Ms. Pope is a partner in Pillsbury’s Employment & Labor law group, and Employment Counsel to the firm. She has been with the firm since 1986, focusing exclusively on employment-related litigation and counseling. Particular areas of emphasis include defense of disability, age, and sex discrimination and harassment suits; wrongful termination; breach of contract; and employment-related torts. Other aspects of her practice include labor arbitrations, litigation of unfair competition and trade secrets disputes, and employer counseling on a variety of topics, including reasonable accommodation, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and whistleblower allegations.

Ms. Pope has extensive experience with both individual and multi-plaintiff litigation and has tried many cases before juries in municipal, superior and federal courts. She focuses on positioning cases for early disposition and has obtained denials of class certification and numerous case dismissals at the demurrer and summary judgment stages. Ms. Pope also has significant case mediation experience and has used a variety of alternative dispute resolution procedures.

Representative Experience

Most Recent Arbitrations:

Union claim for medical benefits contribution. Partial employer award in July 2004.

Most Recent Trials:

Age discrimination and breach of contract case tried to a jury in the San Francisco Superior Court. Defense verdict on age discrimination and related torts in February 2004.

Sexual harassment case tried to a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Defense verdict in December 2001.

Most Recent Summary Judgments:

Sex and age discrimination case pending in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Dismissed on summary judgment in 2002.

Disability discrimination and failure to accommodate case pending in Contra Costa County Superior Court. Dismissed on summary judgment in 2002, and affirmed on appeal.

Breach of contract and breach of covenant case pending in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division. Dismissed on summary judgment in November 2000.

Other notable accomplishments:

Obtained five-figure settlement in a contentious and aggressively litigated disability discrimination matter where plaintiff’s demand had been in the multi-millions of dollars. Results obtained through implementation of strategic, aggressive discovery plan.

Obtained walk-away settlement on a discrimination and wrongful termination action, based on counterclaims of misappropriation of trade secrets.

Education

J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, 1986

A.B., Harvard University, 1983

Admissions

State of California

Firm Publications

California Supreme Court Addresses “Sexual Favoritism” in the Workplace, 03-Aug-2005