Barbara Enloe Hadsell is a 1978 graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, and holds a Masters Degree in English Literature. Since founding the Hadsell & Stormer law firm in 1991 with Dan Stormer, her partner from a prior law firm, Ms. Hadsell has maintained a varied practice. She has litigated in the areas of civil rights, constitutional and international human rights law for many years in both state and federal courts. In the frequent instances where her firm co-counsels complex litigation involving teams of attorneys, Ms. Hadsell routinely has been designated by her peers as lead counsel, either singly or as one of a select team of more experienced litigators.
Ms. Hadsell represents large numbers of Plaintiffs in the area of labor law in complex wage and hour class action matters such as Flores v. Albertson’s (a case brought by a class of thousands of janitors against California’s major supermarket chains), Hernandez v. Tyco International (U.S.), Inc., BC 315749 (designated a "complex matter" and currently pending in Los Angeles Superior Court), and Carmen Sandoval, et al. v. Interim Services, et al., BC 236636.
Among the many unique cases Ms. Hadsell has litigated are novel slumlord actions, including: Pineda vs. Wallman, BC245543 [stating claims on behalf of nearly 120 individuals for wrongful death and personal injury against the owners of a Los Angeles apartment building. The complex collapsed due to rot and mold caused by excessive moisture and termite damage occasioned by the owners' neglect and conscious disregard; one tenant died and over 100 others were injured, displaced and suffered significant property and earnings loss]; Casteneda v. Avol [a rather notorious case of first impression against a psychiatrist, Milton Avol, for his slumlord practices in which the then - novel court - ordered relief included compelling Mr. Avol to live in one of his substandard premises with a monitor "shackled" to his ankles for a specified period of time]; and Antonia Leon Roman v. Mervin Kurtzman, C 600 773 [a wrongful death and personal injury action in which Ms. Hadsell represented nine plaintiffs, many of them severely burned and traumatized, against the owners of an apartment complex in which an arson fire killed four members of their garment district family]. Indeed, Ms. Hadsell tried the seminal slumlord case, Hernandez v. Stabach, in which she represented nearly 30 families in a three month long trial which set many of the parameters for such litigation for years to come.
Ms. Hadsell has represented farm workers in labor disputes and various legal aid, grass roots citizens’ groups and public interest organizations in "SLAPP suits" filed against them.
Currently among the most complex matters in her portfolio of cases is a Northern California District Court case in which she is co-lead counsel overseeing the effort of a team of over 20 lawyers from around the country. The action states claims on behalf of Nigerian villagers against global giant Chevron for its involvement in deaths and other human rights abuses occurring in the rich oil producing region of the Niger Delta following environmental protests [Bowoto v. Chevron, C99 - 02506 SI]. In connection with that matter, plaintiffs’ attorneys have made at least 30 trips to Nigeria to conduct depositions; Ms. Hadsell has traveled there twice personally for lengthy periods to depose personnel of Chevron’s subsidiary, Chevron Nigeria Ltd. Additionally, the team has conducted depositions in England, South Africa, Switzerland and throughout the United States. Ms. Hadsell has been personally involved in conducting many of these depositions. Trial in that matter is set for April 2007 in United States District Court in San Francisco.
In a companion state case pending in San Francisco Superior Court
[Bowoto v. Chevron, CGC-03-417580], Ms. Hadsell and the team of plaintiffs’ attorneys represent Nigerians and a class of California consumers seeking damages and injunctive relief against Chevron for misrepresentations regarding its oil production activities in Nigeria, pursuant to B&P 17200, et seq.
Ms. Hadsell has litigated many employment discrimination, harassment, retaliation and whistleblower cases, with settlements totaling in the many millions of dollars. Her trial skills were portrayed by Hollywood in Hostile Intent. This movie concerns one of her early employment discrimination cases, brought in the United States District Court, Central District on behalf of two female police officers. In it, Ms. Hadsell obtained a nearly $4 million judgment from the City of Long Beach, the highest award ever at the time for a sex harassment case in which no punitive damages were available. [Lindsey Allison and Melissa Clerkin v. City of Long Beach, CV89 -3240 RG].
Included among the many other employment cases Ms. Hadsell has litigated are Lynda Vitale v. City of Long Beach, BC126134 [in which she represented the first attorney nationwide to utilize the battered woman syndrome defense in a murder trial in her own claims for sex discrimination and harassment against the Long Beach City Prosecutor’s office], and Edith Lopez v. City of Alhambra, et al, BC 209442 [in which Ms. Hadsell represented a Latina police sergeant in her claims of sex discrimination, harassment and retaliation, and obtained a large settlement and injunctive relief in the form of her promotion to the position of Lieutenant].
Ms. Hadsell has received numerous awards concerning her work. The California Women’s Law Center selected Ms. Hadsell and her partner, Dan Stormer, as the first ever honorees of its now annual Pursuit of Justice Award, in recognition of what the organization characterized as their "cutting edge efforts in the area of protecting the rights of women and minorities."
Ms. Hadsell has been cited by The National Law Journal as one of America’s Top 50 Women Litigators. In May 2006, The Impact Fund, one of the nation’s leading foundations providing broad support for complex public interest litigation in the areas of civil rights, environmental justice and poverty law, honored her as co-lead counsel and part of a team of 24 attorneys in Flores v. Albertson's, CV 01 - 0515 PA. Flores was a statewide federal class action filed on behalf of several thousand monolingual Spanish speaking janitors against Albertson’s, Vons, Safeway and Ralphs for wage and hour violations; the case settled for in excess of $22 million in 2005 on the eve of trial.
Ms. Hadsell repeatedly has been recognized as a “Super Lawyer” in “Southern California Super Lawyers,” published by Los Angeles Magazine and Law & Politics Magazine. The same publication has consistently listed Ms. Hadsell as both one of the top 100 lawyers and one of the top 50 female lawyers in Southern California. In June 2006, the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals cited Ms. Hadsell as one of the state’s top 75 female litigators. In September 2006, Ms. Hadsell was selected to be included in the 2007 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the specialties of Labor and Employment Law.
Ms. Hadsell has appeared in dozens of panels before bar associations, conferences, and at conventions. She was asked to participate in the Ninth Circuit's Gender Discrimination Task Force and has presented at "Arguments of the Masters" and "Legends of Litigation." Ms. Hadsell is frequently asked to speak at law schools and citizens’ organizations.
