Overview
Raymond Bertrand is Chair of the San Diego Office and San Diego Employment Law Department.
Mr. Bertrand is one of the nation’s premier litigators. A skilled trial attorney with more than 20 defense verdicts, he has represented numerous Fortune 500 companies in their most challenging, high-profile employment cases. Mr. Bertrand is equally adept at helping his clients navigate the court of public opinion, helping protect their interests and reputations by working closely with media and communications professionals.
An innovative, out-of-the-box thinker, and unrelenting advocate, Mr. Bertrand has pioneered several successful strategies to dismantle even the strongest cases. A veteran in the field of complex, wage-and-hour litigation, Mr. Bertrand is the catalyst behind several published decisions concerning issues of first impression that benefitted not only his clients, but also tens of thousands of other employers.
Outside the courtroom, Mr. Bertrand helps his clients design, and minimize the legal risks within, their employment and pay systems; and conduct internal corporate investigations. He frequently speaks and writes on matters of importance to employers and is the editor of Matthew Bender’s California Employers’ Guide to Employee Handbooks and Personnel Policy Manuals.
Before joining Paul Hastings, Mr. Bertrand proudly served for five years in the United States Navy, Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
Recognitions
- Named in The Best Lawyers in America
Representations
REPRESENTATIONS
Representative Wage-Hour Class Actions
Financial Services Firm: In a landmark victory for the financial services industry, defeated conditional certification and subsequently obtained summary judgment against three named plaintiffs in a "bet-the-company" action challenging the decision to classify more than 7,000 financial advisors as independent contractors.
Insurance Company: Prevailed on motion for summary judgment against named plaintiff in putative class/PAGA action exempt status misclassification lawsuit.
Satellite TV Provider: Implemented individual settlement program in class/PAGA action challenging independent contractor classification of satellite installation technicians. Eliminated hundreds of millions of dollars in exposure and successfully opposed plaintiffs’ attempt to invalidate the releases.
Telecommunications Company: Successfully defended multi-billion-dollar public company against a series of wage-hour class/PAGA actions. Successfully defended multiple motions to intervene and challenges to the settlement.
Successful defense of numerous class/PAGA actions alleging exempt status misclassification, off-the-clock work, meal and rest period violations, noncompliant wage statements, failure to pay wages, and various other wage-hour claims.
Representative Experience in Wage-Hour Class Action Appellate Matters
Velis v. AT&T Services: Persuaded the trial court and a unanimous Second Appellate District that California employers may provide employees with wage statements that split overtime pay into its component base and premium parts.
Meza v. Pacific Bell Telephone Company: Convinced appellate court California employers need not include “rate” and “hours” information associated with overtime true-up payments on employees’ wage statements.
Representative Experience in Constitutional Matters
First Amendment (Speech): Defended media company’s right to make casting decision to remove on-air talent following talent’s controversial remarks.
First Amendment (Speech): Defended media company’s right to enforce COVID vaccination requirements to preserve the quality of its broadcasts.
Article 1, Section 10 (Contracts Clause): Represented hotel industry in opposing City of San Diego’s municipal COVID wage ordinance that infringed on collective bargaining and severance agreements.
First Amendment (Free Exercise and Establishment Clause): Complete dismissal of DLSE’s $200,000 penalty citation and accompanying stop-work order issued against religious organization.
Other Representative Matters
Trials: Secured defense verdicts for numerous clients including General Electric, Prudential Realty and Sempra Energy Trading.
Mass Disability Discrimination Litigation: Successfully defended call center operator from over forty individual disability and leave lawsuits.
Whistleblower Litigation: Defeated claims brought against pharmaceutical company under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act. Decision affirmed by Ninth Circuit.
Privacy/Data Breach: Represented Fortune 100 Company in a series of threatened actions involving the unauthorized disclosure of private information.
Federal and State Department of Labor Investigations: Represented various companies in USDOL, DLSE, EDD and other agency investigations on a rage of wage-hour issues.
Business and Strategic Advice: Advise a broad array of companies on their employment practices and help build employment and pay systems in a way designed to minimize legal risk. Illustrative examples include: (i) providing strategic guidance and compliance advice in connection with conversion of 5,000 workers from independent contractor to employee status; (ii) conducting dozens of federal and multi-state wage and hour compliance reviews for employers across various industries; and (iii) preparation of 300 separate incentive compensation templates for national insurance company.
Engagement & Publications
- Editor-in-Chief of Matthew Bender’s California Labor & Employment Law Bulletin
- Editor-in-Chief of Matthew Bender’s California Employers’ Guide to Employee Handbooks and Personnel Policy Manuals
- Hot-Button Provisions in Employee Agreements and Workplace Policies. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Brit K. Seifert, Cassidy R. Bolt, Geneva Cazares (May 2022)
- Non-Compete Agreements: The Tight Grip in California and the Tightening Grip Nationwide. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (Mar. 2021)
- 5 Key Terms to Include in Remote Employee Work-From-Home Agreements. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (Oct. 2020)
- The New FLSA Joint Employer Regulations. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (Apr. 2020)
- One Year In: Grappling With Dynamex’s Requirement That Independent Contractors "Perform Work Outside the Usual Course of the Hiring Entity’s Business" - Understanding Part B of the "ABC Test." Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert, James P. de Haan (May 2019)
- Minimum Wage and Overtime for "Independent Contractors"? The California Supreme Court’s Dynamex Decision Installs a New "ABC" Test for Determining if a Worker Can Qualify as an Independent Contractor for Purposes of IWC Wage Orders. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Law Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (May 2018)
- California’s New Parent Leave Act: What Employers are Covered and What Handbook Policy Changes are Warranted? Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (Dec. 2017)
- Emerging Issues in Employment Law. 60-minute live, online presentation to American Corporate Counsel Association. Presenter: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jun. 2017)
- Screening Your Employment Application: Out With the Old? (Old Questions, That Is). Bender’s California Labor & Employment Law Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert, James P. de Haan (Jun. 2017)
- California Supreme Court Replaces Tests for Determining Independent Contractor Status. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jun. 2017)
- Preparing for Dynamex: California Supreme Court Set to Decide Legal Standard for Determining Independent Contractor Status. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jun. 2017)
- Drafting Independent Contractor Agreements. 60-minute live, online presentation, hosted by Webcredenza. Presenter: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jun. 2017)
- Under New Law, California’s Agricultural Workers Now Entitled to the Same Overtime Pay, Meal Period, Day of Rest, and Other Wage and Hour Protections as Other Non-Exempt Workers. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (Oct. 2016)
- Government Creep Into Private Employer Policies. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (May 2016)
- A Critical Review of the U.S. Labor Department Wage and Hour Division Administrator’s Interpretation (No. 2015-1) on Misclassification of Independent Contractors Under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jan. 2016)
- A Critical Review of the U.S. Labor Department Wage and Hour Division Administrator’s Interpretation (No. 2015-1) on Misclassification of Independent Contractors Under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jan. 2016)
- "Joint Employers" Under the Amended California Family Rights Act Regulations Effective July 1, 2015: How Do FMLA Standards Fit In? Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (May 2015)
- An Employee By Any Other Name . . . Is Still An Employee. Guidance on California’s Common Law Test for Determining Employee Status. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (Jan. 2015)
- An Employee By Any Other Name . . . Is Still An Employee. Guidance on California’s Common Law Test for Determining Employee Status, Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jan. 2015)
- Navigating California’s Wage-and-Hour Laws Calls for Planning, Precision. Bloomberg BNA Daily Labor Report. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Blake R. Bertagna (Dec. 2014)
- Navigating California’s Wage-and-Hour Law Calls for Planning and Precision, Daily Labor Report. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Nov. 2014)
- President Obama’s Directive That the Labor Department "Update" and "Modernize" the FLSA Overtime Exemptions: What does it Mean? Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jul. 2014)
- Best Practices in Outsourcing Agreements, Bender’s Labor & Employment Bulletin. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Feb. 2014)
- Best Practices in Drafting Independent Contractor Agreements, Bender’s Labor & Employment Bulletin. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Aug. 2013)
- MCLE, Survey of Connecticut Employment Libel Law. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Sept. 2012)
- Employee or Independent Contractor: How to Preserve Independent Contractor Status in an Increasingly Hostile Environment. Docket (publication of Association of Corporate Counsel). Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert Apr. 2011)
- Workplace Restructurings: Avoiding Costly Wage and Hour Mistakes. Bloomberg Labor & Employment Report. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Brit K. Seifert (Mar. 2009)
- Family Leave Rules Affect Military Personnel: Employers Must Also Step Up Efforts to Publicize FMLA Benefits. Connecticut Law Tribune. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Jan. 2009)
- U.S. Department of Labor Issues New FMLA Regulations Effective January 16, 2009. Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Dec. 2008)
- U.S. Department of Labor Issues Final Regulations on Family and Medical Leave. Paul Hastings Client Alert. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Maria A. Audero, James P. Carter, Julie D. Schisler (Nov. 2008)
- New Leave Rules Provide Guidance for Military Families. Daily Journal Newswire Articles. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Nov. 2008)
- Survey of Connecticut Employment Libel Law.. Authors: Carla R. Walworth, Raymond W. Bertrand, Christopher Reilly (Nov. 2008)
- Employment Class Actions Plague Pharmaceutical Industry. Pharmaceutical Law Insight. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Barbara L. Johnson, Carla R. Walworth (Aug. 2008)
- Callifornia Court of Appeal Clarifies State Meal and Rest Period Requirements in Brinker Restaurant Corporation. Paul Hastings Client Alert. Authors: Raymond W. Bertrand, Maureen E. O'Neill (Jul. 2008)
- What Certifications are Required for the New Types of Leave? ABA Committee News. Author: Raymond W. Bertrand (Apr. 2008)
Involvement
- San Diego County Bar Association
- Lieutenant, United States Navy, Judge Advocate General’s Corps (1995-2000)
- Member of the California, New York, and Connecticut Bar Associations