Jessica Hardy, a partner with our firm, represents and counsels employers in connection with a broad range of matters, including wage and hour disputes, employee benefit and ERISA disputes, ADA accessibility claims, fraud and unfair competition claims, trade secret litigation, and claims of employment discrimination, harassment, and wrongful discharge.
Before joining Walraven & Westerfeld LLP, Jessica worked as an employment associate at O’Melveny & Myers LLP. Jessica also clerked for the Honorable Edward Rafeedie and the Honorable Jean Rosenbluth of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Education
J.D., University of Southern California Gould School of Law (2006)
- Editor-in-Chief, University of Southern California Review of Law and Social Justice
- Teaching Fellow, Legal Writing and Advocacy Program
B.A., Pitzer College (2001)
Admitted to the Bar in California
Memberships
Member, Orange County Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section
2014 Board Member, Orange County Bar Association Charitable Fund
Member, Association of Business and Trial Lawyers – Orange County
Publications
Co-Author, Employers, Don’t Take This Sitting Down, Orange County Business Journal, May 2011
Co-Author, “Compensable Time”: A Trap for the Unwary Employer, Orange County Business Journal, April 2010
E-mail: jbh@walravenlaw.com
Telephone: (949) 215-4239
Illustrative Professional Experience
- Representing nationwide health plan insurer and administrator in ERISA litigation and litigation against health care providers involving state law claims of fraud and unfair competition.
- Negotiating and drafting employment contracts for CEOs and other top executives of multimillion dollar corporations.
- Representing national employers in wage and hour class actions and individual employment disputes in state and federal court.
- Representing the nation’s largest banking and tax services company in a multimillion-dollar employee-benefits class action in federal court, culminating in the court granting summary judgment in favor of the company on all claims.
- Representing a Fortune 500 health services company in an ERISA benefits dispute and obtaining the reversal on appeal of a $14 million judgment against the company.
- Providing labor and employment advice and counseling to a nationwide health and fitness company and working with the client to revise its payroll structure, resulting in a retooled and modernized compensation system.
- Representing employers in administrative actions before the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, and the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.
- Providing ongoing employment law counseling to a leading global motion picture and television production and distribution company.
- Representing an airline in union arbitration, defending allegations of wrongful termination and breach of collective bargaining agreement.