Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, Valerian Law and Dardarian Ho Kan & Lee Have Reached a $15.5 Million Settlement of California Private Attorneys General Suit Against Oracle America, Inc. Concerning California Sales Employees 

Media Contact: Jamie Moss, newsPRos, at 201-788-0142 or Jamie@newspros.com.

CALIFORNIA, April 9, 2025 – Attorneys at Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, Valerian Law and Dardarian Ho Kan & Lee announced they have reached a $15.5 million settlement agreement in a Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) lawsuit (Abrishamcar v. Oracle) in San Mateo Superior Court on behalf of the State of California and the named plaintiffs, two former California sales employees of Oracle America, Inc. (“Oracle”). The plaintiffs have filed a motion for approval with the Court.

The lawyers represented the named plaintiffs, in a lawsuit which was filed in September 2015 under California’s PAGA law seeking penalties based on allegations that the technology company violated certain California Labor Code sections with respect to the company’s sales compensation plans and sales commission practices in Fiscal Years 2015 to 2018.

Oracle denies the allegations and maintains that its policies, agreements, contracts and practices were lawful. 

The plaintiffs are represented by Michael D. Palmer and Eli Watkins of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight; Xinying Valerian and Dan L. Gildor of Valerian Law, P.C.; and Laura L. Ho, James P. Kan and Ginger L. Grimes of Dardarian Ho Kan & Lee.

“We are extremely pleased by this settlement, which brings to conclusion nearly a decade of litigation,” said Michael Palmer, Co-Managing Partner of the New York office of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight. “This settlement is a testament to the dedication of our clients who have invested years of their lives to achieving this outcome,” said Xinying Valerian, managing partner of Valerian Law and one of the co-lead trial lawyers for the plaintiffs.  “Coming after years of hard fought litigation, this settlement shows the importance of these two former employees stepping forward and seeking to enforce California’s labor laws,” said Laura Ho of Dardarian Ho Kan & Lee.  

The settlement covers PAGA penalty payments for over 5,000 alleged aggrieved current and former California employees; payment to the California Labor Workforce and Development Agency; plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees, costs and other expenses; the settlement administrator’s expenses; and the PAGA Representative Service Awards, in amounts to be approved by the court.  

The parties jointly selected Atticus Administration, LLC (“Atticus”) to serve as administrator of the settlement funds. Following approval by the Court, Atticus will send a PAGA settlement notice to each employee entitled to compensation, along with the employee’s PAGA payment. 

Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight is a public interest and civil rights law firm with offices in New York, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Nashville, and San Diego. The firm focuses on executive representation, wrongful termination, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, wage theft and overtime violations, whistleblower and qui tam, sexual violence, Title IX violations and victims’ rights, financial mismanagement and ERISA litigation, and Asian American litigation and finance matters. The firm’s lawyers have recovered over $1 billion for our clients through many verdicts and settlements. Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight can be contacted through its website: www.sanfordheisler.com.

Valerian Law, P.C. is a woman of color-owned plaintiff-side law firm located in Berkeley, California. The firm’s mission is to advocate for workers who have suffered discrimination, retaliation, wage theft and other unfair and unsafe working conditions. Using a client-centered approach, Valerian Law effectively leverages its attorneys’ decades of litigation and negotiations expertise in individual and class and collective actions to expand protection for people most impacted by bias, discrimination, and disparities in economic power. The firm specializes in individual and class action employment, civil rights, and wage and hour disputes and has vindicated the rights of thousands of clients.

Dardarian Ho Kan & Lee (DHKL) has been in the forefront of the struggle for civil rights and workers’ rights since 1972, evolving into one of the nation’s leading plaintiffs’ class action law firms devoted to the protection of the interests of workers, people with disabilities, consumers, and others who are subjected to discrimination and abuse.  DHKL continues its decades-old commitment to fighting for justice through class action and complex litigation in cases involving employment discrimination, wage and hour violations, disability access, voting rights, and consumer rights.  DHKL has a national practice, litigating cases in federal and state courts throughout the country.  You can contact the firm via its website: www.dhkl.law.