About Tim

One of the founding partners of CDF, Tim Freudenberger represents California and national employers in all aspects of labor and employment law and related litigation, with a special emphasis on defending class action wage and hour lawsuits, class action employment discrimination lawsuits, class action suitable seating lawsuits, and other complex employment litigation matters. He heads CDF’s class action defense litigation practice group.

He has practiced at the forefront in the defense of wage and hour and other class actions as these high profile cases have threatened employers throughout the state. For nearly two decades, Tim has repeatedly obtained dismissals and defeated class certification, often through strategic deposition techniques and a thorough investigation of putative classes that reveals critical evidence in support of his employer clients.

Tim received a very favorable decision from the California Supreme Court in Duran v. U.S. Bank Nat. Assn., 59 Cal. 4th 1 (2014), followed by a further victory before the Court of Appeal after remand, Duran v. U.S. Bank, 19 Cal.App.5th 630 (2018). His defense work on the case, which lasted for more than a decade and resulted in multiple published opinions, helped shape class certification and trial principles in exemption cases. The closely followed trial, and subsequent outcome before the Court of Appeal and California Supreme Court, serves as a testament to the respect Tim's class action practice commands throughout California. He cemented this victory when he again defeated class certification after the case was remanded to the trial court, which was affirmed on appeal in a decision that discussed the weaknesses and unreliability of survey methodology in these types of exemption cases, Duran v. U.S. Bank, 19 Cal.App.5th 630 (2018).

His litigation counsel and representation spans the full scope of employment law and workplace claims, including single plaintiff claims. These range from wrongful termination, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation and trade secrets misappropriation, to unfair competition, wage and hour, and traditional labor-management relations matters.

Tim’s extensive experience also extends to representing both large and small companies in business disputes and related litigation. His case background encompasses such commercial disputes as intellectual property claims, breach of contract, breach of franchise or license agreement, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of the duty of loyalty, interference with prospective economic advantage, interference with contractual relations, defamation, fraud and negligence.

In addition to employee-generated claims, Tim also represents his clients in lawsuits brought by their customers alleging discrimination, invasion of privacy, negligent hiring, supervision or retention, and other claims under various federal and state laws.