Krischer

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Gordon E. Krischer

O’Melveny & Myers

Specialty: Employment law

Law School: Harvard, 1971

Gordon Krischer figures that all of society’s problems get played out in the workplace. “Chemical exposure, sexual harassment, contingent workers I have been fortunate to work on some very significant cases,” he said.

One of those was Lockheed Corp. vs. Spink, a class-action suit that Krischer took all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case, which Krischer’s client Lockheed won, set a precedent for labor law.

The case centered on Lockheed’s offer to give sweetened pensions to employees who volunteered to retire early, using proceeds from the company pension plan to pay for the sweetener. Employees taking part in the deal also were required to sign a contract stipulating they would not sue the company. Non-retiring Lockheed employees filed suit, alleging that various aspects of the deal violated federal labor laws. They lost.

“It was extremely exciting to argue before the Supreme Court,” said Krischer. “It was even better to win.”

In another Lockheed case, Orozco v. Lockheed Corp., Krischer reached a relatively modest out-of-court settlement with employees who claimed to have been injured on the job by working with various chemicals. Other employers named in the class-action suit did not settle, and were hit with a $600 million judgement in 1990.

In addition to class-action suits, Krischer handles collective bargaining for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Los Angeles Unified School District, and represents Caltech, U.S. West Inc. and other major employers on various labor issues.

Some of his most difficult cases involve sexual harassment claims.

“It is very uncomfortable because these are very powerful people and they have screwed up,” said Krischer. “They are really difficult situations and emotions run high. It can also get very expensive.”

Krischer added that sexual harassment judgements can range anywhere form $25,000 to $2.5 million. But top executives who are found guilty typically lose more than the court case. More often than not, they are terminated by the board, said Krischer.

Jessica Toledano

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