Legal Question in Employment Law in California

The individual defendants named in the suit can request the company attorney also represent them, or request the company hire a separate attorney to do so. If the company refuses, you'll have to hire your own attorney, and try to claim and counter-sue for indemnity from the company for all your damages and costs. If this is in SoCal courts, and if you are serious about hiring counsel yourself, feel free to contact me. I've been doing these suits for over 20 years.

If the manager was acting in the course and scope of his/her employment, the company has an obligation to defend the employee and provide a legal defense. Sometimes, however, there may be a potential conflict of interest between the employer and the manager and the manager may wish to have his/her own attorney represent his/her interests. In such cases, the employer should still pay for the manager's attorney but they do not always do so. A meeting with the company's counsel to understand their position and how they intend to address your concerns should be the first step in deciding if you need your own counsel.

The answers you have received are correct but a little vague on the law. So hopefully I can make it clearer to you. As they mentioned, the California Labor Code requires an employer to defend and indemnify employees from claims and liability arising out of the course and scope of their employment. This means not only do they have to provide you legal representation in a lawsuit, they also must pay the damages for you if you are found liable. The only exception is if you acted outside the scope of your employment, or commited an act amounting to misconduct that the employer is not responsible for. So in 95% of the cases, the employer is the front line defendant, and the employee gets joint legal representation and is protected if they lose. Because the employer has the entire exposure, they get to control the case. Only if, as the case develops, it appears that the evidence may show the employee acted in a way that would make them lose the right to indemnity from the employer, would separate counsel be necessary. Pretty much invariably it is the attorney who is working for both the company and the employee defendant that makes that determination. At that point, their license to practice law is on the line due to conflict of interest rules. So they will be the first to tell the company that they need to pay for separate counsel for the employee. Only at that point does the employee get to choose their attorney, and only within reasonable limits. You don't get to choose The Dream Team to defend you on the employer's dime for a $50,000 wrongful discharge case. Generally this is negotiated by the employee, his attorney, and the company. If agreement cannot be reached, however, and especially if it looks like the employee was in the wrong and outside the scope of their indemnity rights, the employer may cut the employee lose and the employee will have to cross-complain for indemnity while paying their own fees. That is highly unusual, however it does happen.