Contact Paul

  Paul Tozer is a founding partner in Barth Tozer & Timm LLP in Sacramento, California. As a Martindale Hubbell AV rated attorney he concentrates his practice in defending employers, private and public, large and small, in employment related disputes. His experience includes trial, litigation and alternative dispute resolution. Mr. Tozer also represents companies and individuals in general business and civil liability matters. He has handled more than 200 employment-related cases. Within the last five years, he has successfully tried and won four federal jury trials and has been lead advocate in successfully opposing four appeals in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and several appeals in the California Third District Court of Appeal.
 
 
LEGAL EXPERIENCE

As a trial advocate, Mr. Tozer has extensive experience in matters of public policy claims such as:

Employment and Discrimination
•   Whistle-blower retaliation
•   Race, gender and ethnicity discrimination
•   Sexual harassment
•   Harassment on the basis of protected class – under various statutes
•   Federal civil rights (including 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, et seq., First Amendment rights to free speech and association and Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process and equal protection)
•   Disability discrimination and accommodation
•   Negligent supervision and training

General Liability
•   All areas of civil liability actions, including contract, construction, fraud, personal injury disputes, and other matters of dispute between private and public entities and private individuals

PRACTICE EXAMPLES

In addition to his jury trial success in employment cases, Mr. Tozer has resolved several major cases as lead counsel without trial. Examples include:

•   Davis v. State of California Department of Corrections (1996 WL 271001, E.D. Cal. 1996), in which he successfully defended the California Department of Corrections against a suit filed by seven female correctional officers alleging classwide patterns and practices of discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. The case, which was won on summary judgment, has been cited in about 50 subsequent cases, briefs and legal documents.
•   He successfully defended the California Department of Corrections and Youth and Adult Correctional Authority against a qui tam action. The plaintiff, who brought suit under the California False Claims Act, alleged that state funds were illegally spent on experimental nutritional therapy for juvenile inmates. The defense held that the plaintiff's complaint did not support the viable causes of action for a false claim, fraud or other actionable claim under the Act. The trial court decided in favor of the defendant. The decision was upheld on appeal.
•   In Trinkle v. California State Lottery (2003) 105 Cal.App.4th 1401, rev. denied May 21, 2003, he successfully defended the California State Lottery against a suit challenging the use of electronic vending machines to dispense SCRATCHERS® lottery tickets. The plaintiff claimed the vending machines were illegal slot machines. The court disagreed and the plaintiff appealed the case. The case was successfully defended on appeal.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES & AFFILIATIONS

Mr. Tozer's professional activities and affiliations include:

•   Martindale-Hubbell AV Rated Attorney
•   Author, "Age Discrimination in California: Much Ado About Something," Claims People, Vol. 8, No. 12 (Dec. 1998)
•   Author, "Preventing Abuse of Circumstantial Evidence in Employment Discrimination Cases," DRI–The Job Description (Winter 1997)
•   Author, "A New Tort for Public Employees? Wrongful Termination in the Public Sector," Public Law News, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Spring 1988)

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

B.A. University of Arizona, 1976
J.D. University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, 1979
       
      ^ Back to top