Nancy W. Anderson
Practice Emphasis
BAR ADMISSIONS
Washington, 1993
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Nancy, a member of Graham & Dunn’s Labor and Employment team, brings with her nearly twenty years of experience in representing employers in the labor and employment field. Nancy has handled all types of employment law claims, including: wage and hour, harassment and discrimination, wrongful discharge, retaliation, ERISA, EEOC and state agency charges and whistleblower claims. In addition to trial experience and expertise in defending employment-related claims, Nancy has defended numerous wage and hour class actions in Washington and Oregon, as well as successfully tried to verdict a five-week wage and hour class action. Accordingly, she is one of the few lawyers nationwide who has actually defended a wage and hour class action through trial.
Nancy also advises employers on compliance with federal and state labor and employment law generally, including wage and hour laws, benefits and leave issues, discipline and discharge, employee training, reductions-in-force and labor or employment law arbitrations. Nancy represents and advises employers of every size, from entrepreneurs and locally-owned businesses to Fortune 500 companies, including a variety of industries, such as: petroleum, manufacturing, insurance and financial services, healthcare, timber, food production and retail food service, hospitality, publishing, retail and banking. Representative clients over the past eighteen years include: Starbucks, Frito-Lay, IBP, Ingersoll-Rand, IOF, Watchguard, Wells Fargo, Aetna and Nordstrom.
Nancy is a regular speaker on wage/hour and employment law issues, and has authored numerous articles on defending wage and hour claims and avoiding class actions. Nancy edited the Association of Washington Business’s Washington State Human Resources File Cabinet (2008), and Wage and Hour Handbook: An Overview of Washington and Federal Wage and Hour Issues (2007).
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS/TRANSACTIONS
- Alvarez v. IBP, Inc. (five-week wage and hour class action trial; tried to verdict)
- Chen v. King County (two-week whistleblower retaliation action; tried to verdict)
- Knight v. Wal-Mart (obtained summary judgment for defendant, dismissing all claims -- plaintiff alleged disability, age discrimination)
- Solis v. Velocity Express, Inc., et al. (wage/hour, misclassification, independent contractor claims -- obtained summary judgment dismissing all claims against individual management defendants)
- Siedschlag v. Wal-Mart (obtained summary judgment for defendant, dismissing all claims)
- Thiebes v. Wal-Mart (wage and hour class action; case dismissed before class certified)
- Kalata v. Nordstrom, Inc. (wage and hour class action; case dismissed before class certified)
- Huntley v. Frito-Lay (wage and hour class action; successful resolution, including renegotiation of CBA)
- Boursee v. Texaco (wage and hour class action; successful resolution, and case dismissed before class certified)
- OCAW v. BP America (ERISA class action) (negotiated successful resolution)
- OCAW v. BP Oil (LMRA §185 claims) (obtained summary judgment for defendant)
- Cassidy v. Ingersoll-Rand (negotiated successful resolution of whistleblower claims)
- Gambill v. Aetna Life Ins. Co. (ERISA litigation; defendant’s motion for summary judgment granted, dismissing all claims)
- Ruemler v. Wells Fargo (employment discrimination; defendant’s motion for summary judgment granted, dismissing all claims)
PUBLICATIONS
- Author, “Avoid Wage and Hour Violations,” BUILDERnews magazine, February 2010
- Editor, Association of Washington Business, Washington State Human Resources File Cabinet (2008)
- Editor, Association of Washington Business, Wage and Hour Handbook: An Overview of Washington and Federal Wage and Hour Issues (2007)
- Author and Video Production Director, “Another Bad Day At The Office: Wage & Hour, The Bad Days Keep On Coming,” July 2006
- Comment, 16 U. Puget Sound L. Rev. 249 (1992)
PRESENTATIONS
- “Defensible Meal and Rest Break Policies: The Impact of Brinker and Other Recent Decisions,” American Conference Institute, Tenth National Forum on Wage & Hour Claims and Class Actions, 2010
- "Wage & Hour Compliance in 2010: Is Your Business Ready?" Association of Washington Business, 2010
- “Annual Wage and Hour Update,” Association of Washington Business, 2007-2009
- “Human Resources File Cabinet,” Association of Washington Business, 2007-2010
- “Practical Tips for Overlapping Leave Laws,” King County HR Forum 2008
- “Best Practices for HR Audits,” Lane Powell Annual Employment Seminar, “Best Practices” 2008
- “Manager Toolkit: Training on Harassment & Discrimination In The Workplace,” 2007
- “The New RCW 49.60 WLAD Disability Definition: A Few Scenarios,” Lane Powell Annual Employment Seminar 2007
- “Another Bad Day At The Office: Wage & Hour, The Bad Days Keep On Coming,” Lane Powell, July 2006
- “Another Bad Day At The Office: Failures in the Interactive Process,” EEOC, Technical Assistance Program Seminar, 2006
- “Revised FLSA Regulations Compliance,” Sterling Education Services Seminar, 2006
- “Employment Law Update” (Including Wage & Hour Compliance), Association of Washington Business, 2005
- “Successfully Defending Damages Claims In Employment Law Cases,” Lorman Ed. Services, 2005
- “Hot Topics In Employment Law,” Lane Powell, 2005
- “FMLA, ADA and WLAD Compliance,” Lorman Ed. Services, 2004, 2005“
- “Employment Law A to Z,” Lorman Ed. Services, 2004, 2005
- “Wage and Hour Update,” Lane Powell PC, 2003, 2004
- “Wage and Hour Claims,” Association of Washington Business, 2004
- “State and Federal Personnel Laws in Washington,” Lorman Ed. Services, 2003
- “Payroll Basics and ERISA,” Lorman Ed. Services, 2003
- “Ten Tips for Your Handbook Review,” Lane Powell, 2002
- “Performance Evaluations and Discipline,” Lane Powell, 2002
- “New Tps on Wage and Hour Issues,” Lane Powell, 2001
- “Monitoring, Investigating, and Regulating On-Duty and Off-Duty Conduct of Employees,” Lane Powell, 2001
- “The One-Stop Update for the HR Manager,” Council on Education in Management Seminars, 2001
- “The One-Stop update for the HR Manager,” “Update on Wage and Hour Law,” Council on Education in Management Seminars, 2001
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section, Section of Litigation
Federal Bar Association, W.D. Washington
King County Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section; Planning Committee for the Annual Pacific Coast Labor and Employment Law Conference 2002-2004
SHRM, Society for Human Resources Management
Washington Bar Association, Employment Law Section
Washington Women Lawyers
RECOGNITION
“Super Lawyer,” Washington Law and Politics, 2009-2010
“Rising Star,” Washington Law and Politics
ADMITTED TO PRACTICE
U.S. District Court, Western and Eastern Districts of Washington
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
U.S. Supreme Court
EDUCATION
J.D., magna cum laude, University of Puget Sound, 1992
Editor-in-Chief, University of Puget Sound Law Review, 1991-1992
A.B., cum laude, Bowdoin College, 1979
James Bowdoin Scholar
CLERKSHIP
Appellate Law Clerk, the Hon. Charles Johnson, Washington Supreme Court (1992-1993)
