Breanne Sheetz Martell

Breanne Martell advises and represents employers in many industries, including healthcare, transportation, restaurant, retail, technology, manufacturing, financial services, security, and franchising. She focuses her practice on defending employers in class and collective actions under federal and Washington state law, and providing practical advice and conducting audits on compliance with wage-and-hour and pay equity laws, and drafting incentive compensation plans including commissions and bonuses. She also regularly represents employers who are facing audits and investigations by government agencies. In addition, Breanne has significant experience defending employers in discrimination, equal pay, and wrongful termination lawsuits.

Breanne’s creativity and dedication have achieved positive results for her clients in numerous settings, including:

• Obtaining complete dismissal of nationwide class action allegations in a case asserting claims for misclassification and unpaid commissions under 48 states’ laws
• Winning summary judgment in a case challenging a company’s nationwide bonus practices with respect to calculation of the regular rate
• Obtaining complete dismissal of nationwide claims under the FLSA related to off-the-clock work for security screening on the grounds that the time was not compensable
• Obtaining dismissal of nationwide collective action allegations in an FLSA case asserting regular rate claims
• Defeating conditional certification of multiple FLSA collective actions asserting off-the-clock and regular rate claims
• Defeating class certification of employees and volunteers in multiple Washington state and federal court wage-and-hour class actions
• Prevailing on an appeal to a federal Court of Appeals in a precedent-setting win regarding a class action settlement
• Securing a complete defense verdict in a federal disability discrimination trial
• Obtaining a dismissal with prejudice on the pleadings in a federal discrimination case
• Winning summary judgment in a high-stakes race and gender discrimination case
• Winning summary judgment in a wage-and-hour case brought by a volunteer
• Persuading a state agency to dismiss a child labor citation on appeal
• Obtaining a determination of compliance from a federal agency regarding independent contractors
• Obtaining a determination of compliance from a Washington state agency regarding allegations of unpaid wages

Breanne is a member of Littler’s Pro Bono Committee and Associates Committee.