The Los Angeles Business Journal has recognized partner Mira Hashmall for her exceptional work in employment litigation, naming her to its 2025 list of the Leaders of Influence: Labor and Employment Attorneys.
Mira is an accomplished trial attorney and certified appellate specialist with over two decades of experience guiding clients through complex, high-profile employment disputes. Her landmark victories have helped shape California employment law and earned her a reputation for skillfully handling intricate legal challenges affecting public entities and employers statewide.
In a July 2025 landmark victory, Mira successfully represented the City of Inglewood before the California Supreme Court in a pivotal case that clarified elected public officials are not ’employees’ under the state’s whistleblower protection laws (Labor Code §1102.5(b)). The case arose from retaliation claims brought by the elected City Treasurer following public disputes with City leadership. While initially challenged at the trial level, Mira secured a reversal on appeal and ultimately prevailed at the California Supreme Court. This ruling clarifies that political disputes involving elected officials cannot be reframed as employment retaliation claims—a key win for public entities.
Mira also brought nearly a decade of litigation to a successful close with a decisive victory for the County of Los Angeles. Following a successful appeal that overturned an $8.1 million judgment awarded to former LASD Deputy Andrew Rodriguez on FEHA retaliation and harassment claims, a new trial was held in February 2025. During retrial, Mira effectively rebutted Rodriguez’s allegations that the Sheriff’s Department subjected him to disability-based harassment and retaliation, and after the court instructed the jury that a key portion of his testimony was untrue, Rodriguez voluntarily dismissed his entire lawsuit on the fourth day of trial.
In another win, Mira successfully defended Los Angeles County in a Public Records Act (PRA) dispute, securing an immediate stay and ultimately reversing a superior court ruling through a writ petition in the Court of Appeal. Her efforts preserved critical privileges.
Mira is currently defending the City of Inglewood and Mayor James T. Butts, Jr., against claims of harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination brought by the mayor’s former assistant, Melanie McDade-Dickens. In March 2025, Mira secured a significant sanctions order after the Court found that McDade committed perjury and destroyed evidence, resulting in monetary sanctions and evidentiary penalties totaling more than $217,000.
Mira is also defending Los Angeles County in a lawsuit by current and former probation officers alleging FEHA violations. The plaintiffs challenge staffing decisions tied to personnel shortages, including reassignments to juvenile facilities and placement at home pending interactive process meetings. Their request for a temporary restraining order was denied. Though framed as a class action, the case lacks a viable basis for certification. The court imposed a stay, lifted only for limited class-certification discovery, which plaintiffs have not actively pursued.
Additionally, Mira is defending Los Angeles County in two high-profile employment matters involving female physicians at UCLA Harbor Medical Center. The first involves two orthopedic surgeons alleging pay inequality, harassment, and gender and pregnancy discrimination, with trial set for October 2025. The second concerns an emergency medicine physician claiming pay inequality, gender and age discrimination, harassment, and whistleblower retaliation, also set for trial in October 2025.