Rachel Patta Howard

Rachel Patta Howard is an associate in the Labor and Employment Practice Group in the firm's Century City office.

Areas of Practice

Rachel’s practice focuses on representing employers in all aspects of labor and employment litigation in defense of complaints for class action and single-plaintiff matters in both court and arbitration. She has successfully litigated and favorably resolved cases involving allegations of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, failure to accommodate, wrongful termination, trade secret misappropriation, and defamation, as well as wage and hour cases, including representative and class actions. She has experience with all aspects of civil litigation defense from case inception through trial. Specifically, in 2017, Rachel obtained a complete defense jury verdict in a single plaintiff lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, involving allegations of discrimination, whistleblower retaliation, and wrongful termination. She has also obtained summary judgment for her clients in both state and federal courts, and has successfully defeated motions for class certification relating to wage and hour claims. Rachel also has experience representing employers before administrative agencies, and responding to complaints filed with those agencies alleging violations of federal and state employment laws.

Additionally, Rachel advises and counsels clients on day-to-day employment issues including internal investigations, discipline and terminations, leaves of absence, the interactive process, reasonable accommodations, personnel policies, and other wage and hour compliance issues.  She also has experience drafting employment agreements, severance agreements and employment policies, including employee handbooks.

Rachel has experience representing employers in a variety of industries including financial services, banking, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and entertainment.

Articles

Labor and Employment Law Blog Posts

• "California Employers Must Provide Additional Paid Sick Leave in 2024," October 13, 2023
• "California Will Now Require Employers to Disclose Pay Ranges in Job Postings and Report Certain Data in an Effort to Combat Pay Disparity," October 5, 2022
• "California Places More COVID-19 Related Restrictions on Businesses and Employers," July 6, 2020
• "California Supreme Court Confirms Validity Of Meal Period Waivers For Healthcare Employees," December 12, 2018 
• "California Legislature Introduces Bill That Could Result In Massive Penalties For Employers For Late Payment of Wages," April 30, 2018 
• "New OSHA Requirements for Employee Involvement and Employer Recordkeeping Take Effect Over the Next Two Months," November 14, 2016

• "Higher Pay and More Sick Leave Coming to Santa Monica Employees," March 17, 2016

Healthcare Law Blog Posts

• "Healthcare Industry Companies Must Be Wary of Classifying Any Workers As Independent Contractors, In Light of the California Supreme Court’s Dynamex Ruling," May 18, 2018