Specialty Areas

Wage and Hour Claims

Thom Diachenko has won every case he has taken to trial representing workers who have been the target of wage theft, in its various forms. “Wage and Hour Claims” can include:

  • Unpaid Wages (overtime, minimum wage, commissions, meal & rest period premium, vacation time, sick time, time shaving, work performed off the clock, etc.)
  • Misclassification (, independent contractor  versus employee, exempt versus non-exempt, and salary versus hourly)
  • Indemnification/Unreimbursed Expenses (buying or using personal items such as cars, laptops, phones, office supplies, travel, etc. used for the employer’s benefit).
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Legal Consultation

With our extensive litigation and trial experience, both employees and employers have sought us out to counsel them through the complex litany of wage and employment laws. Our goal in this capacity is to avoid the high price of litigation and eliminate legal exposure with innovative and practical business solutions. Our legal consultations, generally include:

  • Payroll Audits
  • Internal Investigations
  • Pre-Litigation Dispute Resolution
  • Wage and employment issues
  • Employee Handbooks
  • Severance Agreements
  • Employment Policies
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Employment Practices

Thom Diachenko has also litigated and successfully tried cases against employers who engaged in illegal employment practices including:

  • Discrimination
  • Sexual Harassment
  • Retaliation
  • Wrongful Termination
  • Whistleblower Claims
  • Unequal Pay (i.e., based on gender)
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Representative Wage Claims

Thom Diachenko has extensive and peer recognized experience with the Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) enacted to promote compliance with the California Labor Code. Thom has successfully tried four PAGA cases which involve the recovery of penalties for the state of California and other aggrieved employees for Labor Code violations, with the goal of protecting workers’ rights and remediating the employer’s illegal wage and hour practices.

  • Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) Claims
  • Class Actions
  • Multi-Party Claims
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Personal Injury, Negligence, Malpractice & Abuse

Thom and Beth Diachenko’s professional careers caring for patients as licensed registered nurses earlier in their careers and Thom’s experience as a medical malpractice defense trial attorney (for over 12 years), have given our office a  higher than usual level of in-depth and advanced understanding of personal injuries, medical causation, and disability. Thom has tried cases for both plaintiffs and defendants in general liability personal injury claims and medical  malpractice claims.

  • Catastrophic Injuries (i.e., amputations, spinal cord injuries, anoxic brain injuries, traumatic brain injuries, birth injuries, loss of limb use, etc.)
  • General Negligence (i.e. car collisions, premises liability etc.)
  • Professional Malpractice Claims (i.e. medical malpractice, hospital malpractice, nursing malpractice, etc.)
  • Battery
  • Elder Abuse (physical and financial)
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Wrongful Death Claims

Having seen the fatal consequences to children while working in Pediatric ICUs before and during law school, Thom’s appreciation for wrongful death cases is science based and personal. Thom has litigated wrongful death cases on both the Plaintiff and Defense side.

  • General Negligence
  • Professional Malpractice
  • Elder Abuse
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