Douglas R. Hart

Doug has a successful track record defending some of the largest class action lawsuits filed against employers both in California and nationally, with several of the cases being dismissed outright.

Doug is at the forefront of labor and employment issues, frequently assisting employers with strategies concerning labor-management relations and actively negotiating complex collective bargaining agreements. He has negotiated several groundbreaking contracts that serve as models for their respective industries.

Doug also counsels employers on personnel policies and procedures, employee discipline matters, corporate restructuring and reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, executive compensation, and employment contracts.

Before joining Morgan Lewis, Doug was a partner in the labor, employment, and immigration practice of another global law firm, resident in Los Angeles.

Class Actions

• Argued Harris v. Liberty Mutual before the California Supreme Court. In a unanimous decision, the court sided with Doug and employers in what is one of the most significant employment cases addressed by the California Supreme Court.
• Prevailed in a precedent setting wage and hour case, Parth v. Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal. This significant decision addressed a complex issue concerning the calculation of overtime and affects all employers and employers in the healthcare industry in particular.
• Prevailed in defeating class certification in another precedent setting case before the California Court of Appeal in Flores v. Lamps Plus, a decision favorable for employers in its discussion of the elements necessary to certify a wage and hour class action.
• Successfully defended the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in the largest employment discrimination class action in the county’s history, and was named Attorney of the Year by the department for his efforts.

Collective Bargaining

• Negotiated the collective bargaining agreement between Memorial Health Services and the California Nurses Association for the largest single facility bargaining unit in the Western United States.
• Negotiated a number of collective bargaining agreements between the Providence Health Care System and the Service and Employees International Union and the California Nurses Association, and the National Union of Healthcare Workers.