Education

Carleton College (B.A., magna cum laude, 2001)

UCLA School of Law (J.D., 2004)

Experience

Josh is a shareholder at Gilbert & Sackman and joined the firm in 2004. His practice focuses on representing labor unions and working people in labor, employment, and ERISA cases. Josh appears frequently in federal and state courts, and has represented plaintiffs in several large class actions. He has also practiced before the NLRB and frequently handles arbitrations involving complex contract issues. Josh was recognized as a “Super Lawyer – Rising Star” by Los Angeles Magazine between 2009 and 2019. Josh was selected as a Super Lawyer for 2023.

Josh works primarily in the firm’s class action, litigation, and ERISA practice areas. He has been certified as class counsel by many federal and state courts and has achieved significant victories for employees in many large class action lawsuits based on California wage and hour laws, including meal periods, overtime, minimum wage, California’s Unfair Competition Law, and the California Private Attorneys General Act of 2004. Josh has also represented Taft-Hartley trust funds in collection cases, filing proofs of claim and representing creditors’ interests in federal court. He has also represented plaintiffs in ERISA lawsuits exclusively against single-employer plans.

Selected Achievements

Lead counsel in a team of attorneys that took on the oil industry between 2008 and 2013 over meal period violations at California refineries. Gilbert & Sackman put over $65 million in workers’ pockets as part of settlements in the cases. Along the way, Gilbert & Sackman successfully certified multiple classes in hotly contested litigation in both federal and state courts.

Lead counsel in a series of class action cases enforcing California’s rest break laws against the oil industry since 2017. Gilbert & Sackman has collected over $50 million in wages owed to class members.

Lead counsel in a misclassification case in the California Court of Appeals in 2015 representing truck drivers at the Port of Los Angeles. Gilbert & Sackman won the appeal and the appellate court overturned an order compelling the drivers to arbitrate their claims. The case was a major victory in securing the rights of misclassified employees to have their claims heard in court.

Lead counsel a lawsuit against a manufacturing company over meal and rest breaks between 2013 and 2016. After successfully certifying a class in a contested motion, Gilbert & Sackman secured a multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of the affected workers.

Lead counsel in the seminal case before the National Labor Relations Board establishing the right of workers to Weingarten representation before submitting to a drug or alcohol test. The NLRB agreed with Gilbert & Sackman that workers have a right to union representation before agreeing to be tested.

Lead counsel in a case involving alleged violations of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). Gilbert & Sackman prevailed after a multi-week trial in federal court, and secured a complete victory for the union at the Ninth Circuit.

Represented a union in an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor into alleged internal election violations. After the investigation, the DOL concluded that the union had not violated the LMRDA.

Lead counsel in a successful pension case against a single-employer pension plan on behalf of workers affected by a plant shutdown in 2008. After appealing an adverse benefits determination to the Ninth Circuit and winning, Gilbert & Sackman secured millions of dollars in back pay to the workers after prevailing in an arbitration ordered by the court.

Lead counsel in a case before the National Labor Relations Board that resulted in reinstatement and backpay for six workers who had been unfairly terminated as a result of their participation in organizing efforts at an apparel manufacturing facility.

Lead counsel in numerous arbitrations resulting in reinstatement and backpay for workers unfairly terminated or affected by company decisions in the health care, grocery, manufacturing, and other industries across the Southwestern United States.

Memberships

• California State Bar, Labor and Employment Law Section

• Colorado State Bar

• Arizona State Bar

• Washington State Bar

• Wisconsin State Bar

• AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Alliance

• Los Angeles County Bar Association

• National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles Chapter

Selected Presentations and Publications

• “The Rise of the Remote Workforce and Its Impact on the Employment Relationship,” ABA Labor and Employment Law Conference, Los Angeles, CA (2021)

• “Wage and Hour Basics,” ABA Labor and Employment Law Conference (Virtual) (2020)

• “Class Discovery in Wage and Hour Litigation,” ABA Labor and Employment Law Conference, New Orleans, LA (2019)

• “Validity of Arbitration Agreements,” CLIWA Retreat, Los Angeles, CA (2015)

• “Should You Litigate or Arbitrate?” Orange County Labor & Employment Relations Association, Anaheim, CA (2014)

• “No Rest for the Weary: New Laws That Could Lead to New Claims,” Bridgeport Annual Wage & Hour Conference, Los Angeles, CA (2013)

• “Hot Topics Before the NLRB,” Los Angeles County Bar Association, Labor and Employment Annual Retreat (2011)