Jonathan Allan Klein

Jonathan is President of Kelly, Hockel & Klein P.C., which he joined in 1998. He offers extensive jury trial experience to his clients, especially in the areas of labor & employment, pharmacy and commercial litigation.  Jonathan also counsels employers and employees with various compliance issues, including meal & rest break policies, non-competes, compliance with the interactive process, and reasonable accommodation in the workplace.  His practice currently focuses on labor and employment litigation including wage and hour class action litigation, and also includes a substantial amount of advice and counsel work for employers.

Jonathan has particular expertise in representation of pharmacists and pharmacies, whether in litigation or licensure matters, and often represents employers seeking return of funds stolen or embezzled.  Jonathan has successfully returned several million dollars in ill-gotten gains to his clients.

Jonathan is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell and currently has its best rating — 5.0 out of 5.0.

EMAIL JONATHAN KLEIN

Education

  • University of California at Santa Cruz, B.A. Politics, 1989
  • Santa Clara University School of Law, J.D., 1992, cum laude, Dean’s list
  • University of Sussex, Brighton, England, 1987-1988

Admissions

  • Admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in California, December 1992.
  • Admitted pro hoc vice in state and federal courts in Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Washington, Arizona, Maryland, New Mexico and Oregon.

Recent Successes & Achievements

Jonathan Allan Klein
Jonathan Allan Klein
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  • Won Summary Judgment in the Eastern District of California before Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill in a disability, interactive process case.  Judge O’Neill agreed with all of the contentions in our brief, holding that Plaintiff was not disabled under California law; that Plaintiff failed to satisfy his burden to trigger the interactive process and reasonable accommodation duties; that the evidence could not support a finding that the stated reason for terminating the Plaintiff was really a pretext for discrimination; and that there was no basis for an award of punitive damages. Read the Order Fenn – Order Granting SJ
  • Obtained a Temporary Restraining Order against Pharmacy Benefit Manager InformedRx on behalf of an independent pharmacy in California.
  • The Nevada Supreme Court, in a case of first impression, held that pharmacies do not have a duty to unknown third parties injured by the pharmacy’s patients.  (Sanchez v. Wal-Mart (125 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 60, 2009.)  Mr. Klein, on behalf of Rite Aid, joined several other Nevada pharmacies in moving for dismissal of plaintiffs’ claims for wrongful death, amongst others.  Read the decision at 221 P. 3d 226 (2009) or read it here. 125_Nev__Adv__Op__No__60.
  • Jonathan Allan Klein and Annmarie Liermann, and their co-authors, won the distinguished G. Duffield Smith Outstanding Publication Award for their article – “Making the Possible Impossible: Medicare Reimbursement Problems”, which was published in the February 2008 edition of For The Defense. This award, given annually by DRI, was formally presented at DRI’s October 2009 Annual Meeting, held this year in Chicago. FTD-0802-KellyKleinLiermannMeseck.  The article discussed the pitfalls of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act and provided tips for navigating settlement of claims where Medicare has a right to reimbursement.  According to DRI, the article received tremendous feedback from readership of For the Defense, with several other organizations and law firms requesting permission to reprint or redistribute copies to their members.  Read DRI’s summary of the award HERE. (An excellent follow-up article on this subject can be found here. Medicare Impossible DRI.)
  • Jonathan Klein and Tom Hockel successfully obtained summary judgment, in a case before the United States District Court, District of Nevada, against a plaintiff suing for various forms of discrimination.  In that case (read the opinion here), the Court agreed with our arguments that plaintiff had not established any triable issues of material fact sufficient to defeat summary judgment.  Read the Order HERE.
  • Jonathan Allan Klein and Tom Hockel, on behalf of Rite Aid Corporation, successfully defended an appeal by Plaintiff against their client’s costs recovery following Plaintiff’s dismissal. The First District Court of Appeal held that defendants seeking costs after plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal did not have to file a proposed judgment together with memorandum of costs.  Read the Appellate Opinion here.
  • In the matter of Thrifty Payless, Inc. v. Dralle, in Clackamas County, Oregon, Katie Weeks and Jonathan Klein obtained a $444,644.45 judgment, with attorneys’ fees, in Oregon state court against a former Rite Aid employee and his wife accused of fraudulently inducing Rite Aid to issue payments to sham companies formed by the defendants for the sole purpose of defrauding Rite Aid.  Shortly after Rite Aid commenced the lawsuit, Ms. Weeks and Mr. Klein won prejudgment attachment of the defendants’ cash assets and real property.  The attached property was applied to satisfy the judgment award.  With the assistance of discovery from the civil action, the Dralles were eventually convicted and sentenced to six and four years in Oregon prison for their roles in the aggravated theft.
  • Jonathan Klein was successful in obtaining dismissal of a plaintiff’s wrongful termination lawsuit. In the case, plaintiff alleged he was wrongfully terminated for failing to join UFCW Location 135, as required by the parties’ collective bargaining agreement.  Judge James V. Selna of the U.S. District Court, Central Division, agreed.  Read the Order.
  • Jonathan Allan Klein won a defense verdict following a wrongful death pharmacy malpractice trial venued in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana (Missoula division.) In the case, plaintiffs contended that Safeway pharmacy negligently filled three prescriptions, for Clozapine, Accupril and Hydrochlrothiazide, despite a lack of published interactions or contraindications between the drugs. Mr. Klein introduced evidence from a retail standard of care expert, as well as from a psychiatric pharmacist, that the pharmacy was not negligent, and complied with the standard of care, because there were no contraindications or drug interactions published in the package inserts, nor found in the published literature. The jury returned a unanimous 7-0 decision in only 75 minutes.

Experience

  • Extensive trial experience representing plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts in employment, pharmaceutical, American with Disabilities Act, professional negligence, premises liability, commercial litigation, real estate and construction disputes.
  • Has represented numerous clients in class action wage and hour litigation involving issues of unpaid vacation, overtime, and meal and rest breaks.
  • Serves as national coordinating counsel and liaison counsel for major retail/pharmacy chains on various pharmaceutical matters, including litigation involving Ephedra, Reglan, Vioxx, Bextra, Celebrex, Baycol and PPA.
  • Handled claims before Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, California Department of Fair Employment & Housing, Nevada Equal Rights Commission, Washington Human Rights Commission, Idaho Human Rights Commission, and Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries.
  • Successfully arbitrated dozens of NASD/FINRA matters and NLRB labor arbitrations and grievances.
  • Advises clients regarding compliance with workplace regulations, and regularly represents clients before administrative law judges and panels.  Currently representing clients before OSHA appeals and unemployment appeals boards.
  • Advises pharmacies regarding compliance with state and federal regulations including duties to warn and HIPAA compliance.
  • Regularly presents seminars and training sessions on issues relating to employment and pharmacy law, and represents pharmacist and pharmacies regarding Board of Pharmacy investigations, informal conferences and appeals.
  • Represents numerous employers in issues relating to Medicare’s rights to reimbursement under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act. Assisted in the formation of the Medicare Advocacy Recovery Coalition (“MARC”) and strategizes with clients and organizations on legislative and judicial efforts at reform.
  • Repeatedly oversaw lawsuits seeking to obtain reimbursement of significant funds stolen from clients by company employees.  In all cases brought to conclusion, employees were sentenced to prison, and substantial assets recovered for our clients.

Publications

  • Co-Author, “Medicare Reimbursement Problems: Making the Possible Impossible, Defense Research Institute,” February 2008.  Read the Article HERE.  Mr. Klein, Ms. Liermann and their co-authors won the distinguished G. Duffield Smith Outstanding Publication Award for this article.
  • Co-Author, Medicare White Paper, “Medicare Lien Interests in Liability Settlements: Easy Solutions to Help Resolve Medicare Reimbursement Issues for Beneficiaries and Insuers”, October 2007.    Read the White Paper HERE

Affiliations and Memberships

  • California State Bar
  • Defense Research Institute
  • American Society for Pharmacy Law
  • Member, Medicare Advocacy Recovery Coalition (“MARC”)
  • Northern California Association of Defense Counsel
  • Associate Member, California Pharmacists Association (“CPhA”)
  • President, Oakland Girls Softball League (“OGSL”), 2008-2009, 2011-2012; Vice President and Development Director, 2009-2010.  www.ogsl.org

Other

Hobbies and Interests

  • Avid fan of San Francisco Giants (no longer waiting for World Series victory!.)
  • Jazz & blues music.
  • Travel (especially to Ireland.)
  • 8th year of coaching girls’ softball.
  • Struggling to learn to play the guitar.