C. Christine Maloney - Biography

Christine has practiced exclusively in the area of employment litigation defense for more than twenty years. She has obtained numerous summary judgment dismissals of discrimination, harassment, failure to accommodate and wrongful discharge suits on behalf of employers and successfully defended those dismissals in appellate courts. She has first-chaired high profile employment cases before juries in state and federal court. In arbitration and civil service proceedings, she is a vigorous advocate for her clients and regularly prosecutes disciplinary proceedings and contract issues on behalf of employers.

Christine started her legal career in a large Seattle law firm where she counseled and defended private sector employers, including Fortune 500 companies, on a wide range of employment issues. Seeking courtroom experience, Christine moved to the public sector and became a Senior Assistant City Attorney for the City of Seattle, where she defended the municipal court, city attorney, police and other city departments in employment litigation. After relocating to San Francisco in 2003, Christine continued to defend public and private employers in a wide variety of employment disputes. Before joining Foster Employment Law in 2011, Christine was a partner with Jackson Lewis in theSan Francisco office.

Christine is a 1991 graduate of the University of Oregon School of Lawwhere she was elected to the Order of the Coif for high academic achievement. She received her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington in 1988. Christine is admitted to practice inCalifornia and Washington.

Recent Litigation Successes

Some of Christine’s recent litigation successes include:

  • Obtained summary judgment on behalf of city in suit by African-American firefighter claiming racial harassment and retaliation.
  • Obtained summary judgment on behalf of county based on collateral estoppel where deputy sheriff’s gender discrimination and retaliation claims were litigated during administrative appeal of discipline.
  • Obtained summary judgment on behalf of city in Section 1983 action by police sergeant claiming violations of First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, and Equal Protection Clause.
  • Obtained summary judgment on behalf of school district in action for failure to accommodate a disability where teacher alleged she required assignment to a less stressful position due to hypertension. Summary judgment affirmed on appeal.
  • Obtained summary judgment on behalf of city in action for disability discrimination and failure to accommodate a maintenance worker who could no longer perform essential functions of position.
  • Represented community college district in writ proceeding brought by part-time instructor seeking to be reclassified as a permanent employee. Denial of writ affirmed on appeal. Womack v. San Francisco Community College Dist., 147 Cal.App.4th 854 (2007).

Recent Speaking Engagements

Christine is frequently invited to speak on employment law compliance and litigation avoidance before professional membership organizations. Some of her recent speaking engagements include:

  • Fitness for Duty Evaluations: A Legal and Medical Perspective, CalPELRA Annual Training Conference, Monterey, November 2011 (co-presented with James M. Missett, M.D., Ph.D.)
  • Ten Things Every Public Employer Should Be Doing to Minimize Employment Litigation, PARMABay Area Chapter, Pleasanton, May 2011
  • Privacy, Speech and Social Networking, CJPRMA Annual Conference, Pleasanton, May 2011
  • Demystifying the Good Faith Interactive Process, CalPELRA Annual Training Conference, Monterey, November 2010
  • Social Not-Working: Sexting, Tweeting, Friending and Getting Dooced, CalPELRA Annual Training Conference, Monterey, November 2010
  • Off Duty Conduct – When Is It Misconduct or a Conflict? National Public Employer Labor Relations Association, New Orleans, April 2010
  • Effectively Responding to DFEH/EEOC Charges, CountyCounsels’ Association of California, Spring Employment Conference, Monterey, March 2010
  • Employment Law Roundtable, California Lawyer Magazine, December 2009
  • Top Ten Ways to Violate Employee Privacy, CalPELRA Annual Training Conference, Monterey, November 2009
  • Avoiding the Nebula to Chart Your Layoffs, League of California Cities Personnel and Employee Relations Seminar, San Francisco, March 2009
  • Ten Ways to Violate Due Process, CalPELRA Annual Training Conference, Monterey, November 2008
  • Select Evidentiary Issues In Discrimination Cases, CountyCounsels’ Association of California, Spring Employment Conference, Monterey, March 2008
  • Employment Law Roundtable, California Lawyer Magazine, February 2008
  • DFEH/EEOC Charges: A How-To Guide for Responding to Agency Charges of Discrimination, CalPELRA Annual Training Conference, Monterey, November 2007 (co-presented with Michael Baldonado, Deputy Director, EEOC San Francisco District Office)
  • Your Legal Rights: San Francisco’s New Paid Sick Leave Ordinance, KALW Radio, February 2007
  • Twelve Angry Jurors: Lessons Learned From This Year’s Big Employment Verdicts, CalPELRA Annual Training Conference, Monterey, November 2006 (co-presented with Christopher B. Dolan, Esq.)
  • Investigations and Discipline, California Special Districts Association Annual Conference, Lake Tahoe, September 2006
  • Gone But Not Forgotten: How to Manage the Absent Employee, CountyCounsels’ Association Spring Employment Law Conference, Monterey, March 2006
  • Legal Considerations in the Pre-Employment and Hiring Process, Norcal Personnel Directors Association Meeting, Napa, February 2005
  • Family and Medical Leave Act Developments, National Employment Law Institute, Public Sector EEO and Employment Law Conference, San Francisco, October 2004

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