Catha Worthman is a founding partner at the firm. Through her public interest practice involving class actions, multi-plaintiff cases, and individual litigation, Catha advocates for the rights of workers, retirees, and people with disabilities. She has litigated cases involving the full range of ERISA and employee benefits issues, including breach of fiduciary duty, ESOP, pension, healthcare and long-term disability benefits, as well as wage and hour and disability rights cases. Her work has helped to recover unpaid wages and benefits for employees across a range of industries, including healthcare, transportation, fast food, and construction.
Catha often partners with nonprofit social justice organizations and labor unions in impact litigation and policy strategies. Presently, she is co-counsel with leading civil rights advocates in a case challenging discrimination against Latinos on Medi-Cal. She served as co-counsel in National Association of the Deaf v. Netflix, obtaining a favorable decision of first impression that ultimately resulted in Netflix agreeing to make its streaming video 100% accessible through closed captioning.
Catha writes and speaks frequently on her issues of expertise, including civil procedure, ERISA and other employee benefits issues, and wage and hour rights. An effective appellate advocate, she has successfully argued in the Fourth Circuit and briefed several appeals in California and federal courts.
Before joining the firm, Catha was a shareholder at Lewis, Feinberg, Lee & Jackson, P.C., served as a law clerk to Judge William A. Fletcher of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and worked for the Health Systems Division of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
- National Association of the Deaf et al. v. Netflix, Inc.
As part of a team of attorneys including co-counsel Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), and Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen, Catha Worthman & Bill Lann Lee (then at Lewis, Feinberg Lee & Jackson) represented the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), the Western Massachusetts Association of the Deaf and Hearing Impaired (WMAD-HI), and individual plaintiff Lee Nettles in a lawsuit against Netflix for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Approximately 36 million Americans are deaf or hard of hearing. Just as buildings without ramps prevent full access for people who use wheelchairs, television without captions excludes many deaf and hard of hearing individuals. For Plaintiff Lee Nettles and the members of NAD and WMAD-HI, it was frustrating and isolating not to have full access to the popular Netflix service and other internet content.
Netflix contended that it was not required to provide the accommodations required by the ADA, but the federal district court for the Western District of Massachusetts disagreed. In an important ruling, the court held that the ADA indeed applies to website-only businesses.
Ultimately, Netflix agreed to provide closed captions on 100 percent of its streaming content within two years. Netflix also agreed to improve its interface so that subscribers could more easily identify content that was already captioned. This agreement is a model of accessibility for the streaming entertainment industry.
- Gutierrez v. Schmid Insulation Contractors
Feinberg, Jackson, Worthman & Wasow attorneys Todd Jackson and Catha Worthman, along with MALDEF and other firms, recovered $8.5 million in wages for construction workers who alleged they were forced to work off the clock. Too often, workers in the construction industry are taken advantage of by employers who do not pay all wages due. When a group of mostly Spanish-speaking immigrant workers came forward alleging they were being routinely underpaid, like many others they did not have the financial means to fight for their unpaid wages individually.
Todd Jackson and Catha Worthman, along with co-counsel Sullivan Taketa LLP and the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF), filed suit on behalf of the underpaid workers against the California residential construction company Masco Contractor Services of California, Inc., as well as related entities Western Insulation, L.P. and Schmid Insulation Contractors, Inc.
The workers claimed multiple violations of California law: failure to pay for travel time from offices to construction sites, being forced to work through meal and rest breaks, payment in illegal piece rates that even included “negative bonuses” when quotas were not met, and unpaid overtime. They also asserted a record-keeping claim on the grounds that they had to sign time sheets even if they disputed the hours recorded. The employers denied all the charges, but agreed to a settlement after Lewis Feinberg and co-counsel filed a class certification motion with detailed declarations in Spanish and English by well over 50 workers.
Over 1,000 workers shared in the $8.5 million settlement, which was approved by the federal district court for the Central District of California in 2009.
- Tatum v. R.J. Reynolds
- National Association of the Deaf et al. v. Netflix, Inc.
As part of a team of attorneys including co-counsel Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), and Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen, Catha Worthman & Bill Lann Lee (then at Lewis, Feinberg Lee & Jackson) represented the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), the Western Massachusetts Association of the Deaf and Hearing Impaired (WMAD-HI), and individual plaintiff Lee Nettles in a lawsuit against Netflix for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Approximately 36 million Americans are deaf or hard of hearing. Just as buildings without ramps prevent full access for people who use wheelchairs, television without captions excludes many deaf and hard of hearing individuals. For Plaintiff Lee Nettles and the members of NAD and WMAD-HI, it was frustrating and isolating not to have full access to the popular Netflix service and other internet content.
Netflix contended that it was not required to provide the accommodations required by the ADA, but the federal district court for the Western District of Massachusetts disagreed. In an important ruling, the court held that the ADA indeed applies to website-only businesses.
Ultimately, Netflix agreed to provide closed captions on 100 percent of its streaming content within two years. Netflix also agreed to improve its interface so that subscribers could more easily identify content that was already captioned. This agreement is a model of accessibility for the streaming entertainment industry.
- Connor v. First Student
Frequent writer and speaker on employment law and civil procedure, including for CEB, BNA, NELA, CELA, Bridgeport (Wage & Hour), San Francisco Bar Association, ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, and Tort Trial Insurance Practice Section, among others.
Co-Author, with Andrew J. McGuiness, “Class Certification Strategy,” in Class Action Strategy (ABA 2019).
Rewrite and Contributing Author, Sacher et. al., Employee Benefits Law (BNA Books 2013).
Author, “Civil Penalties Under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA),” Employment Damages and Remedies (CEB 2016).
Co-Author, with Byron Walker, “Have You Got What It Takes For Federal Court?: CAFA’s Amount in Controversy,” Class Action Fairness Act: Law and Strategy (ABA 2013).
Co-Author, with Harley Shaiken, “Crossing Borders: Trade Policy and Transnational Labour Education,” Labour, Capital & Society (Nov. 2002).
