I defend clients in grievance arbitrations and unfair labor practice charges before the National Labor Relations Board.
The #MeToo Movement has led to a flurry of legislative activity, and a heightened awareness among workers, concerning issues of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. Employers need to be more vigilant than ever in their efforts to prevent such misconduct, and to respond properly when it occurs. Separately, companies are facing increased pressure to adopt more policies that ease the burdens of working families, such as paid parental leave. Legislatures at all levels are paying attention, and will continue to enact laws that impose new employer mandates in this area.
Law360 | March 12, 2021
This article covers the recent Ninth Circuit judgement that affirmed a summary judgement win for Hertz in a suit involving a fired payroll worker’s allegations of age bias and defamation against the car rental company. San Francisco Labor & Employment partner Seth Neulight is mentioned for advising Hertz.
Rochester Business Journal | June 28, 2019
Rochester Corporate partner Jeremy Wolk wrote this contributed article outlining new guidance from the Department of Labor on whether “gig economy” workers should be considered independent contractors or employees.
Law360 | November 04, 2018
San Francisco Labor & Employment partners Bob Dolinko and Seth Neulight and Los Angeles Labor & Employment associate Irene Scholl-Tatevosyan are mentioned in this article for their representation of Hertz in a matter regarding employees wage and rest break.
SHRM.com (Society of Human Resource Management) | May 07, 2018
San Francisco labor and employment partner Seth Neulight is quoted in this article analyzing a California Supreme Court case, Troester v. Starbucks, that could decide whether employers there must pay employees for ‘de minimis’ time—amounts of working time that are hard to track.
DePaul University College of Law, J.D., (Editor, DePaul Law Review)
Northwestern University, B.A.
California
U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court, Central District of California
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
Seth Neulight was selected, through a peer-review survey, for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2021 in the field of Employment Law - Management.
Seth was recognized as a “Super Lawyer” from 2011 to 2018 by Northern California Super Lawyers magazine based on a peer-review survey.
Seth received the Bill Brockett Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award in 2017 from Swords to Plowshares, a veteran services organization.