Bonnett Fairbourn Friedman & Balint, P.C.

Wendy Harrison’s practice focuses on class action litigation involving civil rights, wage and hour, and employment violations in federal and state courts in Arizona and throughout the United States. She has represented clients in a wide range of employment and discrimination cases relating to the Civil Rights Act, Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act. She also counsels employers in complying with state and federal regulations.

In Schofield v. State of Arizona, Ms. Harrison represented a large class of employees from the State of Arizona who recovered millions of dollars inback pay for unpaid on-call wages.

Ms. Harrison also participated in Thompson v. MetLife which resulted in a recovery exceeding $1 billion for African-Americans who were subjected to racial discrimination in the sale of life insurance policies. Other successful race discrimination class action cases include American National Insurance Co. and Life Insurance Company of Georgia.

In Dehoyos v. Allstate, Ms. Harrison also represented a class of African-American and Hispanic policyholders who were charged higher rates for homeowners and automobile insurance based on the use of credit scoring. In addition to monetary relief for the class, the settlement resulted in Allstate changing their credit scoring system.

Important appellate decisions Ms. Harrison has successfully briefed recently include: In re Monumental Life Insurance Company, 365 F.3d 408 (5th Cir. 2004) (class certification of race discrimination case under Rule 23(b)(2)); Dehoyos v. Allstate, 345 F.3d 290 (5th Cir. 2003) (state preemption of federal civil rights violations under the McCarran-Ferguson Act); Baker v. Stewart Title and Trust of Phoenix, Inc., No. 1 CA-CV 99-0211(Ariz. Ct. App. 2000) (RICO); Snyder v. Fry’s Food Stores of Arizona, Inc., No. 01-16305 (9th Cir. 2002) (ADA claim).

Ms. Harrison is a contributing author of the Fair Labor Standards Act, Cumulative Supplements for 2003, 2004 and currently 2005. She also regularly participates in the drafting of the annual reports for the American Bar Association subcommittee for the Age Discrimination in Employment and the subcommittee for the Family Medical Leave Act.

Ms. Harrison received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from University of California at Berkeley in 1987 with honors and received her Law Degree from the University of Southern California.