Employment Rights
Ms. Hoq represents workers in all aspects of employment law, including anti-discrimination, wage and hour, health and safety, and whistleblower claims. She represents workers on an individual basis, as well as in class actions in state and federal court, and in administrative and arbitration proceedings. The following is a representative sample of her work in this practice area.
Bragg v. Pacific Maritime Association
Los Angeles Superior Court
Case No. 19STCV35714
Pending
Ms. Hoq is litigating a pregnancy discrimination class action on behalf of female “casual” longshore workers at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The case is challenging the policies and practices of an employer group and a union for their failure to provide reasonable accommodation for pregnancy, maternity and lactation needs. The defendants’ policies and practices have resulted in women being denied pay increases and promotions to lucrative union membership status on par with non-pregnant longshore workers. Ms. Hoq is consulting counsel with the ACLU National Womens’ Rights Project, together with the ACLU of Southern California, Alexander, Morrison & Fehr, and Feigen Law Group.
Press: ACLU files discrimination suit on behalf of pregnant dockworkers
Alabado, et al. v. French Concepts, Inc.
U.S. District Court, Central District of California
Case No. 2:15-cv-02830
Ms. Hoq was the lead attorney in a labor trafficking case on behalf of 11 Filipino bakery workers, who were brought to the U.S. under false pretenses through the E-2 visa program, which allows individuals seeking to invest in a business in the U.S. to also bring workers with special skills. Defendants, a wealthy couple from the Philippines, claimed the workers would be engaged as specialty bakers and supervisory employees, but subjected them to menial work, long hours for little pay, and demeaning and abusive treatment. When the trafficked workers challenged their situation, defendants threatened them with deportation and financial ruin including forcing them to pay back thousands of dollars in “debt” they claimed the workers’ owed for bringing them to the U.S. The case resulted in the defendants fleeing the country and returning to the Philippines, resulting in an over $15 million default judgment against them.
Press: Filipino bakery workers win $15.2-M case against employers, awarded T visas
Talavera v. QTS, Inc.
Los Angeles County Superior Court
Case No. BC501571
In re: QTS, Inc.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California
Case No. 2:14-bk-26361-NB
Ms. Hoq was class counsel on behalf of over 400 Korean and Latino port truck drivers in Los Angeles challenging rampant industry practice of misclassifying drivers as independent contractors, thereby subjecting them to wage theft. After unsuccessfully challenging the merits of the case, defendants — related port trucking companies — decided to file for bankruptcy rather than litigate the case on its merits. Plaintiffs were successful in challenging defendants’ bankruptcy filings falsely claiming poverty, which paved the way for a $5 million settlement.
EEOC/Abdon v. Delano Regional Medical Center
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
Case No. 1:10 cv 01492
Ms. Hoq led a team of lawyers who won a landmark nearly $1 million settlement in a language discrimination case against Delano Regional Medical Center, a hospital in California’s Central Valley. The case was brought on behalf of 69 Filipino American hospital employees who were subject to national origin discrimination and harassment when the hospital singled them out for enforcement of an unlawful English only policy in violation of federal and state law. The settlement was the largest settlement for a workplace language discrimination case in the West Coast and the largest settlement for a workplace language discrimination case in the Healthcare Industry in the United States.
Press: Filipino nurses win language discrimination settlement
Hoang v. Gdlele Corp.
Orange County Superior Court
Case No. 30-2015-00770823-CU-OE-CXC
Ms. Hoq led a team of lawyers in a wage and hour, and discrimination case on behalf of four low-income, monolingual Vietnamese speaking nail salon workers who were formerly employed at a popular nail salon in Orange County, California. The case challenged wage and hour violations endemic in the industry, including long hours without guaranteed minimum wage and overtime pay, meal and rest breaks, and unlawful deductions from wages for using salon equipment and supplies. The case also involved wage and hour claims on behalf of the whole workforce of over 40 workers under the Labor Code’s Private Attorney General Act (PAGA). The case successfully settled for nearly $500,000.
Press: Nail Salon Workers Allege Wage Theft, Indicate Larger Exploitation
Bergado v. Velonza
U.S. District Court, Central District of California
Case No. 2:17-cv-9070
Ms. Hoq litigated a labor trafficking case on behalf of a Filipino domestic worker who was trafficked to the U.S. with promises of a well-paying job and a green card. However, upon her arrival, defendants confiscated her passport and forced her into involuntary servitude for almost three years. The worker was forced to work over 14 hours a day, seven days a week, for virtually no pay. She suffered extreme verbal abuse and was forbidden from leaving the defendants’ apartment and speaking to anyone without supervision, and monitored through security cameras when left alone.
Press: Filipina woman sues U.S. couple alleging labor trafficking
Descanzo v. Grand America Hotels & Resorts, Inc.
U.S. District Court, District of Utah
Case No. Case 2:19-cv-00443-CMR
Ms. Hoq litigated a labor trafficking class action brought on behalf of Filipino workers hired by a luxury hotel in Utah under the J-1 internship program, who were subject to labor exploitation and national origin discrimination. The workers were promised supervised training in several departments at the hotel as well as an array of cultural immersion experiences. The workers allege that little, if any, of the internship plans turned out to be true. Defendants allegedly required Filipino J-1 workers to work longer hours and perform less desirable tasks than other employees, and Defendants’ supervisors allegedly directed racist comments toward Filipino workers, calling Filipinos “slow” and “lazy.” The workers further allege that, when they complained that Defendants were not following the internship plans, Defendants threatened the workers with deportation if they did not do the work they were ordered to perform.
Press: Attorneys Say Salt Lake City's Grand America Hotel Ripped Off Foreign Students