Photo of Laura Vaughn

Laura Vaughn is an associate in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Employment Litigation & Arbitration Practice Group and Counseling, Training & Pay Equity Practice Group.

Laura has experience defending employers in a variety of employment actions, with a significant focus on class, collective, and representative actions involving wage and hour issues, including the following:

  • Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA)
  • Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
  • Meal and Rest Breaks
  • Reimbursement of Expenses
  • Off-the-Clock Work
  • Wage Statements
  • Final Pay

She also counsels employers on a diverse range of employment issues.

Laura has represented clients in a number of industries, including retail, hospitality, and communications.

Laura received her B.A. from UCLA, cum laude, and J.D. from USC Gould School of Law, where she was a member of the Hale Moot Court Honors Program.

On July 25, 2024, the California Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Proposition 22, the law allowing gig economy workers to be classified as independent contractors.  The decision ends a nearly four-year legal battle over the law’s constitutionality and constitutes a major victory for gig economy giants like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash.

Since Prop 22 was passed by California voters in 2020, companies have been

The Empire Struck Back last week when the California Court of Appeal held that the state’s latest back-door attempt to outlaw employment arbitration by any means necessary is preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA).  Hernandez v. Sohnen Enterprises, Inc., 2024 WL 2313710 (Cal. Ct. App. 2024).  As indicated in our earlier post on this topic, it was just a matter of time before

With the sweeping presence of technology today, the boundary between work life and home life has become increasingly blurred. A new bill recently introduced to the California legislature seeks to change that by protecting employees’ “right to disconnect.”   

Assembly Bill 2751, introduced by Assemblyman Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), proposes to add a Section 1198.2 to the Labor Code that would effectively prevent employers from contacting employees

A newly enacted, under-the-radar statute in California could undermine efforts by employers to challenge the expert opinion testimony regarding alleged emotional distress offered by employees at trial. 

In many if not most employment trials, the employee’s lawyer offers the expert testimony of a psychiatrist/psychologist (paid for by the plaintiff) who tells the jury about the existence and extent of the emotional distress the employee allegedly

A two-year standoff between the fast food industry and labor unions ended this week as stakeholders announced a deal that will increase the minimum wage to $20 for California workers at fast food chains with more than 60 locations nationwide.

As we previously reported, in September 2022, California passed A.B. 257, which created a 10-member fast-food council with authority to set wage, hour, and

On July 17, 2023, approximately one year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Viking River Cruises, the California Supreme Court issued its highly-anticipated decision in Adolph v. Uber Technologies.  The Court answered the critical question of whether a Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) plaintiff retains their standing to pursue non-individual claims after their individual claims are compelled to arbitration. As many