Labor Practice

McCracken, Stemerman & Holsberry represents local and international, public and private unions in organizing campaigns, collective bargaining, grievances and arbitrations, National Labor Relations Board proceedings, and state and federal court litigation.

MSH leads the way in developing new, innovative approaches to organizing. MSH helps our union clients build grassroots partnerships between workers, community leaders, environmental and consumer groups and the public to extend workers' collective power.

For decades, McCracken, Stemerman & Holsberry has represented labor-management employee benefit trust funds. These trust funds secure the retirement and health care benefits for thousands of union members and their families.

MSH advises benefit trust funds on drafting health and retirement plans, participant appeals, and compliance with the ever-changing ERISA and tax laws and regulations. MSH attorneys also litigate employee benefit fund cases in state and federal courts, protecting the trust funds' ability to provide benefits to their participants and beneficiaries.

McCracken, Stemerman & Holsberry represents plaintiffs in class action and derivative lawsuits. MSH has prosecuted a wide variety of class action cases, involving wage and hour, retiree benefits, unfair business practices, consumer rights, shareholder rights, antitrust abuses and employment discrimination on the basis of race and sex. MSH's goal is to increase the standards of corporate accountability and the power of workers, consumers and shareholders.

McCracken, Stemerman & Holsberry is proud of its appellate practice. MSH's lawyers, many of whom served as judicial clerks, have won dozens of important appellate cases in the areas of constitutional, labor, employment and employee benefits laws, in the U.S. Supreme Court, most federal circuit courts and the highest courts of many states.

A list of significant cases can be viewed here.

McCracken, Stemerman & Holsberry prosecutes individual and class employment discrimination cases in both state and federal courts.

  • Davis Cowell & Bowe, with co-counsel, represented women employees of Wal-Mart in the largest gender discrimination class action ever certified—Dukes v. Wal-Mart. To learn more about the Wal-Mart case, brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, go to www.walmartclass.com. We continue to fight for the rights of these workers.
  • Davis Cowell & Bowe, with co-counsel, represented female managers of Costco in a nationwide Title VII class action case alleging gender discrimination. The class was certified and settlement has been approved. To learn about the Costco class action, go to www.genderclassactionagainstcostco.com.
  • Davis Cowell & Bowe, with co-counsel, brought a Title VII class action on behalf of Hispanic grocery store workers who alleged racial and national origin discrimination in pay. To learn more about this case, go to www.foodcityequalpay.com.

MSH has brought, or litigated with co-counsel, many other discrimination cases based not only on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but also on the anti-discrimination laws of California and other states.

MSH works to enforce civil rights laws to protect people from governmental interference with their federal rights, including their First Amendment rights of speech and free assembly.

McCracken, Stemerman & Holsberry represents plaintiffs who seek to expose and correct corporate abuse of government programs. These plaintiffs, known as whistleblowers or "relators" bring false claims act or qui tam cases. This specialized area of law rewards whistleblowers for uncovering fraud against federal or state governments. The whistleblowers sue to collect the overcharge for the government and are entitled to share in the recovery.