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Sarju A. Naran

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Sarju A. Naran

Shareholder, Chair - Employment Law

55 South Market St., Suite 900
San Jose, CA 95113

408-947-2456 | 408-287-2583
sarju.naran@hogefenton.com
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Sarju A. Naran

Main Bio

“At the heart of every company are its employees. Employees can be a company’s greatest asset and also its greatest source of legal risk. The risks can be particularly challenging in California, where the cards appear to be stacked against employers and the technical ‘gotchas’ and penalties are abundant. I collaborate with employers to shape their employment practices, help develop and maintain a positive corporate culture, address compliance issues strategically, and navigate through disputes that are often nuanced and emotionally charged.” —Sarju Naran

Background

Sarju Naran is a zealous advocate for his clients, and approaches litigation with creativity and strategy. Chair of the Employment Law Group, Sarju’s experience spans from representing middle-market and family-owned closely held businesses to large multi-national companies. He regularly litigates and provides advice and counsel to companies on:

  • Wage and hour issues
  • Trade secret misappropriation
  • Employee mobility
  • Wrongful termination
  • Performance management
  • Leaves of absence
  • Other high risk matters

Sarju appreciates that litigation can be an unwelcome distraction to business operations, and often comes at high financial and intangible cost. As such, Sarju is committed to representing his clients with an eye toward prevention, compliance, mitigation, and efficiency.

Sarju spent his first five years of practice with Hoge Fenton, then was an associate with Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker, LLP in Palo Alto for four years before rejoining Hoge Fenton in May 2010.

Sarju was named a “Northern California Super Lawyer” from 2016-2021. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor. He also received the 2020 Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent Attorney Award and received the Avvo Top Attorney Rating.

Practice Areas

Education

  • J.D., University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, with distinction
  • B.A., English and Philosophy, Santa Clara University

Admissions

  • California
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Affiliation & Awards

Professional & Community Activities

  • San Jose Downtown Association, Board member and Committee chair
  • Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Professional Member
  • ProVisors (San Jose 1), Executive Committee Member and Host
  • California Minority Council Program, Member
  • San Jose/Silicon Valley Community Leadership Program, Alumnus
  • Firm Pro Bono Chair
  • Rotary Club of San Jose, Member 

Awards

Sarju was named a “Northern California Super Lawyer” from 2016-2021. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor. He also received the 2020 Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent Attorney Award and received the Avvo Top Attorney Rating.

Representative Experience

Representative Matters

  • Obtained temporary injunctive relief to prevent a Fortune 100 employer from interfering with a Chief Technical Officer’s new position with another Fortune 100 employer by attempting to enforce an out-of-state non-compete agreement in California
  • Settled—through direct negotiations, mediation, and often pre-litigation—dozens of employee claims for alleged overtime violations, exemption misclassification, missed meal and rest break claims, disability discrimination, age discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and unfair competition
  • Advised and counseled an international company through the one and one-half year-long process of closing one of its California plants, including guidance through WARN compliance, and drafting retention agreements, relocation agreements, and separation agreements
  • On the eve of trial, successfully resolved a highly contentious lawsuit for nuisance value, where a former employee sued for alleged unpaid commissions and the client employer filed a cross-action for trade secret misappropriation based on documents uncovered through litigation
  • Favorably resolved numerous sexual harassment lawsuits based on uncovering damaging and provocative employee information through inexpensive computer forensics and informal investigation of publicly-available social media postings
  • Obtained a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction preventing a former sales employee of a franchisee business from unlawfully competing through the use of his former employer’s client lists, pending and completed transaction lists, and other confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information
  • On behalf of a prominent national Silicon Valley-based company, conducted HR investigations of complaints lodged against a Vice President for alleged disability discrimination and retaliation

Speaking & Publications

Webinars

Publications

Speaking Engagements

Sarju is a frequent speaker, having presented seminars to clients, professional organizations, and trade associations on such topics as wage and hour compliance, overtime exemptions, independent contractor classifications, performance management, leaves of absence, sexual harassment (AB 1825 training), social media and technology in the workplace, document management and retention, trade secret audits and protection, employment terminations, and annual employment law updates. Sarju has also been a panelist on electronic discovery issues for the Santa Clara County Bar Association. For a list of these and other trainings offered by Sarju, please click here.

Mackrell International California Minority Counsel Program Best Places to Work 2019 Bay Area Green Business