Travis J. Anderson

Travis Anderson is special counsel in the Labor and Employment and Business Trial Practice Groups in the firm's San Diego (Del Mar) office.

Areas of Practice

Travis handles complex business, trade secret and employment disputes. He has litigated numerous high-stakes matters from inception through trial and arbitration for businesses, business owners, employers, executives and retailers.

Employment Practice: Travis defends employers in civil actions involving various types of employment-related claims, including wrongful termination, whistle-blower actions, discrimination, harassment, pay stub claims, wage and hour claims, PAGA claims and contract actions. He also prosecutes workplace violence restraining orders on behalf of employers and their employees, along with counseling and advising clients on these issues. Travis has served as a reporter on employment discrimination cases for Bender's California Labor & Employment Bulletin.

Trade Secrets and Employee-Mobility Practice: Travis prosecutes and defends actions involving trade secret claims, unfair competition and enforcement of restrictive covenants and non-competes. He advises clients on employee-mobility issues and how to protect sensitive and valuable information.

Business Trial Practice: Travis represents clients in a variety of commercial disputes, including fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, tortious interference with contract, RICO, defamation, unfair competition and corporate deadlock and dissolution proceedings.

Experience

Representative Litigation Matters

• Prevailed in two-week jury trial for breach of contract for complex services, recovering over $3 million. Lead trial counsel.
• Prevailed in nine-day arbitration, recovering over $4.5 million on fraud and breach of contract claims, and defeating all counterclaims, in complex headphone development and manufacturing case. Lead counsel.
• Prevailed in federal jury trial for large retailer, defeating all claims brought by former employee for failure to accommodate, failure to engage in the interactive process, and wage and hour violations. Lead trial counsel.

• After a three week arbitration, obtained complete victory for two high-level private equity executives, with his clients receiving over $15 million for claims relating to earn-out pay and severance pay to high-level private equity executives, while completely defensing complex claims of fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and misappropriation of trade secrets seeking over $100 million.
• Obtained temporary restraining order, followed by a preliminary injunction, preventing client’s former employee and industry rival from misusing trade secrets, and mandating the return of client’s information and materials.
• Defended satellite and telecommunications company and majority investor against complex claims brought by former executives and shareholders alleging RICO, retaliation for whistleblowing and breach of shareholder agreement.
• Defended and secured favorable settlement for companies and majority owner and manager in claims brought by minority owner for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract.
• Defended large retail employer in discrimination and retaliation lawsuit; obtained discovery sanctions against plaintiff resulting in walkaway settlement.
• Obtained nearly $8 million in settlement for a plaintiff business in a misappropriation of trade secrets case.
• Obtained over $5 million in settlement for company against former executive for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and conversion of funds.
• Obtained terminating sanctions and default judgment against a defendant in a defamation case for destroying evidence.
• Obtained summary judgment and dismissal of high-profile whistleblower and wrongful termination case on behalf of employer.
• Obtained terminating sanctions and monetary sanctions of over $130,000 against the plaintiff in a wrongful termination case, where plaintiff found to have engaged in theft and misuse of employer documents.
• Obtained a settlement of over $16 million for client in a complex business dispute between two public utilities.
• Obtained over a dozen restraining orders to protect employers and their employees against workplace violence and civil harassment.

Honors

Top Labor & Employment Lawyers, Daily Journal, 2024

San Diego Rising Star, Super Lawyers, 2016-2019

Recommended Attorney - Labor and Employment , The Legal 500, 2019

Articles

• "Trade Secret Suits Remind Businesses to Consistently Safeguard Confidential Information," Daily Journal, March 30, 2020
• "Don’t Let Trade Secrets Walk Out the Door with Departing Employees," Daily Journal, April 11, 2018
• "Consumer Arbitration Agreement Found Unconscionable As Case Law Develops Post Concepcion," 18 Association of Business Trial Lawyers Report, San Diego, Winter 2011  
• "In Brown v. Ralphs Grocery Co., California Court of Appeal Strikes Back on the Enforceability of Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements," 18 Association of Business Trial Lawyers Report, San Diego, Fall 2011

Class Action Defense Strategy Law Blog Posts

• "Class Action Waivers Are Enforceable Despite Any State Statutory Right To A Class Action," January 18, 2013
• "Another California Court of Appeal Rules That Concepcion Discredits Gentry's Rule Invalidating Most Class Action Waivers In Arbitration Provisions," August 17, 2012
• "Federal Law Preempts State Law Barring Arbitration Of Claims For Public Injunction," March 23, 2012 
• "The California Court Of Appeal Disagrees With The U.S. Supreme Court On The Enforceability Of Arbitration Agreements," November 2, 2011
• "Ninth Circuit Rules That The National Bank Act Preempts California's Unfair Competition Law," April 6, 2010

Corporate & Securities Law Blog Posts

• "California Strengthens Non-Competition Law," November 6, 2023

Intellectual Property Law Blog Posts

• "Protecting Social Media Contact Lists as Trade Secrets," March 31, 2020

Labor and Employment Law Blog Posts

• "California Enacts New Law Mandating Paid Sick Leave for Employees," September 19, 2014
• "In the wake of the California Supreme Court's Harris Decision, A FEHA Claimant Must Show Discrimination was a "Substantial Motivating Factor" and An Employer Waives its Mixed-Motive Defense by Failing to Assert It in Its Answer," September 10, 2013
• "In A 2-to-1 Split Decision, The California Court Of Appeal Parses The Language Of An Agreement And Denies Arbitration Of California Labor Code Claims," October 19, 2012
• "California Court of Appeal Holds Defendant Did Not Waive Its Right To Compel Arbitration By Waiting Until After Class Certification Where Other Class Members--But Not Plaintiff--Had Agreed To Arbitrate," December 20, 2011
• "Ninth Circuit Affirms That Employees Who Work Outside California Cannot Use the California Unfair Competition Law to Vindicate Their Federal Overtime Rights," December 15, 2011
• "Ninth Circuit Holds that an Employer Need Not Reasonably Accommodate an Employee Who Does Not Meet the Job's Minimum Requirements," December 13, 2011
• "California Court of Appeal Holds that Courts Must Consider "All Relevant Evidence," Including Hearsay, in Deciding Whether to Issue Injunctions to Prevent Workplace Violence," December 13, 2011
• "Ninth Circuit Rules That An Employee Who Quits Because The Business Is Closing Has Not "Voluntarily Departed" Under the WARN Act," January 26, 2011
• "California Court of Appeal Holds "No Overtime" for UPS Supervisor," December 15, 2010
• "DLSE Issues Opinion Permitting Employer Deductions of Vacation and/or Sick Leave for Absences of Less than Four Hours," December 1, 2009

Trade Secrets Law Blog Posts

• "President’s Executive Order Aims to Foster a Competitive Marketplace," July 30, 2021

• "California Court Strikes Down Overbroad Confidentiality Agreement as a de facto Non-Compete," January 5, 2021

• "Trade Secrets and Conflicting Forum Selection Provisions – Focus on the Facts!," July 7, 2020

Books

Speaking Engagements

• Presenter, "Restrictive Covenants in NY & CA – A Comparative Analysis," Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY, April 2021
• Presenter, "Employees’ Social Media Contacts Considered as Company Trade Secrets? – What Attorneys Need to Know," San Diego, CA, April 2020
• Presenter, "Data Preservation, Destruction, and Its Consequences," San Diego, CA, November, 2016
• Presenter, "Data Destruction and Its Consequences," San Diego, CA, August, 2015
• Presenter, "Terminating Sanctions," San Diego, CA, May, 2014

Memberships

San Diego Rotary Club (No. 33)