John Mullan
Partner
“Our job is to champion the rights of employees in the workplace, to zealously advocate for workers when they are wronged, and to hold employers accountable under the law.”
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John Mullan joined Rudy Exelrod Zieff & Lowe in 2002, and currently leads the class action practice group. He has a deep knowledge of state and federal employment laws, which protect workers from employers who do not provide proper compensation. John has successfully recovered tens of millions of dollars in unpaid wages for his clients from some of the largest employers in California. These class action lawsuits include allegations of unpaid wages, unpaid overtime wages, violations of meal and rest breaks, and gender discrimination. John frequently co-counsels large class action cases with other firms.
John is also an experienced litigator, representing individuals with employment law claims such as wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, and whistleblower retaliation. He represents many high profile clients, such as Tinder founder Whitney Wolfe in her sexual harassment lawsuit against the company.
John has been named a Northern California Super Lawyer since 2013, and was previously recognized as a “Rising Star for Northern California” by Super Lawyers. He is a graduate of the UC Berkeley School of Law, where he served as an executive editor of the Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law.
In addition to client advocacy, John speaks extensively on employment law issues. He has spoken for the Labor and Employment Section of the State Bar of California, Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB), the Rutter Group, the Practicing Law Institute (PLI), and the Employment Law Center. John also writes employment law articles and treatises, including sections of the Fair Labor Standards Act treatise published by the American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law, and he serves as Chapter Editor for The Rutter Group’s Employment Litigation California Practice Guide.
- Successfully brought WARN Act class action on behalf of hundreds of low-wage rental equipment workers who were abruptly terminated without the required 60-day notice
- Represented a group of senior women technology executives in a gender harassment and discrimination case
- Represented a CFO who was terminated after raising concerns about systemic gender pay discrimination.
- Currently represents a large group of current and former Oracle employees in a class action lawsuit alleging unequal pay for women.
- Represented Tinder founder, Whitney Wolfe in her lawsuit against Tinder, alleging sexual harassment, retaliation, and discrimination.
- Represented California refinery workers who were systematically denied pay by their employer for time worked before and after they were on the clock.
- Represented a prominent San Francisco fund manager in a multi-million dollar breach of contract dispute with his former hedge fund employer.
- Labor and Employment Section of the State Bar of California
- California Employment Lawyers Association
- National Employment Lawyers Association
- Supervising Attorney for the Workers’ Rights Clinic
- Legal Aid Society – Employment Law Center, Board Member
- Daily Journal “Leading Labor & Employment Lawyers in California,” 2021
- Super Lawyers, 2013 – 2023
- Top Class Action and Labor & Employment Law Settlements, 2017
- Rising Star for Northern California, Super Lawyers, 2011 – 2012
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment Lawyers
- University of California, Berkeley – School of Law
- J.D. – 2002
- Executive Editor, Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law
- University of California, Berkeley
- B.A. – 1999
- Major: History
Presentations:
- Employment Law Year in Review 2023 – Wage & Hour Update, Pincus Professional Education, San Francisco, 2024
- Key Wage & Hour and Class Actions Updates in 2020, Practising Law Institute’s Annual Employment Law Conference, Cutting-Edge Employment Law Issues 2020: The California Difference, San Francisco, 2020
- Speaker at Employment in the Time of Coronavirus, Bar Association of San Francisco, 2020
- Equal Pay Litigation Training, Legal Aid at Work, 2020
- Wage and Hour Case Law Developments, The Rutter Group, 2019
- Top Employment Law Issues for In-house Counsel in California, Practicing Law Institute, San Francisco, 2018
- Recent Developments in Retaliation and Whistleblower Law, State Bar of California Labor and Employment Section Webinar, 2014
- Seek and Destroy: The Effective Use of the Discovery Process in Employment Cases, State Bar of California Labor and Employment Section seminar Newport Beach, California, 2012
- Retaliation and Whistleblower Claims Update & Internal Investigations of Whistleblower Claims, Practicing Law Institute, San Francisco, 2014
- Retaliation and Whistleblower Claims, Practicing Law Institute, San Francisco, 2013
Articles and Thought Leadership:
- Employment Law Practice: Year in Review, Continuing Education of the Bar, 2015 – 2017
- California Business Litigation Handbook (Employment Law Chapter), The Recorder, 2016
- Chapter Editor for The Rutter Group’s Employment Litigation California Practice Guide.
- A contributor to the Fair Labor Standards Act treatise published by the American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law.
- Library of California Employment Law Forms, The Recorder, 2012