Melanie C. Ross is a partner in the law firm of Knee, Ross & Silverman LLP where she practices exclusively in all areas of labor and employment law, with particular emphasis in employment litigation, sexual harassment and unfair business competition.

Ms. Ross has more then 17 years experience defending employers, managers and supervisors in all phases of civil employment and business litigation from discovery and pre-trial motions through the trial and appellate process.  She has defended employers and managers against civil actions in state and federal court for wrongful termination, sexual harassment, discrimination, defamation, intentional torts, breach of contract, fraud, negligence, wage disputes, unfair competition and misappropriation of trade secrets. She also has substantial experience responding to state and federal agency inquiries from the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.

In the field of employment law, few cases ever go to trial. Ms. Ross has tried several jury cases in Superior Court and has conducted many successful arbitrations before JAMS and AAA in the areas of sex and race discrimination, sexual and racial harassment, breach of contract, disability discrimination, defamation, unfair competition and misappropriation of trade secrets. She has also successfully obtained and defended against preliminary injunctions against former employees who misappropriated trade secrets or confidential information for the benefit of a competitor.

Ms. Ross has argued several successful appeals in the California Court of Appeals and currently has a case pending before the California Supreme Court, Hughes v. Pair, in which the Court shall define sexual harassment for the first time in a statute applicable to non-employment business and professional relationships such as doctors-patient and lawyers-clients.

Ms. Ross has represented clients in a wide range of industries, including but not limited to aerospace, entertainment, health care, mortgage lending, insurance, and non-profit organizations throughout the Southern California area.  She specializes in representing individuals accused of sexual harassment and is well equipped to deal with the unique emotional and personal issues facing these individuals, while working closely with company counsel to provide a cost-efficient, unified and strong defense.

Ms. Ross graduated from Emory University in 1987 where she was Phi Beta Kappa and received her law degree from University of Southern California in 1990 where she served as Notes Editor of the USC Law Review. She began her legal career in 1990 in the employment law department at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker.  Ms. Ross has served as a  legislative intern in Washington D.C., and as a parliamentary intern in London, England.  She has also served as a Helpline Crisis Intervention Counselor.  Ms. Ross has been AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest possible rating based on an extensive and confidential peer review by members of the Bar.

To contact Melanie C. Ross, please send an email to mross@krsllp.com Or call (310) 551-0909 (ext. 307).