John H. Haney

John H. Haney is a labor and employment attorney in Holland & Knight's Los Angeles office and a member of the Labor and Employment Group.

Mr. Haney represents employers in a variety of matters involving wage and hour compliance, wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, leave and reasonable accommodation laws, workers' compensation, employee/independent contractor classification, exempt/nonexempt employee classification, trade secret protection, reductions in force, union matters, internal investigations, executive compensation, benefits, payroll and staffing agency vendors. In addition, he has experience with employment onboarding, corporate transactions, state and federal agency investigations, single-plaintiff actions, wage and hour class actions, Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) representative actions, and occupational safety and health regulations.

Mr. Haney has worked with employers in a variety of industries such as healthcare, finance, entertainment, insurance, commercial and residential real estate, legal services, aviation, technology, logistics, restaurants, airlines, hotels, manufacturing and distribution, universities, agriculture, white collar, retail and startups, among others.

In addition, Mr. Haney regularly handles matters in day-to-day counseling, pre-litigation negotiations, and litigation before state and federal courts and government agencies such as the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (CUIAB), California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB), California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Mr. Haney also conducts high-level training on a variety of topics such as harassment, discrimination and retaliation prevention, and is experienced in the creation and drafting of employee handbooks, settlement agreements, severance agreements, trade secret protection agreements, arbitration agreements and other employment agreements and policies.

Mr. Haney's representative matters include:

• secured dismissals or favorable settlements in more than 100 single-plaintiff employment matters in pre-litigation and in state and federal courts
• secured dismissals or favorable settlements in more than 75 employment matters before state and federal agencies, including the California Labor Commissioner, DFEH, CUIAB, EEOC and Cal/OHSA
• secured orders granting contested motions for summary judgment and partial summary judgment in California state and federal courts
• secured favorable settlements in numerous high-stakes wage and hour class action, collective action and PAGA matters involving thousands of putative class members and tens of millions of dollars in disputes
• secured numerous orders in California state and federal courts granting contested motions to compel arbitration of employment law disputes
• obtained temporary restraining order, preliminary injunctions and eventual stipulated judgements against former employees of client that engaged in misappropriation of trade secrets and defamation, among other things
• obtained successive temporary restraining orders barring client's competitor from punitively enforcing unlawful non-competition agreement and from compelling arbitration against client's employee
• obtained numerous workplace violence restraining orders to protect clients' workplaces and employees
• established independent contractor status of individual performing services for Los Angeles production company after contested merits hearing before the CUIAB
• secured order granting contested partial summary judgment in owner-operator truck driver misclassification action, with the court finding that the federal Truth-in-Leasing Regulations preempted certain claims brought under the California Labor Code
• secured order granting contested partial summary judgment in a multi-plaintiff federal court case involving claims for overtime, as well as claims for meal and rest period violations, restitution, expense reimbursements, wage statement violations, and waiting time and other statutory penalties
• secured order granting contested motion to dismiss in action filed against motor carrier

Labor and Employment Law Advice for Native American Tribes and Related Organizations

As a member of Holland & Knight's Native American Law Team, Mr. Haney has significant experience advising Native American Tribes and related organizations on key labor and employment matters. He counsels clients on matters such as developing employment policies and employment best practices from a Tribal sovereignty perspective, conducting and advising on internal investigations, dispute resolution and litigation, advising on the applicability of federal and state employment laws to Tribes, labor union matters and other employment matters that impact Tribes and Tribal-owned enterprises.

During law school, Mr. Haney served as an extern for the Honorable S. James Otero of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, as well as a student clerk for the Hualapai and Hopi Tribal Appellate Courts. Mr. Haney also served as the president of the UCLA Native American Law Students Association.

Mr. Haney is a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.