Laura Maechtlen

Labor and Employment Department

Laura Maechtlen is the Chair of Seyfarth Shaw’s Labor and Employment Department. Laura helps to minimize her clients’ involvement in systemic discrimination litigation, and her practice is also focused on the defense of class, collective and multi-plaintiff actions. Laura also has experience litigating against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) in systemic actions, both at the early charge stage and in large-scale EEOC pattern-and-practice litigation.  Laura is also a leading member of the Firm’s Workplace Compliance Solutions Practice, which focuses on change management and the delivery of proactive solutions that help global clients avoid mass litigation and develop internal compliance initiatives.  Laura manages administrative agency investigations, including systemic initiative, pattern-and-practice and disparate impact claims involving unequal pay, hiring and pre-employment testing, background checking, promotion, and reasonable accommodation processes.  Laura has trial experience, and has helped her clients secure defense verdicts in the California Superior Courts in the counties of San Francisco, Alameda and Santa Clara.

Laura has handled a significant number of high-profile matters arising from employer practices and policies in the wake of the #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter movements, including investigations, audits, compliance reviews and rebuilding of company policy/practice following PR events and/or legal claims.  Laura has experience counseling senior executives and Boards of Directors about how to resolve/avoid mass litigation and develop internal compliance initiatives issues. Laura has conducted a multitude of employee and management trainings, including diversity and inclusion training, anti-harassment training and positive employment relations training. Laura has assisted clients in conducting pay equity and “barrier analysis” related to underrepresented employees in the workforce, helping to craft solutions and strategies for addressing pay equity risk, improving diversity and creating a culture of inclusion. 

J.D., Boston University School of Law (2002); B.A., University of Colorado, Boulder (1998)