Nancy W. Anderson

Shareholder | Seattle | 206.223.7983 | andersonn@lanepowell.com

Areas of Practice

Nancy Anderson is Chair of the Firm’s Wage & Hour Group and concentrates her practice on representing employers in all types of employment law claims, including wage and hour class actions, discrimination, wrongful discharge, ERISA and whistleblower claims. Nancy has defended numerous clients at trial and appellate proceedings in federal and state courts, and in arbitrations and administrative agency proceedings. She has successfully tried to verdict a five-week wage and hour class action, as well as other employment and general litigation cases.

Nancy also advises employers on compliance with federal and state labor and employment law, including wage and hour compliance, benefits and leave issues, discipline and discharge, employee training, and wage and hour audits. Nancy represents employers in a variety of industries, including petroleum, manufacturing, insurance and financial services, retail, health care, timber, food production, hospitality, publishing and banking. Representative clients include: Starbucks, Frito-Lay, IBP, Ingersoll-Rand, Dendreon, IOF, Watchguard, Wells Fargo, Aetna, and Nordstrom.

Nancy has been named on several occasions a “Rising Star” and was named a 2009 “Super Lawyer” in Washington Law and Politics. She is active in the American Bar Association’s and King County Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Sections, and is a member of the planning committee for the annual Pacific Coast Labor and Employment Law Conference. Nancy is a regular speaker on employment, as well as wage and hour issues. She has authored numerous articles, and is Editor of the Association of Washington Business’s Washington State Human Resources File Cabinet (2008), and Wage and Hour Handbook: An Overview of Washington and Federal Wage and Hour Issues (2007).

Professional Experience

Appellate Law Clerk, the Honorable Charles Johnson, Washington Supreme Court (1992-1993)

Admitted to Practice

Washington
U.S. District Court, Western and Eastern Districts of Washington
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
U.S. Supreme Court

Academics

University of Puget Sound (J.D., magna cum laude, 1992)
- Editor-In-Chief, University of Puget Sound Law Review, 1991-1992
Bowdoin College (A.B., cum laude, 1979)
- James Bowdoin Scholar

Practice Group and Specialty Team Memberships

Chair, Wage and Hour Practice Group
Class Action Defense
Employee Benefits
ERISA Litigation
Financial Institutions
Labor and Employment
Retail

Representative Matters and Clients

Alvarez v. IBP, Inc. (five-week wage and hour class action trial; tried to verdict)
Chen v. King County (two-week whistleblower retaliation action; tried to verdict)
Siedschlag v. Wal-Mart (obtained summary judgment for defendant, dismissing all claims)
Thiebes v. Wal-Mart (wage and hour class action; successful de-certification and bifurcation motions)
Kalata v. Nordstrom, Inc. (wage and hour class action; case dismissed before class certified)
Huntley v. Frito-Lay (wage and hour class action; successful resolution, including renegotiation of CBA)
Boursee v. Texaco (wage and hour class action; negotiated successful resolution and case dismissed before class certified)
OCAW v. BP America (ERISA class action) (negotiated successful resolution)
OCAW v. BP Oil (LMRA §185 claims) (obtained summary judgment for defendant)
Cassidy v. Ingersoll-Rand (negotiated successful resolution of whistleblower claims)
Gambill v. Aetna Life Ins. Co. (ERISA litigation; defendant’s motion for summary judgment granted, dismissing all claims)
Ruemler v. Wells Fargo (employment discrimination; defendant’s motion for summary judgment granted, dismissing all claims)

Publications

“Avoid Wage and Hour Violations,” BUILDERnews magazine, February 2010
Another Bad Day At The Office: Wage & Hour, The Bad Days Keep On Coming, July 2006 (Wrote and directed video production)
Washington State Human Resources File Cabinet, 2008 (Editor)
Wage and Hour Handbook: An Overview of Washington and Federal Wage and Hour Issues, 2007 (Editor)
Comment, 16 U. Puget Sound L. Rev. 249 (1992)

Speaking Engagements

“Annual Wage and Hour Update,” Association of Washington Business, 2007, 2008 & 2009
“Human Resources File Cabinet,” Association of Washington Business, 2007, 2008 & 2009
“Practical Tips for Overlapping Leave Laws,” King County HR Forum 2008
“Best Practices for HR Audits,” Lane Powell Annual Employment Seminar, “Best Practices” 2008
“Manager Toolkit: Training on Harassment & Discrimination In The Workplace,” 2007
“The New RCW 49.60 WLAD Disability Definition: A Few Scenarios,” Lane Powell Annual Employment Seminar 2007
“Another Bad Day At The Office: Wage & Hour, The Bad Days Keep On Coming,” Lane Powell July 2006
“Another Bad Day At The Office: Failures in the Interactive Process,” EEOC, Technical Assistance Program Seminar, 2006
“Revised FLSA Regulations Compliance,” Sterling Education Services Seminar, 2006
“Employment Law Update” (Including Wage & Hour Compliance), Association of Washington Business, 2005
“Successfully Defending Damages Claims In Employment Law Cases,” Lorman Ed. Services, 2005
“Hot Topics In Employment Law,” Lane Powell, 2005
“FMLA, ADA and WLAD Compliance,” Lorman Ed. Services, 2004, 2005
“Employment Law A to Z,” Lorman Ed. Services, 2004, 2005
“Wage and Hour Update,” Lane Powell PC, 2003, 2004
“Wage and Hour Claims,” Association of Washington Business, 2004
“State and Federal Personnel Laws in Washington,” Lorman Ed. Services, 2003
“Payroll Basics and ERISA,” Lorman Ed. Services, 2003
“Ten Tips for Your Handbook Review,” Lane Powell, 2002
“Performance Evaluations and Discipline,” Lane Powell, 2002
“New Tips on Wage and Hour Issues,” Lane Powell, 2001
“Monitoring, Investigating, and Regulating On-Duty and Off-Duty Conduct of Employees,” Lane Powell, 2001
“The One-Stop Update for the HR Manager,” Council on Education in Management Seminars, 2001
“The One-Stop Update for the HR Manager,” “Update on Wage and Hour Law,” Council on Education in Management Seminars, 2001

Awards and Honors

Named as Washington “SuperLawyer,” Washington Law and Politics Magazine, 2009
Named as a “Rising Star,” Washington Law and Politics Magazine

Professional and Community Activities

American Bar Association
- Labor and Employment Law Section
- Section of Litigation
Washington Bar Association
- Employment Law Section
King County Bar Association
- Labor and Employment Law Section
- Planning Committee, Pacific Northwest Labor and Employment Law Conference 2002-2004
Federal Bar Association, W.D. Washington
Federal Bar Association, E.D. Washington
Washington Defense Trial Lawyers
Defense Research Institute
SHRM, Society for Human Resources Management
Washington Women Lawyers