Cathe Caraway

Fun Fact: I have a red belt in Tae Kwon Do and I love ballroom dancing.

About Me: For over 30 years, I have been an employment lawyer fighting for workers’ rights in California courts. I learned early in life that my purpose is to champion the rights of others. I have represented tens of thousands of California workers in hundreds of cases, resulting in putting millions of dollars in unpaid wages back into the pockets of the hardworking individuals who earned them.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in international relations from UC Davis. My law degree is from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles where I received academic honors. I started out working in a personal injury law firm in Los Angeles. Workers were bringing employment issues along with their car accidents, dog bites, and slip and fall cases. I was the attorney who handled the workplace discrimination, harassment, and retaliation cases. Having found my true purpose as an attorney, I left and started my own law firm.

In 2004, I took on my first class action wage and hour lawsuit. The success of that case, representing restaurant workers who were paid less than minimum wage and discriminated against based on their nationality, taught me how powerful these cases can be. The restaurant chain we sued had to pay everyone lawfully because of our case. I have continued to bring class action cases, as well as individual cases, for workers ever since. In 2013, I was awarded Super Lawyer status in recognition of my work in employment and wage and hour cases. Since then I have been named a Super Lawyer each year from 2013 to 2022.

In January 2015, I won Mendiola vs. CPS, a class action for security guards who were on duty 24 hours but only paid for 8 hours. The decision by the California Supreme Court changed the law for workers who had 24-hour schedules and on-call workers. Now companies had to pay them for all their time. The decision came after 10 years of litigation, and it has been cited multiple times by the California Supreme Court as well as dozens of California appellate courts as precedent for workers to be paid for all their hours worked.

I joined Davtyan Law Firm in 2021 to help this powerful team provide greater access to justice for California workers throughout the state. It is my daily pleasure to empower individuals who have been mistreated in their jobs.