Felicia Gilbert

Felicia Gilbert is Partner of Sanford Heisler Sharp's Palo Alto and San Francisco Offices and Chair of the firm’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.

Since joining Sanford Heisler Sharp, Felicia has been recognized as a Benchmark Litigation Labor & Employment Star. The Profiles in Diversity Journal also recognized her among its Women Worth Watching in Leadership. Felicia was recently named a Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyer and recognized on the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyers list. She has also been profiled in Bloomberg Law’s “Leading Questions” column.

Felicia has built a successful employment practice representing individuals and classes in discrimination, harassment, and retaliation matters, where she manages each case from the ground up and strives tirelessly to maximize the attainment of her clients’ desired outcomes. Felicia’s representations have included:

• Litigating on behalf of three former African American employees in their claims of race discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation, and wrongful termination against Kraft Heinz Foods Company
• Litigating on behalf of a former employee in her claims of gender discrimination and constructive discharge against Honeywell International
• Litigating on behalf of a class of African American deputy U.S. Marshals and candidates for deputy U.S. Marshal positions in their hiring, promotions, and headquarters assignments claims against the U.S. Marshals Service
• Co-authoring a Supreme Court amicus brief on behalf of members of Congress in Bank of America/Wells Fargo v. City of Miami
• Negotiating a confidential high six-figure exit package for a female senior director with gender discrimination and retaliation claims against a pharmaceutical company
• Negotiating a confidential high six-figure settlement for a former female employee with pregnancy discrimination and wage and hour claims against a venture capital firm
• Negotiating a confidential six-figure settlement for a former female employee with gender discrimination and retaliation claims against a technology company
• Negotiating a confidential six-figure exit package for a female tax professional with gender and age discrimination, and retaliation claims against an accounting firm
• Negotiating a confidential six-figure exit package for a pharmaceutical company executive with retaliation, whistleblower, and constructive discharge claims
• Negotiating a confidential six-figure exit package for a university executive, including conversion of termination to resignation, with gender discrimination and retaliation claims
• Negotiating a confidential six-figure exit package for a medical equipment sales representative with gender discrimination and sexual harassment claims against a diagnostics company

Felicia received her law degree from Columbia Law School, and Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University. While at Columbia Law School, Felicia served on the Journal of Law and Social Problems and as a Teaching Fellow on the Columbia Law School Moot Court Editorial Board. As part of Columbia Law School’s Child Advocacy Clinic, she helped design a research protocol for adolescent representation and provided legal assistance to young adults transitioning out of foster care. She also interned with the Criminal Appeals Bureau of the Legal Aid Society.

Felicia is a member of the California and New York bars. Felicia has spoken on a variety of topics related to civil rights and employment law and has been an instructor for the Impact Fund’s Class Action Training Institute. Felicia serves on the Board of Legal Aid at Work and is a member of the board’s Executive Committee and Recruitment, Nominating & Engagement Committee. She is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco, the Charles Houston Bar Association, and the Black Women Lawyers Association of Northern California.

Before joining Sanford Heisler Sharp, Felicia was an Associate at Morrison & Foerster, LLP, where her practice involved a variety of complex commercial litigation matters in both federal and state courts. Felicia was a member of the trial team named 2013 “Attorneys of the Year” in civil rights law by California Lawyer Magazine after representing the family of an unarmed man shot fatally by a police officer in a Section 1983 federal civil rights lawsuit against a California municipality.

When Felicia is not working, she enjoys trying new recipes, spending time with her family, and going on walks with her Rottweiler, Jax.