Cozen O’Connor announced management side employment litigator Bethany A. Vasquez, who previously served as employment counsel at San Francisco-based ride-sharing company Lyft Inc., has joined its growing West Coast Labor & Employment (L&E) practice. Vasquez, who reunites with Michele Ballard Miller, chair of the firm’s West Coast L&E practice, joins as a member and will work out of its San Francisco office.

Vasquez brings to Cozen O’Connor nearly two decades of experience handling contingent workforce issues, employee relations, performance management, leaves of absence and accommodations, wage and hour, internal investigations, and compensation. At Lyft she developed a formal leave of absence and accommodation policy; developed labor and employment training and education programs for both management and employees; and managed outside counsel in L&E matters.

Now she will once again work with Michele Miller, one of California’s best-known L&E attorneys. Earlier in her career Vasquez was a shareholder with the California-based Miller Law Group — founded and managed by Michele Miller until 2019 when she and 12 of the firm’s attorneys moved to Cozen O’Connor.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Bethany to Cozen O’Connor and excited to be working with her once again at our San Francisco office,” Miller said. “Bethany’s labor and employment experience is as diverse as the clients she has represented. She has helped companies like Lyft and Zynga Inc. develop and execute L&E policies critical to the success of their business, and successfully defended national retailers like Lowes and Chilies in court. Bethany is a major addition, both to the firm and our West Coast practice.”

Vasquez also brings to the practice experience overseeing regulatory-related internal audits and classification reviews; drafting employment related agreements and templates; investigating and responding to claims, demand letters, administrative complaints, and other employment-related inquiries; and evaluating employment practices, policies, and processes to ensure compliance. She has represented employers before the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“Cozen O’Connor is a cutting-edge firm with an outstanding reputation,” said Vasquez. “It has embraced diversity, which is huge, and is unwavering in its dedication to building a world-class labor and employment practice here in California. I’m thrilled to be working with Michele again to help grow the practice on a regional and national level.”

A former California Super Lawyers “Northern California Rising Star,” Vasquez earned her J.D. at Harvard Law School and her B.A. in psychology at the University of Oregon.