Kristina Launey

Kristina M. Launey is in the Labor & Employment Department of Seyfarth Shaw LLP and Managing Partner of the Sacramento office. She is an efficient and effective litigator and counselor, specializing in employment and civil rights laws, who provides clients with options and helps them achieve results in light of their businesses realities.

A member of Seyfarth’s ADA Title III Specialty Team, Ms. Launey regularly advises and defends clients in litigation arising under Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and related California disability access laws – the Unruh Act and Disabled Persons Act. She has defended disability access lawsuits ranging from the very complex and contentious to those resulting in relatively simple settlements, and engaged in structured negotiations.

Her Title II and III clients include a large non-profit symphony, hotels, restaurants, retailers, financial service providers, universities, manufacturers, investment, insurance, and technology companies. Ms. Launey has counseled clients on issues ranging from physical accessibility, to compliance with service animal, reservations, effective communication, ticketing requirements of California law and the ADA 2010 Standards, to cutting-edge digital accessibility issues.

In her employment counseling practice, Ms. Launey facilitates employers’ compliance with all federal and state employment laws, such as those governing non-discrimination and anti-harassment, pay equity, reasonable accommodations, leaves of absence, payment of wages, workplace violence, privacy, and exemptions. She also represents clients before a variety of administrative agencies, including the EEOC, DFEH, DOL, and DLSE.

Ms. Launey has extensive experience litigating single, multi-plaintiff, and class actions in federal and state courts as well as private arbitration, involving, as exemplar, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, torts, contract, and wage and hour claims. Ms. Launey is also an experienced negotiator, helping clients resolve disputes through various formal and alternative dispute resolution methods, including mediation and structured negotiations.

Ms. Launey practiced employment law prior to joining Seyfarth as a Deputy in the California Legislative Counsel’s Office, where she drafted legislation affecting employers, advised the Legislature on compliance with employment laws, and supervised outside counsel in litigation.

Through her current work as Seyfarth’s California Legislative Team Leader, she helps employers understand, navigate, and implement the requirements of new legislation that impacts the way they do business in California. Through this and her activity as a founding member of Seyfarth’s Pay Equity Group, she has also helped keep clients on top of pay equity developments and best practices.

Education:

• J.D., University of California, Davis, King Hall School of Law (2002)
• B.A., University of California, Berkeley (1999)