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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 costs. 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 recognized as a “Northern California Super Lawyer” from 2016 to 2024, an honor awarded to no more than five percent of lawyers in the state by the Super Lawyers research team. In 2023, he earned the Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent Attorney Award and the Avvo Top Attorney Rating. Additionally, Sarju was recently recognized in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers in America.

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, Eastern & Northern Districts of California
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Affiliation & Awards

Professional & Community Activities

  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley, Board Member
  • Rotary Club of San Jose, Board Member
  • San Jose Downtown Association, Board member and Committee chair
  • ProVisors (San Jose 1), Executive Committee and Host
  • San Jose/Silicon Valley Community Leadership Program, Alumnus
  • Downtown Community Development Corporation, Board Member and Treasurer
  • Firm Pro Bono Chair
  • San Jose Downtown Association, Former Board Member
  • YMCA of Silicon Valley, Former Board Member

Awards

Sarju was recognized as a “Northern California Super Lawyer” from 2016 to 2024, an honor awarded to no more than five percent of lawyers in the state by the Super Lawyers research team. In 2023, he earned the Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent Attorney Award and the Avvo Top Attorney Rating. Additionally, Sarju was recently recognized in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers in America.

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

Speaking Engagements

  • Presenter, Navigating California’s Remote Work Reimbursement Requirements, May 28, 2024
  • Co-Presenter, 2024 Employment Law Update, January 18 & 24, 2024
  • Co-Presenter, Don’t Get Sued: Labor & Employment Law Landmines, December 11, 2023
  • Co-Presenter, If Knew Then What I Know Now Wage & Hour Webinar, September 26, 2023
  • Co-Presenter, Deciphering the Alphabet Soup of Leaves of Absence Laws, May 17, 2023
  • Co-Presenter, Constant Change is the Norm. – How Are You Keeping Up?, February 28, 2023
  • Co-Presenter, 2023 Employment Law Update, January 17, 2023
  • Co-Presenter, Supervisor Training: Managing Employees & Timekeeping, September 28, 2022
  • Co-Presenter, Wage & Hour – Back to the Basics, May 10, 2022
  • Co-Presenter, 2022 Annual Employment Law Update, January 11, 2022
  • Co-Presenter, Employers’ Hard Lessons Learned Through Wage & Hour Lawsuits, September 22, 2021
  • Co-Presenter, Reopening California – What Employers Need to Know, July 15, 2021
  • Co-Presenter, Reopening California – What Employers Need to Know, June 16, 2021
  • Co-Presenter, Legal Issues Committee Q2 2021, June 8, 2021
  • Co-Presenter, California Employers’ Obligation to Recall Laid-Off Employees First, Hoge Fenton, April 28, 2021
  • Co-Presenter, Hiring: First Impressions Matter…and So Does Not Getting Sued, Hoge Fenton, April 7, 2021
  • Co-Presenter, CA Labor Law Discussion, California MBA, January 12-13, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, 2021 Annual Employment Law Update, December 15, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, Litigation in Reverse, October 27, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, Return to work… or Not?, October 8, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, Employee Lawsuits on the Rise: What You Can Do, September 23, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, Best Practices for Managing a Remote Workforce, September 2, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, Reopening California: PPP Forgiveness & Return to Work, July 14, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, Reopening California: PPP Forgiveness & Return to Work, June 30, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, Round Table: Schools Returning to the Workplace, June 25, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, Returning to Work, May 26, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, Tactics and Traps in Deposing and Defending Business Representatives Under FRCP 30(b)(6) and CCP 2025.230, May 19, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, Employment Issues, Relating to COVID-19, May 7, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, How Manufacturers are Taking Care of Business Amid COVID-19, April 30, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, Your COVID-19 Funding & Employment Questions Answered, April 23, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, The FFCRA and CARES Act Update, April 7, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, Human Resources Compliance – AB5, March 26, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, COVID-19 Update: New Paid Leave Benefits for Employees, March 20, 2020
  • Co-Presenter, Small Mistakes, Major Consequences…Let’s Hit Rewind, July 27, 2018
  • Co-Presenter, Wage and Hour Law Update, November 15, 2017
  • Co-Presenter, Employment Law 101, Financial Poise November 18, 2016

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.

Publications

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