Wipper Rejoins Firm After California Ousts Her From Top Law Post

Janette Wipper, California’s former top civil rights lawyer, has rejoined litigation boutique Sanford Heisler Sharp after getting fired last year while leading an Activision Blizzard discrimination lawsuit.

Wipper will focus on employment discrimination, equal pay and class-action cases in the firm’s Palo Alto office, she said in an interview. Sanford Heisler has garnered a reputation for representing employees in lawsuits taking on big corporations.

While serving as chief counsel at the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, Wipper led discrimination lawsuits targeting Tesla Inc. and video game companies Activision Blizzard and Riot Games Inc., a subsidiary of Tencent Holdings.

She was fired in April after she attempted to protect agency independence from meddling by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office in the Activision suit, according to a fellow lawyer then at the agency, Melanie Proctor, who resigned in protest. The two lawyers had stepped down from the Activision lawsuit earlier that month without explanation.

Wipper declined to comment on her exit from the California agency. Newsom’s office has called the claims of interference “categorically false.”

Wipper had served as regional director of the US Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs from 2014 to 2018 before serving in the state role for four years.

“I think I had an impact on civil rights in certain industries,” she said. “We have strong laws in California; they’re not self-enforcing. I was able to create a model of effective civil rights enforcement, and I’m hoping that will continue.”

She worked with Sanford Heisler from 2006 to 2014 before taking her government roles. “We’re pleased that Janette will be able to continue her work in the private arena with us,” firm chair David Sanford said in a statement.

Public Sector Work

In her public role, Wipper a built a reputation for doggedly pursuing big cases targeting tech firms.

She led the California’s July 2021 lawsuit against Activision following a two-year investigation that allegedly revealed a “frat boy” work culture. The suit came as Activision also faced scrutiny from federal agencies for similar alleged misconduct. The suit is still pending.

She was also behind the state agency’s February 2022 suit against Tesla, alleging the carmaker ignored “rampant racism” at a plant in Fremont, California. The Tesla matter also remains pending.

The suit she helped bring against Tencent resulted in a $100 million settlement in December 2021.

During her time in the Labor Department, the Pacific region was known for aggressively pursuing audits of contracting facilities and demanding additional employment data.

An initiation of an audit at the headquarters of Alphabet Inc.'s Google resulted in contentious litigation over how much data companies are required to turn over for review.

Wipper returns to Sanford Heisler just months after it opened an office in Palo Alto, its third in California.

Sanford previously said the move was targeted at improving its access to tech workers. The firm, which has about a third of its caseload coming out of Silicon Valley, said Wipper will be the head of its litigation department.

“This is an exciting time at the firm, with so many important cases on our docket that will change the employment space for the better and create good law and public policy,” Sanford said in the statement.