Pre-Employment Issues At-Will Employment Arbitration Agreements Employer Handbooks Employment Discrimination Sexual Harassement Other Forms of Harassement Retaliation Wrongful Termination Accomodation FMLA / CFLA Pregnanacy Leave Post Employment Benefits Workplace Injuries Wage and Hour Laws Exhausting Admin. Remedies

When Payroll Must Be Paid Overtime Rest and Meal Breaks Exempt Employees Ind. Contractor v Employee

Filing a Claim With DFEH Filing a Claim With EEOC

Pre-Deposition Instructions Post-Deposition Instructions Inst. For Requests For Production Inst. For Requests For Admission Inst. For Interrogatories Damage Calculations Economic Damage Non-Wage Claim Economic Damage Wage

Prior to founding Hughes-Cione, a Professional Law Corporation in March of 2007, K.D. Hughes was a partner in the law firm of Spence, Hughes & Associates which was opened in March of 2002.  Before starting her own law firm, Ms. Hughes was an associate with the law firm of Barnes, Crosby, FitzGerald & Zeman.  She has dedicated her practice to prevention, through education and adjudication, of civil rights issues arising in the context of an individual’s employment.  Specifically, Ms. Hughes handles cases for both public and private employees in whistle blower actions, harassment, discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination cases.  She also handles a multitude of wage and hour violations and administrative hearings and appeals before the Office of Federal Operations, Merit Systems Protection Board, United States Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity and Wage and Hour Commissions.

Prior to attending law school, K.D. Hughes was a thirteen year veteran of the United States Postal Service.  After becoming disabled in an automobile accident in 1995, she found herself being subjected to discriminatory conduct in context of her employment.  Because she was not able to find counsel to assist her in the adjudication of her rights, Ms. Hughes took her case against the United States Postal Service, in pro per, to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission where she prevailed.  She later successfully defended the postal service’s appeal to the Office of Federal Operations in Washington D.C..  Thus, a significant portion of her practice today, involves claims brought against various governmental agencies.

In 1997, K.D. Hughes graduated suma cum laude from Arizona State University with a Bachelors of the Arts degree in Intragrative Studies, and a Minor in Communication.  She resigned from her employment with the postal service in 1997 and moved to California to attend Whittier College, School of Law.  In 2000, Ms. Hughes graduated cum laude from Whittier, earning her Juris Doctorate degree.

Ms. Hughes has been a member of the State Bar of California, the United States District Court for the Central and Southern Districts of California, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 2000.  She was also admitted to practice before the United States District Court of Appeals in 2003 and the United States Supreme Court in 2005.

Ms. Hughes has published several multi disciplinary articles on employment related issues which include: “Whose Job is it Anyway?”  Whittier Law Review, April 2000; “Can Barbarians Be Autonomous?”  Arizona Communications Journal, Abstract from “Going Postal” 1997; and “Workplace Ethics” ASU West Express, 1996.  She was a recipient of fellowships from the American Board of Trial Advocates’ and the Whittier Public Interest Law Foundation.  Ms. Hughes was also responsible for creating a curriculum for the Southern California and Arizona chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and was instrumental in implementing the “Street Law” program at Whittier College of Law.  The impetuous behind each of these programs are to empower underprivileged youth by educating them about their civil rights.

Ms. Hughes has been designated as an expert witness in Federal Cases involving the United States Postal Service and has lectured on various topics regarding the practice of employment law.  She is currently on University of California, Irvine’s panel of attorneys who provide services to its legal clinic and on Orange County’s panel of mediators who offer mediation services through the county’s Human Relations Commission.

Isandra Fernandez, Esq.                                                                                             
Of Counsel

Isandra Fernandez practices in the area of civil litigation with an emphasis in labor and employment law. She is a member of the state bar of Florida since 1996 and the state bar of California since 2002. She is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for South Florida since 1996 and United States District Court for Central California since 2003. Ms. Fernandez received her J.D. from Florida State University College of Law. She also studied a semester in law in Oxford, England and worked as a legal intern with the American Immigrations Lawyers Association Pro Bono project. Ms. Fernandez received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from the University of Miami where she was selected for membership in the Golden Key National Honor Society.

Ms. Fernandez was an associate with the law firm of Cohen, Berke, Bernstein Brodie & Kondell in Miami, Florida where she practiced commercial litigation. While an associate with Spence, Hughes & Associates in Irvine, California, Ms. Fernandez practiced employment and labor law which she continues to practice to date. She is also co-counsel on wage and hour class actions. She has extensive business background including sole proprietor of a business which assist in the formation of business entities including corporations and LLCs. Ms. Fernandez has served as a legal consultant to several non-profit and for profit organizations and businesses in Florida and California. She practices law in Florida and California and is fluent in both English and Spanish.