Scott J. Witlin

Scott J. Witlin is a partner and the administrator of the Labor & Employment Department in the firm's Los Angeles office. He is Co-Chair of the firm's Wage and Hour Practice Group and a member of the firm's Entertainment, Media and Sports Practice Group.

Scott assists companies in dealing with the challenges of employing workers in California and throughout the U.S. Scott's practice includes both traditional labor and employment law matters, including wage and hour class actions, arbitration, collective bargaining negotiations, compliance with various guild and union agreements, and union organizing campaigns. He represents clients in the entertainment, broadcasting, video game, hospitality, manufacturing, retail, consumer and industrial products, and transportation industries.

Scott's diverse work includes:

• Serving as lead counsel in the landmark case Doe v. Deasy that required the Los Angeles Unified School District to reform its teacher evaluation system to include measures of student progress

• Representing of a major television network in connection with a defensive lockout of its technical employees following a 'quickie strike,' including defense of unfair labor practice charges and prosecution of state court injunction litigation Serving as lead negotiator on behalf of four acute care hospitals in their joint negotiation with the SEIU-UHW
• Serving as chief negotiator on behalf of a group of leading videogame companies in their negotiations over the Interactive Media Agreement with the SAG-AFTRA Obtaining a reversal by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals of a National Labor Relations Board decision holding that the discharge of a striker violated the National Labor Relations Act

• Defending a major entertainment company in a high profile sexual harassment case brought against one of its star performers Obtaining withdrawal of a grievance challenging the dismissal of a 20-year employee following cross-examination of the claimant
• Defeating a union organizing campaign for a broadcaster involving a unit of 100 employees (including formulation of campaign strategy and tactics and litigation of an NLRB representation hearing) Defeating a union organizing campaign for an animation company including a determination from the NLRB that all of the freelance workers were independent contractors and lacked a community of interest with the staff employees