JustinJackson
Associate
Labor & Employment
jujackson@seyfarth.com
More About Justin
Justin searches for practical solutions to legal, strategic, and operational challenges presented by shifting wage and hour landscapes.
Justin focuses his practice on wage and hour class actions, representative actions, collective actions, employment discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful termination, breach of contract, and unfair business practice litigation in both state and federal court. He also has significant experience in trial preparation, including overall defense strategy, jury selection and voir dire, and mock trials and focus groups.
Justin frequently defends employers in class actions involving over 20,000 employees. Justin has successfully defeated class certification in several high-profile wage and hour class action cases with potential damages and penalties exceeding $125,000,000. Justin has also negotiated and obtained several favorable settlements in class action, representative action, and single-plaintiff cases. Recently, he negotiated a settlement for less than 5% of the potential exposure in a multi-plaintiff case involving wage and hour and unfair business practice claims.
Justin has also assisted in numerous employment-related investigations, such as wage and hour compliance audits, internal audits, and state and federal audits. He analyzes copious amounts of wage and hour data to spot trends that will help defeat class certification.
Justin started at the firm in 2016 as a class action clerk, where he worked full time for almost two years before going to law school. He returned to Seyfarth for his 1L summer, his 2L summer, and worked part time during his 2L and 3L years.
Justin focuses his practice on wage and hour class actions, representative actions, collective actions, employment discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful termination, breach of contract, and unfair business practice litigation in both state and federal court. He also has significant experience in trial preparation, including overall defense strategy, jury selection and voir dire, and mock trials and focus groups.
Justin frequently defends employers in class actions involving over 20,000 employees. Justin has successfully defeated class certification in several high-profile wage and hour class action cases with potential damages and penalties exceeding $125,000,000. Justin has also negotiated and obtained several favorable settlements in class action, representative action, and single-plaintiff cases. Recently, he negotiated a settlement for less than 5% of the potential exposure in a multi-plaintiff case involving wage and hour and unfair business practice claims.
Justin has also assisted in numerous employment-related investigations, such as wage and hour compliance audits, internal audits, and state and federal audits. He analyzes copious amounts of wage and hour data to spot trends that will help defeat class certification.
Justin started at the firm in 2016 as a class action clerk, where he worked full time for almost two years before going to law school. He returned to Seyfarth for his 1L summer, his 2L summer, and worked part time during his 2L and 3L years.
- JD, Loyola Law School
International Law Review, editor
Dean’s honor list - BA, University of Southern California
Magna cum laude
Dean’s honor list
Golden Key Honor Society
Phi Kappa Alpha Fraternity
- California
- US District Court, Central District of California
- US District Court, Eastern District of California
- US District Court, Northern District of California
Related Services
- Ramirez v. S. California Pizza Co., LLC, No. G062245, 2024 WL 4879325 (Cal. Ct. App. Nov. 22, 2024), as modified on denial of reh'g (Dec. 17, 2024), review denied (Feb. 11, 2025) (class certification sought on behalf of approximately 15,000 pizza delivery drivers; affirming the denial of class certification for claims of failure to reimburse business expenses and failure to pay wages at the correct regular rate of pay; rehearing requested by plaintiffs-appellants denied by the Court of Appeal; petition for review by plaintiffs-appellants denied by the California Supreme Court)
- Serrieh v. Jill Acquisition LLC, 707 F. Supp. 3d 968, 974-975 (E.D. Cal. 2023) (denying a plaintiff’s motion to remand a class action case to state court, this decision is often cited to support removal under the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”), for the proposition that, “[a]t the outset, the court notes that a defendant is not ‘required to comb through its records to identify and calculate the exact frequency of violations’” and “[c]ourts in the Ninth Circuit have frequently held a violation rate between 20% and 60% to be reasonable when a plaintiff claims a ‘pattern and practice’ of violations” and “the Ninth Circuit has warned district courts that demanding certitude over ‘assumptions used in calculating the amount in controversy’ is ‘inappropriate’”)
- Kabasele v. Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc., 2022 WL 229856 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 26, 2022) (granting motion to dismiss Second Amended Complaint alleging class action and PAGA claims, on the grounds that the plaintiffs merely listed boilerplate allegations unsupported by specific facts and could not state a “plausible claim” for relief)
- Wilson v. Pactiv LLC, 2021 WL 5818492 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 3, 2021) (denying class certification as to claims alleging “off the clock” work where time paid to employees was less than time recorded on time clocks, unlawful “rounding” of time punches, meal and rest period violations, and failure to pay the “regular rate” when calculating overtime wages)
- In re Southern California Pizza Wage and Hour Cases, 2021 WL 4571227 (Cal. Sup. Ct. September 3, 2021) (granting the employer’s motion for decertification of a class of 42,000 employees of one of the largest Pizza Hut franchisees; the court held that class certification could not be maintained based on the theory that the employer had a policy that did not explicitly tell employees they were allowed to leave the premises for rest periods; court held that an employer’s “silent” policy cannot support class certification, absent classwide evidence of harm)
- In re Southern California Pizza Wage and Hour Cases, 2021 WL 2549103 (Cal. Sup. Ct. June 14, 2021) (denying class certification in a potential class of over 42,000 pizza delivery drivers, claiming that they were not fully reimbursed for the costs of operating their own personal vehicles; court held that an employer does not have to pay the standard mileage rate set by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), but may merely pay the actual expenses incurred by an employee, even if those actual expenses are lower than the IRS rate; court held that actual expenses involve thousands of individualized inquiries, which require denial of class certification)
- Morand-Doxzon v. Delaware North Sportservice, Inc., Case no. 3:20-cv-01258-DMS-BLM (S.D. Cal. September 9, 2021) (denying class certification in a case brought on behalf of over 3,000 employees who worked at Petco Park, the San Diego Padres Baseball Stadium; plaintiffs claimed that employees at Petco Park did not receive a net 30 minutes for meal periods or net 10 minutes for rest periods, because they were required to participate in security inspections when re-entering the park; court held that if the security inspection is mandated by a third party or governmental entity, then employees are not “subject to the control” of the employer and, therefore, do not have to be paid; court held that it would be unfair to require employers to pay for time spent in third-party security inspections which are now ever-present at airports, sports stadiums, music venues, state fairs, and schools)
- Morand-Doxzon v. Delaware North Sportservice, Inc., Case no. 3:20-cv-01258-DMS-BLM (S.D. Cal. September 9, 2021) (court denied class certification in a case brought on behalf of employees who worked at Petco Park, the San Diego Padres Baseball Stadium, based on a theory that they were required to complete “new-hire paperwork” before beginning their job, including such things as applications, consent forms, and arbitration agreements; court held that plaintiffs had not adequately alleged this theory of liability in their generalized class action complaint, which alleged only a broad claim for “failure to pay for all time worked;” court held that a boilerplate complaint cannot be a basis for claims that were not adequately alleged, but later discovered by opposing counsel)
- Co-Editors, Litigating CA Wage & Hour Class and PAGA Actions, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, 23rd Edition (2024)
- Co-Editor, Litigating California Wage & Hour Class and PAGA Actions, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, 22nd Edition (2022)
- Contributor, Workplace harassment Law § 28, 2d. ed., Seyfarth Shaw LLP (2018)
- Author, "Contemporary Forms of Human Slavery: Slavery Clandestinely Everywhere," Washington Undergraduate Law Review (2017)
- Contributor, "The Private Interests of Public Officials: Financial Regulations in the U.S. Congress," Legislative Studies Quarterly, Washington University in St. Louis (2015)
- Habitat with Humanity, Seyfarth volunteer, 2020
More About Justin
Justin searches for practical solutions to legal, strategic, and operational challenges presented by shifting wage and hour landscapes.
Justin focuses his practice on wage and hour class actions, representative actions, collective actions, employment discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful termination, breach of contract, and unfair business practice litigation in both state and federal court. He also has significant experience in trial preparation, including overall defense strategy, jury selection and voir dire, and mock trials and focus groups.
Justin frequently defends employers in class actions involving over 20,000 employees. Justin has successfully defeated class certification in several high-profile wage and hour class action cases with potential damages and penalties exceeding $125,000,000. Justin has also negotiated and obtained several favorable settlements in class action, representative action, and single-plaintiff cases. Recently, he negotiated a settlement for less than 5% of the potential exposure in a multi-plaintiff case involving wage and hour and unfair business practice claims.
Justin has also assisted in numerous employment-related investigations, such as wage and hour compliance audits, internal audits, and state and federal audits. He analyzes copious amounts of wage and hour data to spot trends that will help defeat class certification.
Justin started at the firm in 2016 as a class action clerk, where he worked full time for almost two years before going to law school. He returned to Seyfarth for his 1L summer, his 2L summer, and worked part time during his 2L and 3L years.
Justin focuses his practice on wage and hour class actions, representative actions, collective actions, employment discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful termination, breach of contract, and unfair business practice litigation in both state and federal court. He also has significant experience in trial preparation, including overall defense strategy, jury selection and voir dire, and mock trials and focus groups.
Justin frequently defends employers in class actions involving over 20,000 employees. Justin has successfully defeated class certification in several high-profile wage and hour class action cases with potential damages and penalties exceeding $125,000,000. Justin has also negotiated and obtained several favorable settlements in class action, representative action, and single-plaintiff cases. Recently, he negotiated a settlement for less than 5% of the potential exposure in a multi-plaintiff case involving wage and hour and unfair business practice claims.
Justin has also assisted in numerous employment-related investigations, such as wage and hour compliance audits, internal audits, and state and federal audits. He analyzes copious amounts of wage and hour data to spot trends that will help defeat class certification.
Justin started at the firm in 2016 as a class action clerk, where he worked full time for almost two years before going to law school. He returned to Seyfarth for his 1L summer, his 2L summer, and worked part time during his 2L and 3L years.
- JD, Loyola Law School
International Law Review, editor
Dean’s honor list - BA, University of Southern California
Magna cum laude
Dean’s honor list
Golden Key Honor Society
Phi Kappa Alpha Fraternity
- California
- US District Court, Central District of California
- US District Court, Eastern District of California
- US District Court, Northern District of California
Related Services
- Ramirez v. S. California Pizza Co., LLC, No. G062245, 2024 WL 4879325 (Cal. Ct. App. Nov. 22, 2024), as modified on denial of reh'g (Dec. 17, 2024), review denied (Feb. 11, 2025) (class certification sought on behalf of approximately 15,000 pizza delivery drivers; affirming the denial of class certification for claims of failure to reimburse business expenses and failure to pay wages at the correct regular rate of pay; rehearing requested by plaintiffs-appellants denied by the Court of Appeal; petition for review by plaintiffs-appellants denied by the California Supreme Court)
- Serrieh v. Jill Acquisition LLC, 707 F. Supp. 3d 968, 974-975 (E.D. Cal. 2023) (denying a plaintiff’s motion to remand a class action case to state court, this decision is often cited to support removal under the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”), for the proposition that, “[a]t the outset, the court notes that a defendant is not ‘required to comb through its records to identify and calculate the exact frequency of violations’” and “[c]ourts in the Ninth Circuit have frequently held a violation rate between 20% and 60% to be reasonable when a plaintiff claims a ‘pattern and practice’ of violations” and “the Ninth Circuit has warned district courts that demanding certitude over ‘assumptions used in calculating the amount in controversy’ is ‘inappropriate’”)
- Kabasele v. Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc., 2022 WL 229856 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 26, 2022) (granting motion to dismiss Second Amended Complaint alleging class action and PAGA claims, on the grounds that the plaintiffs merely listed boilerplate allegations unsupported by specific facts and could not state a “plausible claim” for relief)
- Wilson v. Pactiv LLC, 2021 WL 5818492 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 3, 2021) (denying class certification as to claims alleging “off the clock” work where time paid to employees was less than time recorded on time clocks, unlawful “rounding” of time punches, meal and rest period violations, and failure to pay the “regular rate” when calculating overtime wages)
- In re Southern California Pizza Wage and Hour Cases, 2021 WL 4571227 (Cal. Sup. Ct. September 3, 2021) (granting the employer’s motion for decertification of a class of 42,000 employees of one of the largest Pizza Hut franchisees; the court held that class certification could not be maintained based on the theory that the employer had a policy that did not explicitly tell employees they were allowed to leave the premises for rest periods; court held that an employer’s “silent” policy cannot support class certification, absent classwide evidence of harm)
- In re Southern California Pizza Wage and Hour Cases, 2021 WL 2549103 (Cal. Sup. Ct. June 14, 2021) (denying class certification in a potential class of over 42,000 pizza delivery drivers, claiming that they were not fully reimbursed for the costs of operating their own personal vehicles; court held that an employer does not have to pay the standard mileage rate set by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), but may merely pay the actual expenses incurred by an employee, even if those actual expenses are lower than the IRS rate; court held that actual expenses involve thousands of individualized inquiries, which require denial of class certification)
- Morand-Doxzon v. Delaware North Sportservice, Inc., Case no. 3:20-cv-01258-DMS-BLM (S.D. Cal. September 9, 2021) (denying class certification in a case brought on behalf of over 3,000 employees who worked at Petco Park, the San Diego Padres Baseball Stadium; plaintiffs claimed that employees at Petco Park did not receive a net 30 minutes for meal periods or net 10 minutes for rest periods, because they were required to participate in security inspections when re-entering the park; court held that if the security inspection is mandated by a third party or governmental entity, then employees are not “subject to the control” of the employer and, therefore, do not have to be paid; court held that it would be unfair to require employers to pay for time spent in third-party security inspections which are now ever-present at airports, sports stadiums, music venues, state fairs, and schools)
- Morand-Doxzon v. Delaware North Sportservice, Inc., Case no. 3:20-cv-01258-DMS-BLM (S.D. Cal. September 9, 2021) (court denied class certification in a case brought on behalf of employees who worked at Petco Park, the San Diego Padres Baseball Stadium, based on a theory that they were required to complete “new-hire paperwork” before beginning their job, including such things as applications, consent forms, and arbitration agreements; court held that plaintiffs had not adequately alleged this theory of liability in their generalized class action complaint, which alleged only a broad claim for “failure to pay for all time worked;” court held that a boilerplate complaint cannot be a basis for claims that were not adequately alleged, but later discovered by opposing counsel)
- Co-Editors, Litigating CA Wage & Hour Class and PAGA Actions, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, 23rd Edition (2024)
- Co-Editor, Litigating California Wage & Hour Class and PAGA Actions, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, 22nd Edition (2022)
- Contributor, Workplace harassment Law § 28, 2d. ed., Seyfarth Shaw LLP (2018)
- Author, "Contemporary Forms of Human Slavery: Slavery Clandestinely Everywhere," Washington Undergraduate Law Review (2017)
- Contributor, "The Private Interests of Public Officials: Financial Regulations in the U.S. Congress," Legislative Studies Quarterly, Washington University in St. Louis (2015)
- Habitat with Humanity, Seyfarth volunteer, 2020