Overview

Tina Tellado, a partner in Holland & Knight's Century City and Philadelphia offices, focuses her practice on the representation of employers in all aspects of employment and labor law, with a particular emphasis on wage-and-hour complex collective, class and representative litigation, as well as discrimination and harassment claims. She has served as first and second chair in such matters pending in federal, state and arbitration forums nationwide for more than a decade.

Ms. Tellado's extensive experience representing employers in nationwide class and collective actions and complex employment litigation includes the defense of alleged overtime, minimum wage, off-the-clock, classification of exempt or nonexempt overtime status, misclassification as an independent contractor or contingent worker, and meal and rest break claims. She has led and directed teams of attorneys and para-professionals in the fact development, discovery, class certification and trial of cases involving thousands of employees. Ms. Tellado is also well versed in analyzing and assisting clients with critical eDiscovery demands involving the cost-efficient collection, processing and management of voluminous discovery data and documents.

Additionally, Ms. Tellado counsels employers on compensation plans to ensure legal compliance, as well as provides guidance on wage-and-hour issues related to compensable time, wage deductions and commissions, and off-the-clock liability and employer classification issues. She also counsels clients on workforce reductions, workplace investigations, hiring processes, disability accommodations, medical leaves, termination and discipline decisions, senior management contract negotiations, severance negotiations, employee handbooks and policies, arbitration agreements and other workforce issues.

Ms. Tellado writes extensively on labor and employment issues, including articles appearing in Law360, The National Law Journal, Bloomberg Law, The Practising Law Institute, The Daily Journal and The Legal Intelligencer. She also has published articles on emerging legal issues and events, including a February 2020 article featured in The National Law Journal titled "Continued Emphasis on Diversity & Inclusion on the Horizon, but Not Without Its Challenges."

Representative Experience

  • Representing a retail banking company in a companywide collective action and multistate class action brought by a retail bank branch supervisor seeking to recover unpaid wages and penalties under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state laws arising primarily out of alleged unpaid work performed pre- and post-shift
  • Representing a retail bank in a multistate collective and class action brought by mortgage loan officers seeking to recover unpaid overtime wages arising out of alleged off-the-clock work
  • Represented a retail mortgage loan company in four class and collective actions asserting that in four different corporate locations, the company failed to pay its nonexempt retail loan officers for all hours worked; company allegedly had an unwritten policy that retail loan officers were not to record hours worked in excess of 40 in a week, resulting in willful violations of the FLSA; defeated motions for nationwide certification and notice; cases proceeded individually, conditionally certified on state-by-state basis, until settlement on the eve of trial

  • Representing a healthcare consulting company employing clinicians, scientists, and other experts in hospital and administrative settings who is subject to two hybrid class and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) actions and a separate standalone PAGA action wherein plaintiffs assert the company failed to properly calculate overtime payments due to an improper regular rate calculation, failed to pay for all time worked, failed to provide meal and rest breaks, failed to provide accurate wage statements, failed to provide compliant FCRA disclosures, and alleged liability for penalties arising out of the alleged Labor Code violations; successfully negotiated a global resolution for the company at a fraction of the alleged exposure; additionally, the company has engaged the firm to defend it against multiple California DLSE complaints and associated hearings involving alleged meal and rest break, and waiting time penalties
  • Represented multinational conglomerate with a strong California presence in multiple wage and hour class actions for separate subsidiary entities; the first matter involved a subsidiary that manufactures and maintains medical equipment in hospitals and other facilities where the plaintiff technician asserted claims seeking to recover unpaid commute time, unpaid business expenses, unpaid off the clock work, and penalties for meal and rest break violations, inaccurate wage statements, waiting time penalties and PAGA penalties; the matter was resolved for a fraction of the exposure based on defense's ability to refute plaintiff's claims with compelling evidentiary support at mediation; the second action involved the defense of the company's large light rail manufacturing unit against a putative statewide wage and hour class action covering both its employee population and contingent workers primarily alleging off the clock work, and meal and rest violations; following intensive directed discovery, the matter was resolved on an individual basis for nuisance value
  • Represented a national healthcare insurance company in arbitration and alleged representative action alleging various claims for alleged unpaid compensation and penalties under the California Labor Code and PAGA
  • Represented a national healthcare provider in series of collective and class actions in which plaintiffs sought payment for alleged overtime compensation due as a result of company's purported policy of automatically deducting 30-minute meal break each day in violation of the FLSA and various state laws
  • Represented an emergency room medical group in arbitration proceeding involving former employee alleging gender discrimination in promotion decisions and constructive discharge claims; obtained a judgment finding on behalf of the employer on all counts
  • Represented a medical technology company in federal action alleging disability discrimination and failure to engage in the interactive process claims; obtained summary judgment in employer's favor on all claims and dismissal of the matter

  • Representing a multinational infrastructure engineering and construction company specializing in technology and energy in a putative statewide class and PAGA action alleging failure to compensate for commute time based on "traveling warehouse" theory, to provide meal and rest breaks, to compensate for all time worked, to provide accurate wage statements, and for waiting time and PAGA penalties
  • Representing a technology company in three nationwide collective actions alleging FLSA violations and state law claims, including off-the-clock, overtime, minimum wage, misclassification, meal and rest break, and wage statement claims; obtained decertification in one ongoing matter resulting in the dismissal of 1,600-plus opt-in plaintiffs; and resolved other two matters on an individual basis
  • Represented a satellite television provider and service provider in 12 separate multiplaintiff cases filed in 10 states, all asserting minimum wage and overtime pay violations under the FLSA and various state laws based on the "piece rate" compensation of satellite technicians and a joint employer theory of liability
  • Represented a telecommunications provider in state class action alleging various claims under California Labor Code, involving thousands of employees
  • Represented a nationwide telecommunications provider in multiple single plaintiff discrimination and harassment matters alleging federal and state law claims. The matters were resolved for nuisance value following intensive discovery resulting in the limitation of claims and potential recovery by the plaintiffs

  • Representing a global provider of technology used to evaluate the structural integrity of critical energy, industrial and public infrastructure in multiple wage-and-hour actions, including two putative class actions, a PAGA action and arbitration; current representation involves a plaintiff-lab scientist seeking to recover wages and penalties on behalf of a putative statewide class consisting of 1,200-plus employees based on the company's alleged failure to properly calculate overtime payments due to an improper regular rate calculation, to pay for all time worked, to provide meal and rest breaks, to provide accurate wage statements, to reimburse for business expenses, and alleged liability for penalties arising out of the alleged Labor Code violations, as well as seeking civil penalties in a separate stand-alone PAGA action
  • Representing a multidivisional packaging manufacturer in putative statewide cross-divisional wage-and-hour class action brought by manufacturing employee alleging claims for: failure to calculate overtime on the proper regular rate of pay (i.e., bonuses not included in the regular rate of pay); failure to provide complete and accurate wage statements; failure to timely pay unpaid wages at termination; and unfair competition in federal court, as well as claims for PAGA penalties in a separate state court action
  • Representing a luxury goods retailer and manufacturer in potential PAGA action concerning alleged unpaid overtime, failure to provide accurate wage statement, failure to provide personnel file and other wage based claims
  • Represented a manufacturer of specialized industrial equipment, consumables and related service businesses in putative statewide class action and representative action asserting that in more than 30 corporate locations, employees were subject to alleged unlawful policies resulting in alleged violations of the California Labor Code and penalties under PAGA
  • Represented a national restaurant chain in multiple nationwide collective actions and individual state action alleging FLSA and state law violations; plaintiffs sought unpaid minimum wage and overtime compensation as a result of, among other things, allegedly working off-the-clock; company allegedly had an unwritten policy that employees were not to record hours worked in excess of 40 in a week, resulting in willful violations of FLSA
  • Represented a national home goods provider in state class actions alleging various claims under California Labor Code and PAGA, involving thousands of employees; plaintiffs sought unpaid compensation and penalties as a result of, among other things, allegedly off-the-clock work, alleged meal and rest period violations, alleged failure to timely pay final wages, and alleged failure to provide accurate wage statements and penalties
  • Represented an international food manufacturer in multiple collective actions alleging FLSA violations; plaintiffs sought alleged unpaid wages, including overtime, incurred for time spent donning and doffing clothing and associated personal protective equipment, as well as waiting and/or walking time

Credentials

Education
  • Georgetown University Law Center, J.D.
  • Texas Woman's University, B.S.
Bar Admissions/Licenses
  • California
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Pennsylvania
Court Admissions
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Honors & Awards
  • Leaders of Influence: Labor and Employment Attorneys, Los Angeles Business Journal, 2023
  • Top Labor & Employment Lawyer, Daily Journal, 2023
  • Holland & Knight Pro Bono All-Star, 2020, 2021

Publications

Speaking Engagements

News