Annie Prasad Vadillo

Senior Associate

Silicon Valley

avadillo@orrick.com

Read full biography at www.orrick.com

Driven, prepared, and expert in overcoming obstacles, Annie is a trial lawyer focused on creative advocacy, practical solutions, and winning.

As a trial lawyer, trusted counselor, and advocate, Annie finds creative solutions - whether that means tackling challenging issues with current employees, resolving a matter pre-litigation, or winning decisively at trial. Having amassed significant courtroom and trial experience, she knows how to deliver the best results for her client. She has won trials and arbitrations for companies against high-profile, highly publicized claims. She also counsels companies of all sizes on issues throughout the entire employee life cycle and partners with clients on creative solutions that minimize risk and achieve the goals of the business. Representative clients include Apple, Carta, Lyft, Williams-Sonoma, Inc., Mercor, Unity Technologies, Instabase, TaskRabbit, and Next Insurance.

Annie also has expertise in:

  • Litigating and defeating harassment, discrimination, equal pay, and retaliation claims.
  • Gig economy and independent contractor classification issues, including the ABC test and Prop 22.
  • Successfully resolving pre-litigation claims.
  • Workplace best practices and policies, including arbitration agreements.
  • Defending companies in government audits including unemployment insurance audits.
  • Investigating employee complaints.
  • Advising on novel and up-and-coming employment issues.
  • Crisis management and PR counseling, including partnering with PR counsel and in-house PR teams on the impact of litigation on media coverage.

When she is not in her office in Menlo Park, Annie chases after her two dogs Clifford and Jude and her toddler.

Posts by: Annie Prasad Vadillo

Try To Restrain Yourself: California Is Temporarily Restrained From Enforcing Arbitration Ban

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Remember California’s new ban on mandatory workplace arbitration agreements? The Eastern District of California has put it on ice, granting a temporary restraining order against the ban’s enforcement. As a refresher, and as we wrote about here, on October 10, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law California’s latest afront on workplace arbitration—AB 51. Under AB 51, employers may not, “as a condition of employment, continued employment, or the receipt of any employment-related benefit, require an applicant or employee to waive any right, forum, or procedure” for FEHA and Labor Code claims. Violations of the new statute carry hefty consequences, including criminal penalties. Many employers see arbitration agreements as necessary to manage employment disputes and an outright ban on this efficient process strongly affects their bottom line. The ban was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2020, but the TRO put enforcement on hold for now. READ MORE →

AB 5 and AB 71: CA Legislature Dukes It Out Over Dynamex and Borello

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The battle between Dynamex and Borello continues. Two competing bills – Assembly Bill 5 (“AB 5”) and Assembly Bill 71 (“AB 71”) – each seek to codify the respective worker classification tests. On May 29, 2019, the California State Assembly overwhelmingly passed AB 5, a bill seeking to codify Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles, which adopted the three-factor “ABC” test to determine a worker’s classification for wage order claims. Now the bill is headed to the state Senate. Meanwhile, AB 71, a bill seeking to codify S.G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Dept. of Industrial Relations, has thus far not enjoyed the same success. READ MORE →

Employers, Victims, and Witnesses Rejoice: California Bars Sexual Harassers from Suing for Defamation

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In the wake of #MeToo, California has enacted a new statute aimed to protect victims, witnesses, and former employers from claims of defamation for making complaints or communicating information about alleged sexual harassers to others.  On July 9, 2018, Governor Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 2770. The bill amends Civil Code section 47, which makes certain communications “privileged,” meaning those communications cannot be the basis of a defamation claim.

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Labor Laws and Federal Contracting Intersect: How Universal Health Systems Could Subject Federal Contractors to False Claims Act Liability

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This post was drafted with contribution from Annie Prasad, law clerk.

The Supreme Court has made federal contracting more treacherous by extending the reach of False Claims Act (“FCA”) liability.  While the decision related to FCA liability for misrepresentations related to staffing levels, the case may provide a roadmap for federal officials looking to trigger FCA claims against contractors who are noncompliant with federal labor laws enforced by the Department of Labor.  Specifically, those at risk of debarment or cancellation of contracts due to noncompliance with Executive Order 11246 or the proposed Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order may be at risk of more serious penalties.

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