Y. Douglas Yang

Doug has a multi-faceted advisory and litigation practice, spanning multiple industries and clients ranging from startups to multinational corporations. Focusing primarily on data governance and employment matters, Doug assists organizations in dealing with complex risk prevention and mitigation issues. 

Areas of Practice

Litigation

Doug is an accomplished litigator with extensive experience in both federal and state courts, and an active arbitration practice before all major arbitration associations. Representative matters include defending employers in class and representative actions, which range from the typical “kitchen sink” set of claims to some of the most intricate lawsuits involving challenging factual issues and novel legal arguments; prosecuting and defending against trade secret theft and misappropriation cases involving C-suite executives, technical personnel, and salespersons; handling disputes between executives, founders and their companies; and litigating government agency enforcement actions.

Advisory

Doug is frequently called upon by clients to advise on various contentious and non-contentious matters related to data governance and employment issues. Common areas of retention include organizational policy reviews and overhauls, internal investigations, incident response, and workforce training. He has also served as the employment law expert on various transactions involving multi-state employers in highly regulated sectors, particularly the healthcare industry.

Doug is an IAPP Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US).

Background

Prior to joining Sheppard Mullin, Doug served as a law clerk to the Honorable Helen Gillmor of the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii. While in law school, he served as the Executive Editor of the Boston University Public Interest Law Journal.

Doug is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Judicial Appointments Committee and Amicus Briefs Committee. He has presented as a guest speaker for the UCLA School of Law and has written various articles for multiple legal industry publishers, including LexisNexis and the Los Angeles Daily Journal.

Experience

• First chaired wage and hour trial involving allegations of unpaid bonuses brought against restaurant group in Ventura County Superior Court, resulting in favorable defense verdict.
• Second chaired one-week ERISA bench trial, on behalf of security systems company, involving legal issues of first impression in the Central District of California, resulting in favorable defense verdict.
• Second chaired arbitration involving allegations of race/national origin discrimination, retaliation and harassment, brought against hospital system, resulting in favorable defense award.
• Second chaired six-week trial involving dispute between co-founders of startup company in Los Angeles County Superior Court, resulting in damages award of less than seven percent of the amount requested by the plaintiffs.
• Part of the trial team that litigated one-week arbitration hearing on behalf of medical technology company against former corporate executive who asserted claims of breach of contract, unpaid wages, and defamation, resulting in favorable defense award and further award of counterclaims against the executive.
• Obtained temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against C-suite executives in trade secrets lawsuit filed in the Central District of California, which resulted in the issuance of a Court-ordered permanent injunction against the executives.
• Obtained summary judgment on behalf of hospital system against former health care provider, who alleged violations of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
• Obtained court-ordered dismissal with prejudice of PAGA lawsuit brought against national manufacturing company.
• Obtained dismissal of lawsuit alleging assault, battery, and false imprisonment against public university officials and campus safety officers, resulting in award of costs against the plaintiff.
• Obtained favorable defense award from DLSE as to administrative complaint brought against national restaurant group, which asserted allegations of improper tip calculations and withholdings.
• Obtained favorable defense award from DLSE as to administrative complaint brought against retail grocery store, which alleged violations of COVID-19 related paid sick leave laws.
• Obtained dismissal of DLSE claim concerning alleged unpaid commissions brought by outside sales commissioned salesperson.
• Successfully compelled individualized arbitration of putative class action plaintiff’s wage-and-hour claims.
• Achieved approximately 98 percent reduction in damages and penalties sought by commissioned salesperson.

Honors

Ones to Watch — Labor and Employment Law, Best Lawyers, 2021-2025

Articles

Labor & Employment Law Blog

• "Major Changes to AAA Employment Arbitration Rules: What Employers and Litigants Need to Know," May 7, 2025

• "Share The Tip Jar: Department of Labor Finalizes Rule Opening Tip Pooling To Back-of-the-House Workers," December 23, 2020

• "With Immunity and Justice For All? Congress Weighs Unparalleled Tort Reform for Businesses in Light of COVID-19 Pandemic," August 10, 2020
• "The California Data Privacy Implications of Using Facial Recognition in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic," May 14, 2020
• "As America Prepares to Return to Work, EEOC Approves Testing Employees for COVID-19," April 24, 2020
• "Back to the Joint Employer: Having Changed the Classification Test for Independent Contractors, Will the California Legislature Target the Joint Employer Test Next?," December 16, 2019 

Speaking Engagements

• "Navigating the New Normal; What Employers Need to Know About COVID-19 in the Workplace," San Diego County Employer Advisory Council Webinar, April 2021
• "Wage and Hour and Leaves of Absence Issues in the Time of COVID-19," Alameda County Employer Advisory Council Webinar, February 2021