professionals. “The case involves hundreds of professional wom- en at the top of their game,” says Dermody.
She also currently represents sever- al thousand foreign nationals sent to the United States by a unit of the biggest company in India, Tata Group. The complaint charges that the non-U.S. employees are required by the company to en- dorse and sign over their state and federal income tax refund checks to Tata. In addition, these em- ployees have not been paid their promised wages in violation of their contract.
In another one of her employment cases, in February 2011, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted preliminary approval of a class settlement of $12 million for current and former AT&T support workers. “We alleged these IT workers had been mis- classified as exempt from overtime,” she says.
Dermody became a lawyer because she wanted to do social justice work. “I wanted to make a positive differ- ence and I hope that I have,” she says.
In addition to employment matters, Dermody also handles consumer class actions, including a series of cases Dermody led on behalf of uninsured patients who alleged they were price gouged by California hospitals. The cases resulted in refunds and bill adjustments of more than $1 billion.
Since she began practicing in 1993, Dermody says the law that has made the most significant impact on her work is the U.S. Class Action Fairness Act of 2005. The act expanded federal jurisdiction to many class actions. “Federal courts are very busy,” she says. “The judges are overworked, so it’s very hard to get time with the judge for case management.” She added, “At
the same time, more and more state law–based class actions are being venued in federal court. It is a hard cycle for the federal system.”
And she is closely watching the recent U.S. Supreme Court de- cision issued in April 2011 that a company can require its cus- tomers or employees to arbitrate disputes individually rather than joining in a class action. “If this stands, some consumer class ac- tions may be dead,” says Der- mody. “We need a legislative fix. Corporations should not be given free rein to commit widespread fraud against consumers.”
In addition to her practice, Der- mody provides pro bono work for
a variety of nonprofits. She’s also been an active mem- ber of The Bar Association of San Francisco and is the president-elect of the association. “My involvement has helped me meet the senior leadership of the San Fran- cisco legal community,” she says. “I’ve also met people in my peer group who are leading law departments and firms, as well as judges and mediators. It’s hard for me to imagine finding one’s way as a legal professional in this community without BASF.”
David Lowe Rudy, Exelrod, Zieff & Lowe
A bad economy doesn’t necessarily mean more work for plaintiff employment lawyers.
“In fact, when times are bad, employees may be more reluctant to bring a claim because they are concerned about losing their jobs and finding a new one,” says David Lowe, of Rudy, Exelrod, Zieff & Lowe.
But that doesn’t mean the employees are having an easy time of it. “Claims for unpaid wages go up,” says Lowe.
40 FALL 2011
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