Ian A. Wright

• Counsel for defendant in case where Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment in defendant’s favor dismissing the plaintiff’s PAGA lawsuit because he failed to provide adequate notice of his claim to LWDA before bringing the lawsuit. 
• Counsel for defendant in an employment class action alleging nearly $1 billion in damages based on purported failure to reimburse employee cell phone expenses; defeated class certification and defendant’s subsequent motion for summary judgment of the named plaintiff’s individual claims was granted in defendant’s favor. 
• Counsel for defendant in an employment class action against a global transportation company seeking to recover unpaid wages on behalf of nearly 100,000 putative class members for time spent in security checks while entering and exiting work; defeated class certification.
• Counsel for defendant in a bellwether jury trial involving two plaintiffs’ wage and hour and individual employment discrimination and whistleblower retaliation claims; obtained a defense verdict which positioned the remaining plaintiffs’ claims for a favorable settlement.  
• Counsel for defendant in lawsuit filed by a former property manager alleging disability discrimination and wrongful termination; compelled lawsuit to arbitration and arbitrator returned a defense verdict following a 6 day arbitration.
• Obtained an injunction against former wealth manager who violated non-compete provision of partnership agreement.

Ian A. Wright is a partner with Alston & Bird’s Labor & Employment Group. He represents private and public employers in federal and state courts throughout California and the nation in a wide variety of employment-related litigation, including trade secret disputes, defending claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, defamation, and complex wage and hour matters. Ian represents his clients in all phases of litigation, including investigation, discovery, law and motion, alternative dispute resolution, trial, and appeal.  He also has considerable experience litigating cases that arise when employees leave to work for a competitor or misappropriate proprietary information of their former employers.

Ian provides advice and counsel to clients on labor and employment law, particularly in employee discipline, employment policies and handbooks, workplace investigations, technology and privacy issues, and litigation prevention strategies. He also has experience drafting confidentiality agreements, employment contracts, separation agreements, and arbitration and settlement agreements. For preventive measures, he provides workplace trainings to managers, human resources professionals, and in-house counsel. He has arbitrated dozens of single-plaintiff discrimination claims, mediated hundreds of labor and employment matters, and defended employers in administrative charges before the CRD, EEOC, and DLSE. Ian also has obtained summary judgment in numerous single-plaintiff discrimination and wrongful termination claims.

Ian has been listed by Super Lawyers as a Southern California Rising Star in Labor & Employment since 2015.

Bar Admissions

• California

Education

• Loyola Marymount University (J.D., 2010)
• University of Delaware (B.A., 2005)

Memberships