John V. Ricca

John Ricca is an associate in the San Francisco office of GRSM. John focuses on labor and employment law. He is involved in representing employers in a broad range of matters, including claims for wages, wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, and breach of contract. He also represents employers before administrative agencies, including the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), Workers Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) and Department of Fair Employment of Housing (DFEH). Prior to joining GRSM, John was a labor and employment law attorney at a boutique management-side firm. 

John's areas of practice include Administrative Adjudication, Arbitration, Breach of Contract, Employment Discrimination, Employment Harassment, Mediation, Leave Laws, Unfair Competition, Wage and Hour, Whistleblower, COVID-19 Compliance, and Wrongful Termination.

Litigation Percentage: 90% of Practice Devoted to Litigation, 10% of Practice Devoted to Advice and Counsel.

Admissions

• California

Memberships

• United Contractors (UCON) Legislative Committee Member 2019-2021.
• Associated General Contractors (AGC) Legal Advisory Committee New Case Law Presenter, 2020.

• Drafted arbitration brief in a labor arbitration where the arbitrator ultimately ruled in favor of the Company and found that there was just cause for the termination of a long-term union employee based on the grievant’s false reporting of workplace injury. 
• Achieved dismissal of an administrative complaint before the Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleging discrimination and disparate treatment on the basis of race when the Company had a legitimate decision to fire the claimant after he had threatened to physically harm a supervisor, and the Company’s payroll data proved that its highest wage earners were the same race as the claimant. 
• Represented a client in a putative class action and Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) wage and hour lawsuit where an early settlement agreement was achieved based in part on the Company’s poor economic condition and the ongoing medical crisis of the owner’s wife. 
• Has helped multiple clients obtain early resolution in cases involving alleged harassment, discrimination and/or employee misclassification.
   

• New California Amendments To FEHA Favor Plaintiffs In Harassment/Discrimination Cases (Co-Author), p. 36-37

• California Employers Face New Requirements in the #MeToo Era (Co-Author), Cook Brown LLP Legal Update, October 2018

Education

J.D., McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, Sacramento, California, 2018, with business concentration 

B.A., Political Science, Gonzaga University, 2015