Laurie L. Johnston

Laurie Johnston is a partner at Gordon & Rees LLP. Laurie’s practice focuses on defense of employers in employment litigation and preventive employment counseling.

Laurie has litigated a broad range of subjects, including claims for employment discrimination and harassment, class actions, defamation, wage and hour violations, FMLA compliance, employee disability and other workplace legal issues.  She has also defended charges and suits brought before the EEOC, the Washington Human Rights Commission and Labor & Industries.

Laurie devotes the remainder of her practice to providing general advice to employers on a full range of workplace issues, including harassment, discrimination, terminations, the FMLA and ADA.  She also helps employers prevent problems by developing policies, forms, practices and training that address both the employer’s legal needs and its business realities. 

For the eight years prior to Gordon & Rees, Laurie practiced at the national employment firm of Jackson Lewis.  For the six years prior to Jackson Lewis, Laurie worked for Lee, Smart, Cook, Martin & Patterson P.S., Inc. in Seattle.  Her practice emphasized insurance defense litigation with a diverse litigation practice.  Prior to Lee Smart, Laurie gained significant trial experience working at the King County Prosecutor’s office.

Admissions

Washington State Bar Association
United Stated District Courts, Eastern and Western Districts of Washington
United Stated Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Memberships

Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Association, Employment Law Section Chair 
Inns of Court
Mother Attorney Mentoring Association (Board Member)

Community Involvement

Laurie is a regular volunteer for the King County Legal Clinic program.

Representative Experience

Trials and Motion Practice

Awad v. Footaction.  Plaintiff alleged discrimination, wrongful termination and false imprisonment when he was terminated after a report that plaintiff was suspected of theft.  After plaintiff’s deposition, Laurie filed summary judgment.  In response, plaintiff agreed to a complete dismissal of all claims.

Bass v. Northwest Airlines, Inc.  This lawsuit alleged race, age and disability discrimination under state and federal law, as well as state law claims for breach of employment contract and negligent supervision.  Laurie won dismissal of the federal age discrimination claim based on the plaintiff’s failure to exhaust his administrative remedies.

Charnholm v. Bartell Drug Co.  Plaintiff alleged defamation, outrage, negligent infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, false light and deliberate injury arising out of plaintiff’s termination.  The court granted summary judgment dismissal on all claims.  The Court of Appeals upheld this decision.

Fallow v. Factory Mutual.  Plaintiff, a former manager, alleged age discrimination after he was offered a non-management position as part of a company reorganization.  The court granted summary judgment after Laurie demonstrated legitimate business reasons for defendant’s decision.

Gellert v. FlightSafety Int’l.  Plaintiff filed discrimination and harassment claims in Washington.  Laurie successfully argued the case should be dismissed and the venue transferred to Texas.  As a result, the case was dismissed in Washington and was not re-filed in Texas.

MacDonald v. Grace Church Seattle.  Plaintiff sued her church-employer, a regional governing body and the denomination.  Laurie represented the latter two defendants.  Laurie moved for partial summary judgment on plaintiff’s public policy and negligent supervision claims.  Granting the motion, the court found that there is no cause of action for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy against a non-employer and found that the ministerial exception to the First Amendment prevented the court’s interference on the negligent supervision claim. 

Haugstad v. Mt. Baker Mushroom Farm.  At trial, Plaintiff alleged that the low-impact accident at issue in the case resulted in ongoing neck problems for plaintiff and, ultimately, a surgery on her neck.  Laurie argued that the $32,000 in medical bills and bills for household help were not related to the accident, but due largely to plaintiff’s prior medical problems.  The jury agreed and returned a total verdict of $15,000, an amount less than a prior offer of judgment.

Jansen v. Long Painting.  In this case, plaintiff sought damages for personal injury as a result of a construction work-site accident.  After two weeks of trial, at the close of plaintiff’s case, the court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss.

Sexton v. ARCO, et. al.  This low impact soft tissue claim was complicated by a second accident which occurred seven months after the impact in which plaintiff’s vehicle was totaled.  Plaintiff eventually had surgery resulting in approximately $50,000 in medical bills.  Plaintiff’s final pre-trial demand was $300,000.  The verdict against this defendant netted $55,000.

Over 150 Criminal Trials – Prior to her civil litigation practice, Laurie worked for the King County Prosecutors office where she tried over 150 cases.

Appellate Decisions

Campbell, et al. v. Obayashi. In this multiple plaintiff case, plaintiffs alleged a pattern and practice of discrimination against Sound Transit and three of the companies building the light rail.  Through a series of targeted motions, Laurie was able to obtain dismissal of the eight plaintiffs with claims against Laurie’s client, Obayashi.  Three of the plaintiffs appealed to the Ninth Circuit.  The briefs are currently pending before the court.

Charnholm v. Bartell Drug Co.  Plaintiff alleged defamation, outrage, negligent infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, false light and deliberate injury arising out of plaintiff’s termination.  The court upheld summary judgment dismissal on all claims.

MacConnell v. Fountain Super Drug Store.  Plaintiff failed to disclose her potential cause of action to a bankruptcy trustee.  After learning this in discovery, Laurie moved to dismiss for lack of standing.  After the judge denied the motion, Laurie moved and was granted discretionary review.  The Court of Appeal concurred plaintiff lacked standing. 

MacDonald v. Grace Church Seattle.  Plaintiff sued her church-employer, a regional governing body and the denomination.  Laurie represented the latter two defendants.  Laurie moved for summary judgment on plaintiff’s Title VII claims, arguing that she failed to timely file a charge of discrimination.  Granting the motion, the court concluded that the shorter time period for her charge applied because Washington’s agency does not accept charges against religious organizations and, therefore, the longer period that applies in situations where a charge could be filed with either the state or federal agency was not applicable.  The Ninth Circuit agreed.

Miscellaneous

Garner v. National Railroad Passenger Corp. dba AMTRAK.  After filing a claim for violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act and discrimination, plaintiff later agreed to a voluntary dismissal.

Golden v. Community Health Services, et al.  While investigating plaintiff’s background, Laurie discovered plaintiff had a history of filing discrimination claims, which she failed to include her discovery responses, and also discovered plaintiff’s counsel had represented her in several of these claims.  After confronting plaintiff’s counsel with the ramifications of failing to fully disclose this information in discovery, plaintiff agreed to a voluntary dismissal.

Ponath v. Purdue Pharma.  Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging retaliation, disparate treatment and discrimination.  After voluminous discovery showing that plaintiff’s termination was due to his poor performance, plaintiff agreed to a voluntary dismissal.

Publications

Employee Handbooks: The Bedrock of the Workplace
King County Bar Bulletin (2010)
 
Dating in the Workplace Avoiding Good Lovin’ Gone Bad
King County Bar Bulletin (2010)

Religious Discrimination Section
Washington Lawyers Practice Manual (2009)

Religious Discrimination Section
Washington Lawyers Practice Manual (2008)
 
Arbitration Agreements Facing Sea Change Regular Review Recommended
King County Bar Bulletin (2006)

Tailoring Your Dress Code
King County Bar Bulletin (2005)
 
E-mail and Internet Rights at Work
King County Bar Bulletin (2004)

Practice

Employment Law

Office

Seattle

Education

J.D., Creighton University, 1995

• Member, Creighton Law Review
• Moot Court Board
• Negotiations-Client Counseling Board
• Creighton University Law Scholarship
• High Grade: Pretrial Litigation
• Who's Who: American Law Students
• Phi Delta Phi

B.S., Political Science and Communications-Theater Arts, University of Northern Iowa, 1992

• Dean's List
• Order of Omega Honorary
• Phi Eta Sigma