A founding partner of Dunn DeSantis Walt & Kendrick, Beth Dunn brings over 30 years of experience as a seasoned counselor and litigator to the firm’s individual and business clients. Beth’s practice focuses on complex business litigation with an emphasis on employment litigation, advisement, and risk management. She regularly handles a wide range of business and employment matters including the defense and prosecution of single plaintiff and class action wage and hour and consumer claims, as well as disputes involving fraud, contract, wrongful termination, trade secret theft, unfair business practices, whistle blower, union labor matters, discrimination, harassment and related claims. She has extensive experience representing clients in state and federal court and in proceedings before various federal administrative agencies and state agencies throughout the country.

Beth regularly counsels clients of all sizes who do business in California concerning compliance with federal and California’s ever-evolving – and often inconsistent – labor laws and regulations. Her experience encompasses handling issues specific to both private and public entities including the interpretation and application of governing statutes and regulations related to public agencies, the handling of pre-litigation and litigation matters, and the development of risk management strategies and solutions.

Beth’s clients include non-profit organizations as well as individuals and businesses in the sports, real estate, manufacturing, healthcare, education, technology, communication, law enforcement, hospitality, financial, building, transportation, and professional service industries.

Also committed to community service outside of the legal profession, Beth has furthered her passion for sports and her belief that sports can positively impact today’s youth by her long standing service as an officer and outside general counsel for the former San Diego Hall of Champions and the San Diego Sports Association. She also volunteers her time to promote San Diego as a venue for wide-scale sporting events such as the U.S. Open, Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, The Federation Cup, The Breeders Cup, and various adult and youth tournaments.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

Business Advisement & Risk Management

• Provision of strategic counsel concerning retention, transition, and separation of employees in connection with business acquisitions, sales, mergers, and dissolutions.
• Negotiation and drafting of client agreements concerning executive compensation, employee benefits, employee separation, risk waivers, arbitration, proprietary information and inventions, work from home and other business protection documents.
• Provision of management and employee training regarding equal employment opportunity issues, internal investigations, leadership methods, responding to complaints, the impact of social media in the workplace, performance documentation, and related topics.
• Development of risk management strategies for start-up and mature businesses concerning various employee and workplace matters.
• Management of risks related to new and changing laws and guidance in response to COVID-19 and implementation of best business practices related to partial or full shutdowns, obligations to employees and customers, safe reopening plans, and related claims handling.

Employment Litigation

• Defended a national long-term healthcare provider against claims brought by a former employee arising out of her termination after she allegedly complained of and testified about numerous health and safety violations. The claims included wrongful termination in violation of public policy (whistle blowing), breach of implied employment contract, violations of multiple labor laws and defamation. Obtained a defense verdict in favor of client after a six-week jury trial in state court.
• Defended a public entity and its police department in an action brought by four female police officers alleging pervasive gender discrimination, sexual harassment, failure to prevent harassment and retaliation brought in state court. Successfully filed and argued a Motion for Summary Judgment brought as to every cause of action by each plaintiff; judgment was entered in favor of client on all claims shortly before trial.
• Defended a national medical billing company in a class action and Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) matter alleging multiple California wage and hour violations and violation of Labor Code section 2802 regarding voluntary work from home expense reimbursement. Successfully negotiated with the client’s carrier to participate in the defense of the claims and resolved the matter before class certification.
• Litigated binding union-initiated arbitrations and prevailed in separate matters in which union alleged collective bargaining agreement violations and sought to overturn client’s decisions to terminate employees.
• Represented the former Athletic Director of a Division I university asserting claims for wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, failure to accommodate and breach of contract. Matter settled in advance of trial.
• Retained to provide ongoing representation to clients to defend and prosecute employment-related claims including discrimination, whistle blower, harassment, retaliation, failure to accommodate, wrongful termination, wage and hour issues, and other employment claims.

Dunn DeSantis Walt & Kendrick LLP

Every day the attorneys at Dunn DeSantis Walt & Kendrick provide savvy, efficient, and custom-tailored legal solutions to professionals and businesses across a wide spectrum of commercial practice areas designed to meet the varied needs of the firm’s clients.

Clients of the firm are treated differently than they would be treated by the firm’s larger and more inflexible competitors. That’s because every aspect of the firm’s approach is intentionally different than the traditional “big firm” approach, starting with a focus on teamwork and collaboration.

The team at Dunn DeSantis Walt & Kendrick believes strongly that positive results are best achieved through communication with the clients they serve. Every business is different, and every business’s legal needs are unique. The firm works closely with its clients to identify what a “win” is for them and then together a strategy is designed to achieve victory.  The firm recognizes that optimal results can be found inside and outside of the courtroom or the boardroom, and it employs innovative, pioneering strategies to get its clients across the finish line.

Working together with clients in small teams breeds confidence that the big picture and the sensitive details are all handled with purposeful consideration. At Dunn DeSantis Walt & Kendrick, clients don’t wonder what their attorneys are doing – because the dialogue is always open. Clients aren’t surprised by their attorneys – because they are involved every step of the way, including open discussion about costs and expectations.

The attorneys at Dunn DeSantis Walt & Kendrick highly respect their clients. They go the extra mile for them. And it’s their pleasure and passion to do so. Their reward is a diverse family of longstanding clients who recognize their commitment and appreciate the results they deliver. At Dunn DeSantis Walt & Kendrick, they believe that those longstanding relationships are the most valuable aspect of their practice.  They are committed to being there for their clients, and they will be there for you, too.