Hon. James Lambden

California Court of Appeal, (Ret.)

First District, Division Two

​​Mediator • Arbitrator • Discovery Referee • Appellate Consultant

Justice James Lambden brings to his ADR practice nearly four decades of experience as a trial lawyer, trial court judge and Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal.

Employment

Representative Cases

  • Arbitration of peer review of physician by hospital


  • Dispute over application of Gov. Code section 12952 (a) "Fair Chance Act"


  • Arbitration of multiple consolidated claims of misclassification of employees by national delivery services corporations.

  • Mediation of age discrimination and failure-to-accommodate claims by terminated long time hotel manager.

  • Mediation of discrimination claims by suspended professor against of state university.

  • Mediation of whistle-blower claims of retaliation regarding OSHA and Labor Code violations, and including prohibited modifications of punch-press safeguards. 

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  • ​Age discrimination claimed by 64-year-old manager.


  • Settled a mediation involving wage and hour violations, as well as wrongful termination in violation of public policy.


  • Plaintiff claimed bonus on work done under earlier bonus program that defendant claimed was superseded. Dispute led to alleged wrongful termination and retaliation claims.


  • Settled a disability discrimination claim by employee fired during treatment for work related injuries.


  • Employee claimed wrongful termination after DUI conviction, claiming discrimination. Treatment because other employees similarly situated were not terminated, FEHA violations and defamation also claimed


  • Settled a case involving sexual harassment claims arising from a single woman managing an all-male crew.


  • Handled a case involving failure to pay commission to sales representative after termination of employment.


  • Handled a case involving claims of gender, age, ethnic discrimination, and failure to accommodate disability that were made after constructive termination of a project manager.


  • Handled a case in which a manager filed a lawsuit claiming duress after executing a separation agreement with provision for release of all claims and collecting severance pay.


  • Handled a case in which attendants at a nursing facility complained of retaliation after pointing that patients were not receiving sufficient care under health and safety code, and that their action was protected "whistleblowing" under Labor Code 1102.5.


  • The claimant was terminated as part of a reduction in force, and brought claims for age and pregnancy discrimination, as well as failure to accommodate.


  • Settled a Wage and hour claims together with failure to accommodate work restrictions for $28,500.00


  • Mediated a sexual assault and hostile work environment with a FEHA claim matter.


  • Settled a case with a claim of abandonment of job characterized as workforce termination. Wage and hour claims asserted for missed breaks.


  • Claims for failure to follow San Francisco "formula retail employee rights ordinances" (FRERO) and for sexual harassment


  • 13-year employee, aged 66 and laid off after injury on the job; claimed age + disability discrimination


  • Claims for predictability schedule pay under san Francisco's FRERO ordinance.


  • Wage & Hour, age discrimination and failure to accommodate.


  • Teacher at private school terminated for disputed cause - claimed breach of employment contract, age discrimination and defamation.


  • Fifteen-year employee claimed termination based on age and disabilities, also failure to pay overtime, travel time, wage statement inaccuracies and failure to pay reimbursements.


  • Attempted rape and harassment by supervisor of young employer.


  • Settled a wrongful termination matter that was based on a disability and wage and hour statutory claims.


  • Settled a high end six figure matter where there were allegations of after-hours assault by supervisor to the plaintiff and the work atmosphere was very hostile.


  • Mediated a matter involving a catastrophic amputation involving a third-party claim and W.C.A.B. claims subject to labor code 4558 exception with appeal following grant of summary judgement based on special employment relationship and workers compensation jurisdiction.


  • Plaintiff sued employer, claiming wrongful termination for violation of company phone policy. Plaintiff also claimed wage itemization and meal break violations by employer. Case settled for $125,000


  • Misclassification of Employee who came on H1 Visa; Trial court mistook H1B1 Visa as form of employment contract; reversed by court of appeals and retried.


  • Hourly worker laid off at age 42 after 25 years as a painter claims age discrimination. Also claims interrupted meal breaks, lack of extra rest breaks for longer shifts, incorrect wage statements, waiting time, etc.Settled a case where the plaintiff was terminated after receiving a cancer diagnosis with any interactive process based on premature conclusion that no accommodation was possible.


  • Professor forced to retire after being disciplined for sexual harassment alleged that punishment was harsher than other cases as the result of ethnic discrimination.
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  • ​Attempted rape and harassment by supervisor of young employer.

  • Class action for meals and rest break violations; Potential case of 2100 employees in the restaurant chain.

  • Wage & Hour, age discrimination and failure to accommodate.

  • Teacher at private school terminated for disputed cause - claimed breach of employment contract, age discrimination and defamation.

  • Claims for injunctive relief and damages under FEHA and Unruh Act by five disabled tenants arising from broken elevator.

  • Plaintiff sued employer, claiming wrongful termination for violation of company phone policy. Plaintiff also claimed wage itemization and meal break violations by employer. Case settled for $125,000

  • Misclassification of Employee who came on H1 Visa; Trial court mistook H1B1 Visa as form of employment contract; reversed by court of appeals and retried.

  • Hourly worker laid off at age 42 after 25 years as a painter claims age discrimination. Also claims interrupted meal breaks, lack of extra rest breaks for longer shifts, incorrect wage statements, waiting time, etc.
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  • Physician contested termination and contended that the administrative peer review hearing process by hospital administration resulting in findings that he should no longer treat patients violated his due process rights and was not supported by substantial evidence.

  • Physician challenged hospital board's decision to condition her reappointment to medical staff on having a consultant available prior to admitting any patient.

  • Class action brought by newspaper carriers and distributors against newspaper entities for wage and hour violations, alleging they were required to work as independent contractors even though they were actually employees

  • A class action brought against employer, alleging nonpayment of overtime wages, meal and rest period violations, and other violations.

  • Casino dealers class action against casino claimed violations of the Labor Code and conversion arising out of the collection and distribution of dealers’ tip money.

  • Former employee sued his employer, his employer's subsidiary, and a plant manager, claiming unlawful termination in violation of public policy, defamation and misrepresentation concerning other employment, and his wife sued the same

  • Hundreds of retirement plan members sought inclusion of cash premiums they contended should not have been excluded from calculation of their final compensation.

  • Numerous cases and claims based on statutory wage and hour violations in settings including retail sales, automotive repair and sales, outside sales, restaurants, janitorial services, and healthcare services.

  • Claims against major retailer for wrongful termination based on plaintiff’s alleged theft of personal property owned by another employee who aspired to replace plaintiff.

  • Wrongful termination claim brought by a 55-year-old long-term employee who was fired and replaced by a younger employee based on technical violation of rules not regularly enforced.

  • Wrongful termination claims by utility worker based on termination after alerting employer of unsafe practices.

  • Arbitration of hostile workplace cases and constructive termination, including alleged mistreatment because of race, ethnicity, age, gender, and sexual orientation.

  • Arbitration of discrimination claims in firing of executive level employee at online social media headquarters.

  • Arbitration of racial and sexual orientation discrimination claims in constructive termination of employee at chain restaurant.

  • Claims against insurance adjuster firm for gender discrimination based on pregnancy, harassment-hostile work environment and retaliation.

  • Whistle-blower, wrongful termination and retaliation claims against amusement park involving dangerous deferred maintenance and mistreatment of animals.

  • Claims by research scientist that hostile work environment was intentionally created by his assignment to perform tasks involving inappropriate manual labor.

  • $4 million resolution of claims for discrimination and wrongful termination by professional woman who was pushed out of her job after returning to work following accident and a life-threatening injury.

  • Multi-day mediation of claims by a lifelong employee of professional association who found her job essentially eliminated by new executive director who transferred resources to younger staff.

  • Mediation of discrimination claims against car dealership for failure to accommodate illness.
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  • Post-verdict settlement of claims of gender discrimination and hostile environment/constructive termination arising from employee posting sexually explicit photos and texts.