Firm News

Attorney Robert Prine Joins Haeggquist & Eck Team

We’re thrilled to announce that Robert Prine has joined our team as an associate attorney!  Robert will work in our employment practice handling cases involving wage disputes, sexual harassment, discrimination, and wrongful termination.

Robert is a 2016 graduate of California Western School of Law and joins the firm from Winet Patrick Gayer Creighton & Hanes, where he was the primary attorney on a variety of matters and engaged extensively in law and motion and oral advocacy work. Other past legal experience includes stints at Potente APLC in La Jolla, where he assisted clients with a variety of corporate matters (including entity formation, mergers, and employment counseling), and in the Special Litigation Section of the San Diego City Attorney’s Office.

While a student at California Western, Robert was a member of the Dean’s List and a recipient of the Academic Excellence Award. He was a member of the Moot Court Honors Board, served as Vice President of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society, and was on the school’s Negotiation/Mediation Traveling Team.  He placed first in the California State Bar Student Environmental Negotiations Competition, first in the 2015 California Western Intra-school Mediation Competition, and fourth in the 2015 National Sports Law Negotiation Competition.

Robert holds a B.A. in Legal Studies with a minor in philosophy from the University of California at Santa Cruz.  In his spare time, he enjoys playing basketball, indoor soccer, guitar, violin, and piano.

Please join us in welcoming Robert to HAE!

To schedule your free initial consultation, contact us online or call (619) 342-8000 today!

Haeggquist & Eck Announces New Name, Website; Welcomes Partner Kathleen Herkenhoff

SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Employee rights, consumer, and securities class action firm Haeggquist & Eck, LLP today announced its new firm name and redesigned website. The firm also announced the hiring of new partner Kathleen Herkenhoff. Herkenhoff joins partners Alreen Haeggquist, Amber Eck, and Aaron Olsen in the firm’s San Diego office.

The firm, which was formerly known as Zeldes Haeggquist & Eck, enjoys a nationwide reputation for excellence. The attorneys at Haeggquist & Eck have obtained more than $100 million in recoveries for their clients over the course of their careers. In addition, their work has resulted in significant changes to companies’ policies across California and the country, which has had a ripple effect in positively changing the lives of thousands of workers and consumers throughout the state and the nation. Last year, the firm negotiated a $25 million settlement on behalf of students who attended Donald Trump’s Trump University.

The firm also welcomed new partner Kathleen Herkenhoff to the H&E team. For the past 24 years, Kathleen has exclusively focused her practice on litigating complex securities class and derivative actions in courts across the country, and has helped obtain more than $1 billion in settlement recoveries.

“The expansion of the Haeggquist & Eck team and rebranding campaign underscores the firm’s longstanding commitment to pursuing justice on behalf of its clients,” said H&E Managing Partner Alreen Haeggquist.

“Our firm has enjoyed quite a year: we welcomed two new partners, prevailed on a novel discrimination theory and won hundreds of thousands of dollars for our client after a four-week jury trial, and achieved an incredible settlement in one of the most public cases of our careers against a sitting United States President – just to name a few,” said Haeggquist. “Our name may have changed, but our commitment to pursuing justice for our clients hasn’t. The first half of 2017 has been amazing – and the momentum from our clients’ victories continues to propel us forward and inspires us to always do more.”

About Haeggquist & Eck, LLP

Haeggquist & Eck, LLP is a full-service law firm that brings major class actions nationwide on behalf of defrauded consumers, investors, and employees. Please visit www.haelaw.com or our blog for more information about the firm.

To schedule your free initial consultation, contact us online or call (619) 342-8000 today!

Aaron Olsen Promoted To Partner

Haeggquist & Eck has promoted attorney Aaron Olsen, who earlier this year served as co-lead class counsel in litigation against Donald Trump and Trump University, to partner, the firm has announced. The promotion took effect January 1, 2017.

A graduate of California Western School of Law, Olsen has spent the last seven years of his practice as an associate in ZHE’s employment law and consumer litigation departments. He focuses his practice on representing employees in all aspects of labor and employment litigation in federal and state courts and is experienced in prosecuting complex class action suits, including consumer fraud actions, product defect cases, wage and hour actions, and unfair competition and false advertising claims, among others. Late last year, Olsen was part of a multi-lawyer team that negotiated a $25 million settlement on behalf of students who attended Donald Trump’s Trump University. He was the first lawyer to field the phone call from and investigate the claims of Tarla Makaeff, who would eventually become the class representative in the case, and was instrumental in prosecuting the nearly seven-year litigation against Trump and his company.

Olsen has obtained millions of dollars in damages for his individual employee clients and has negotiated hundreds of settlements in labor and employment cases for causes of action including wrongful termination, harassment, retaliation, and misclassification. His work has also resulted in significant changes to employers’ labor practice across California, which has had a ripple effect in positively changing the lives of thousands of workers throughout the state.

Over the past few years, Olsen served as co-lead counsel for a nationwide consumer class of purchasers of an allegedly defective power adapter in a consumer product defect class action against Apple, Inc. In re MagSafe Apple Power Adapter Litig., Case No. C 09-01911 JW.  He also served as co-lead counsel for a nationwide consumer class action against Sony Electronics, Inc., which alleged fundamental flaws in the design and/or manufacturing process in the company’s VAIO Touchpad Notebooks. In Re Sony Vaio Computer Notebook Trackpad Litigation, Case No. 09-CV-02109-AJB-MDD (S.D. Cal.).

In 2011, Olsen and Haeggquist & Eck Managing Partner Alreen Haeggquist obtained a successful trial verdict on behalf of clients in a wage and hour, trade secret misappropriation, and breach of contract action. In addition to the trial verdict, ZHE persuaded the Court to find that the opposing party brought the action in bad faith, resulting in a substantial damages and attorney fee award for the firm’s clients. The judgment was affirmed in full on appeal.

Olsen was selected in 2015, 2016 and 2017 as a Super Lawyers Rising Star, an honor received by less than 2.5 percent of attorneys in California each year. He was also nominated as one of San Diego’s Outstanding Young Attorneys in 2011 and 2012.

“Aaron is a tremendous asset to the firm, and the partnership promotion rewards his incredible dedication and hard work,” Haeggquist said.

Olsen is a 2008 graduate of California Western School of Law, where she served as editor-in-chief of California Western School of Law Commentary and was an Executive Board Member of the Student Bar Association. He holds a B.A. in Business Finance from the University of Utah. Prior to joining ZHE, he was an attorney at Nicholas Boylan, APC, and served as a law clerk at Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd and the San Diego County Office of the Public Defender.

To schedule your free initial consultation, contact us online or call (619) 342-8000 today!

Haeggquist & Eck Files Pregnancy Discrimination and Wrongful Termination Case Against Sharp Health Plan

Sharp Health Plan wrongfully terminated two employees who were eight months pregnant this fall because the women planned to take legally protected pregnancy leave, a new lawsuit filed by Haeggquist & Eck attorneys Alreen Haeggquist and Aaron Olsen alleges.

Plaintiffs Natali Osuna and Veronica Osuna, who had respectively worked for Sharp for 11 years and five years as enrollment specialists within the company’s finance division and had consistent histories of stellar performance reviews, were both pregnant and due to give birth around September 2016. Both planned to take protected leaves of absence through January 2017, which happened to coincide with Sharp’s plans to implement Healthedge, a new integrated software system for processing health insurance claims and applications.

The case alleges that in July, the plaintiffs were notified that they would be laid off because their department was closing. But a mere four hours after they were given the news, Sharp began posting jobs that were essentially identical to theirs, but just using the new system. Sharp planned to conduct training on the new system during plaintiffs’ planned maternity leaves, with full implementation to take place in January 2017. Both women applied for every available position they were qualified for within Sharp system and were turned down for each, according to the complaint.

“Sharp dealt our clients a stunning blow by terminating them – and leaving them without health insurance – when they were eight months pregnant,” Haeggquist & Eck Managing Partner Alreen Haeggquist said. “It wasn’t convenient for Sharp to have our clients out on legally protected leave during the company’s planned implementation of new software, so Sharp just callously cast them aside on the pretext of closing their department. What should have been a beautiful time for these women became incredibly stressful, and we look forward to vindicating their interests in court.”

The case alleges violations of the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) Laws, and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Osuna v. Sharp Health Plan is pending in San Diego Superior Court.

EMPLOYEES: If you believe you have been discriminated or retaliated against at work because you are pregnant or took protected medical leave, click here or call (619) 342-8000 to contact the employee rights attorneys at Haeggquist & Eck for a free case evaluation.

Haeggquist & Eck Attorneys Among Nominees For National Association of Woman Business Owners “Bravo” Awards

Two Haeggquist & Eck partners have been nominated for the National Association of Women Business Owners’ annual “BRAVO” awards, the firm announced today.

Amber Eck is among the nominees for NAWBO’s Woman Business Owner of the Year award, while Alreen Haeggquist was nominated for the Women’s Advocate of the Year accolade for her work representing women in wrongful termination and sexual harassment cases.

The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) has served since its inception in 1975 as the unified voice of over 9 million women-owned businesses in the United States. The annual BRAVO awards honor the accomplishments and contributions of entrepreneurial women who are leading the way in their local business communities. Local award winners will be announced on May 18 at NAWBO’s annual award luncheon, which is set to begin at 5:30 p.m. at Cape Rey Carlsbad, 1 Ponto Road in Carlsbad, Calif.

To schedule your free initial consultation, contact us online or call (619) 342-8000 today!

Aaron Olsen Named To 2016 California Rising Stars List

We are pleased to announce that Aaron Olsen has been selected to the 2016 California Rising Stars list. This is an exclusive list, recognizing no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state.

Super Lawyers, part of Thomson Reuters, is a research-driven, peer-influenced rating service of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Attorneys are selected from more than 70 practice areas and all firm sizes, assuring a credible and relevant annual list.

The objective of Super Lawyers is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys to be used as a resource for both attorneys and consumers seeking legal counsel.

The Super Lawyers lists are published nationwide in Super Lawyers Magazines and in leading city and regional magazines and newspapers across the country, as well as in the California Super Lawyers Digital Magazine.

Please join us in congratulating Aaron Olsen on his nomination. For more information about Super Lawyers, go to SuperLawyers.com.

To schedule your free initial consultation, contact us online or call (619) 342-8000 today!

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