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Spencer C. Skeen

Shareholder || San Diego

Employment Law, Class Action, Higher Education, Litigation, Unfair Competition and Trade Secrets, Wage and Hour, California Class Action and PAGA
Hospitality, Trucking and Logistics

Spencer Skeen is a shareholder in the San Diego office. He founded the office and served as its initial Managing Shareholder. He devotes his practice exclusively to the representation of companies and institutions of higher education in bet-the-company litigation. Spencer has represented private companies, nonprofit institutions and publicly traded employers in hundreds of class and representative actions, including claims brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act. He defends all types of employment litigation including cases alleging age discrimination, racial discrimination, national origin discrimination, gender discrimination, gender identity discrimination, religious discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful discharge in violation of public policy, disability access, noncompete, and trade secret claims. He has also defended clients in high stakes business and real estate litigation. Spencer’s clients include publicly traded companies, private companies, institutions of higher education, as well as businesses in the food and beverage, retail, healthcare, aviation, transportation, trucking, logistics, financial services, and gaming industries. He has also represented non-profit trade associations and governmental entities.

Spencer lectures frequently on California employment law topics. He has been recognized as one of California’s leading employment lawyers multiple times as a Super Lawyer by the publishers of San Diego Super Lawyers magazine, a recognition based on peer reviews and professional achievement limited to five percent of all California lawyers. Spencer has also received numerous peer review awards including his repeated selection as a “Top Attorney” in the labor and employment category in the San Diego Daily Transcript’s Top Attorneys publication.

Employment Law, Class Action, Higher Education, Litigation, Unfair Competition and Trade Secrets, Wage and Hour, California Class Action and PAGA
Hospitality, Trucking and Logistics
Learn more about Spencer C. Skeen

Spencer has served as lead defense counsel in significant California and nationwide class actions. Recent results include:

Spencer has also served as lead defense counsel in significant representative and/or PAGA actions. Recent results include:

Spencer was also the lead trial attorney in the following matters:

Education

Admittance to Practice

Professional Activities

  • San Diego County Bar Association (Former Co-Chair Employment Section)
  • Board Member, San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce
  • American Bar Association (Labor & Employment Section)
  • American Bar Association (Class Actions and Derivative Suits Committee)
  • Association of Business Trial Lawyers
  • State Bar of California (Employment Law Section)

Speeches

Insights by Spencer C. Skeen

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California Appellate Court Says Plaintiffs Can Enforce Paid Sick Leave Law Through PAGA

A California appellate court recently ruled that an employee may pursue claims under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) that her former employer violated the state’s mandatory paid sick leave law. On the February 24, 2023, the California Court of Appeal Fourth Appellate District in Wood v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals addressed language in the paid sick leave law that provides that “any person or entity enforcing this article on behalf of the public as provided for under applicable state law” is entitled “only to equitable, injunctive or restitutionary relief.”

Document with title "Arbitration Agreement."

Ninth Circuit Blocks California’s Ban on Mandatory Arbitration in Employment

On February 15, 2023, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a 2020 California law that attempted to prohibit employers from requiring employees and job applicants to agree to arbitration as a condition of employment. The Court’s 2-1 panel decision in Chamber of Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. Bonta resolved ambiguity regarding the enforceability of California Assembly Bill (AB) 51.

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Ninth Circuit Panel to Reconsider Decision Upholding California Mandatory Arbitration Ban

The panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that largely upheld California’s law banning mandatory arbitration agreements in the employment context just withdrew its decision. On August 22, 2022, two of the three judges on the panel decided to withdraw the panel’s prior opinion in Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. Bonta regarding Labor Code 432.6 which sought to prohibit mandatory arbitration as a condition of employment.

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Ninth Circuit Upholds Portions of California Law Prohibiting Use of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements

In a split 2-1 decision that likely raises more questions than it answers, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals cast some doubt upon the ability of employers to implement mandatory arbitration agreements with their employees. In Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. Bonta, the Ninth Circuit upheld portions of California Labor Code section 432.6, which prohibits employers from making arbitration agreements a condition of employment and imposes significant criminal and civil sanctions for violations. The Ninth Circuit’s decision holds that arbitration agreements signed by parties remain enforceable (even if they violate section 432.6), while parties who refused to sign an arbitration agreement may still seek a remedy against the employer under the statute.

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Ninth Circuit Upholds Federal Preemption of California’s Meal and Rest Break Laws for Interstate Commercial Drivers

In one of the year’s most anticipated court decisions for the trucking industry, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 2785, et al. v. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, No. 19-70413 (January 15, 2021), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) ruling that federal rest break regulations preempted California’s meal and rest break rules, as applied to drivers of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles.

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