MEDIATION

As a mediator, Mr. Zappia has the experience, reputation, persuasiveness, and patience to work with all parties, attorneys, clients, and carriers and accurately assess and resolve employment, labor, and business disputes at mediation without the expense, disruption, risk, and uncertainty of trial. Mr. Zappia's experience underlying his mediation skills includes: EXPERIENCE Ed has over 30 years in the trenches representing hundreds of both private and public sector employers, and plaintiffs, in a wide variety of employment, labor, and business litigation & disputes in trial courts, courts of appeal, PERB, NLRB, EEOC, DFEH, private arbitrations and hearings, collective bargaining and workplace investigations, with many high-profile victories on both sides. He has the experience and insight to properly evaluate cases, attorneys, carriers, clients, witnesses, and evidence before a jury or arbitrator, as well as the temperament, persuasiveness, and patience necessary to collaborate with both employers and plaintiffs to resolve cases. Ed has been lead counsel on PAGA claims; wage/hour class and collective actions across the country; harassment, discrimination, retaliation, breach of contract, & wrongful termination litigation, trials, arbitrations and mediations; in addition to business disputes, employer-union disputes, police & public employee procedural and substantive due process litigation and writ petitions; in state and federal courts, before the NLRB and PERB, and before hundreds of arbitrators, hearing officers, and mediators. - Before founding his own law firm nearly 20 years ago, Ed was the youngest equity partner and Director of Public Sector Litigation at the national labor & employment law firm Jackson Lewis from 2001-2008. He rose to that position after litigating for years for Linda Miller Savitt, and at Liebert Cassidy. Since 2008, THE ZAPPIA LAW FIRM has represented both employers and plaintiffs to many successful verdicts, settlements, and decisions on both sides of employment, labor, and wage/hour cases. As the founder of a successful law firm, Ed has experience collaborating with clients, carriers, courts, mediators, opposing counsel, and personally overseeing and evaluating thousands of matters, many addressing issues of statewide significance. HEARING OFFICER AND EXPERT Mr. Zappia has been retained as a private hearing officer over employee discipline appeals and as an expert in employment claims and workplace investigations, and testified as such at trial, arbitrations, and administrative hearings. He is also a frequent presenter at legal and HR seminars before legal counsel and human resources professionals on a variety of topics including, “Overseeing Outside Counsel in Employment Litigation,” “Employment Case Law Updates,” “Wage/Hour and PAGA Claims and Updates,” “Conducting Legally Complaint Workplace Investigations,” “Collective Bargaining Strategies and Pitfalls,” and many other complex and cutting edge issues in employment and wage/hour disputes. PUBLISHED OPINIONS AND APPEALS Ed was lead appellate counsel on over fifty labor and employment law appeals in both state and federal courts over the last 30 years: Riverside County v PERB, SEIU – Lead appellate counsel in case of statewide significance clarifying the scope and application of PERB’s factfinding disputes after impasse under the MMBA. (RSC No. RIC 1305661, Appeal No. E060047) Riverside Sheriffs Association (Fauth) v. County of Riverside (2015) 173 Cal.App.4th 1410: After 7 years in 3 related cases, ZLF secured an employment victory for our client County of Riverside (larger than many states). The Court of Appeal affirmed an arbitrator's award finding that the County had good cause to terminate a peace officer for mental unfitness for duty. (CA Ct. App., 4th Dist., Div. 2, Appeal No. E057647; Riverside County Superior Court Case. No. RIC1116174) SEIU v City of Santa Barbara (1997) 57 Cal.App.4th 656: In a published opinion, Mr. Zappia won a significant victory for the City of Santa Barbara when the Appellate Court affirmed employees’ right to call a second election to rescind a recent vote in favor of agency shop mandatory dues even for non-union members. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING Mr. Zappia has substantial experience negotiating collective bargaining agreements for both public and private sector employers, bargaining with units ranging from 30 to over 7000 employees, on CBAs/MOUs valued from millions to literally billions, and reaching agreement with employers and employee unions in these multi-faceted complicated negotiations, often after other lead negotiators failed. DEFENSE CASES (SMALL SAMPLE OF REPRESENTATIVE CASES) Robert Chavez v City of Los Angeles. In a highly publicized case, Ed obtained a defense verdict before a Los Angeles County jury against a police officer’s allegations of retaliation and medical condition discrimination after reporting alleged police abuse, improper use of force, and other police misconduct. (LASC, Case No. BC311285) Defensing an employment retaliation case before a Los Angeles jury is a notable accomplishment. Candle Edmundson McDonald v County of Riverside (Sheriff Dept). ZLF won the County a defense verdict after trial against a Deputy Sheriff's claims of retaliation, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, failure to engage and accommodate disability after she took a pregnancy leave and was then denied a disability retirement. (RCSC Case No. RIC 10000816) Leroy Thomas v City of Irvine: After a full trial, the jury returned a defense verdict in favor of Defendants City of Irvine and a Police Commander against claims of race discrimination and retaliation brought by an African American Officer who was released from probation for insubordination and incompetence. (Orange County Superior Court Case No. 00CC02583) PLAINTIFF CASES Ryan Patch v Jackson Tidus Law Firm, ZLF won an Orange County jury verdict of several million dollars for a law firm partner’s breach of contract claims for unpaid bonuses owed. Our office filed a post-trial $2.5 million attorney’s fees motion as the prevailing party, and the case settled quickly thereafter on confidential terms. (OCSC Case No. 30-2014-00715089; CA Ct. App. Dist. 4, Div. 3, Appeal No. G057193) Erica Ingham v. Club One: Our client personal trainer with a salary of $35,000 per year and an excellent employment record was terminated after she reported unlawful pay practices. After ZLF secured an emergency appellate writ on the eve of trial reinstating a retaliation claim that had been wrongly dismissed, the case settled on confidential terms for one of the highest single plaintiff retaliation settlements that year. (SFSC No. CGC 12-520205) SETTLEMENTS As most cases never reach trial, Ed has negotiated hundreds of settlements privately, pre-litigation, or at mediation in PAGA cases, 8-figure wage/hour class and collective actions, as well as harassment, retaliation, discrimination, and other related employer-employee disputes. Mr. Zappia always respects the confidentiality of settlements, but his clients have included City of Los Angeles, LAPD, LAFD, County of Riverside, County of Ventura, County of Santa Barbara, City of Anaheim, BE Aerospace, and KLX Energy, numerous medical corporations and practices and entertainment and record companies. WORKPLACE INVESTIGATIONS Having conducted over seventy workplace investigations, Ed has extensive experience interviewing complainants, accused, and witnesses on all sides; assessing credibility and evidence; and presenting case findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Mr. Zappia is acclaimed as exceptionally fair-minded, thorough, and insightful. The fact that his investigative findings are approximately 50/50 in favor of both employer and employees evidence his commitment to neutrality.