CHERYL STEVENS...
…has practiced law in California for over thirty years. Ms. Stevens earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University. She earned her Juris Doctorate from Howard University, where she was Editor in Chief of the Howard University School of Law, Law Journal.
Before moving to California, Ms. Stevens clerked for the Honorable Damon J. Keith, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Ms. Stevens has extensive experience representing commercial and public entity clients in:
- labor and employment matters
- general civil litigation
- civil rights defense
- business torts
Prior to becoming a neutral, Ms. Stevens represented:
- public entities including school districts
- law enforcement departments
- fortune 500 companies
She was also:
- a Deputy County Counsel for the County of Santa Clara
- an Associate at Bingham & McCutchen
- an Associate at McGee, Lafayette, Willis & Greene
- an Associate at Lafayette & Kumagai
- a partner with Grillo & Stevens LLP
Ms. Stevens’ experience extends over a wide variety of commercial litigation and labor and employment matters including:
- defending complex discipline matters before arbitrators and personnel boards
- defending public entities in contract interpretation grievances
- navigating the employment “alphabet” of EEOC, DFEH, FMLA, FLSA, POBRA, and ADA.
She appeared numerous times before the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) defending and challenging unfair practice charges and conducted more than 20 independent workplace investigations.
Ms. Stevens has extensive experience representing clients in state and federal court, before administrative agencies and boards, and at arbitration.
Her practice included all aspects of employment law, including:
- discrimination
- harassment
- retaliation
- reasonable accommodation
- whistleblower and wrongful discharge claims
Ms. Stevens routinely developed and provided training on:
- AB1825 (sexual harassment prevention)
- SB396 (anti-harassment on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression)
- AB2053 (abusive conduct/workplace bullying)
- progressive discipline training
- training on police officer bill of rights
- new supervisor and manager training
- retaliation training
- training on how to conduct effective investigations
Ms. Stevens was formerly
- On the Board of Directors for the Allen E. Broussard Scholarship Foundation
- A Member and Chair for the City of Oakland Civil Service Commission
- An adjunct Professor at San Francisco Law School and Golden Gate School of Law
- A judge pro tem for Alameda Superior Court
She is admitted to practice before all courts of:
- the State of California
- the United States District Court for the Northern and Eastern Districts of California
- the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court
In addition, Ms. Stevens is admitted in the District of Columbia
Ms. Stevens is conversational in Japanese.