WORKPLACE JUSTICE ADVOCATES - Key Persons

Sharon Perez is from Southern California and attended UC Santa Barbara where she majored in Sociology and Black Studies. She was on the Dean's list, earned a distinct honors in Black Studies, and wrote an Honors Thesis titled, "The Class First Approach: An Intersection of Race, Class, and Capitalism." Sharon graduated from Chapman University Law School where she was on the Moot Court Board, Diversity Editor of Chapman Law Review, and Vice President of the Public Interest Law Foundation. Sharon's article "Integrating Intersectionality in the Federal Rule of Evidence 403," was published in Chapman Law's Diversity and Social Justice Forum's November 2021 edition. She has a passion for social justice and helping people gain agency in the legal system. Sharon has obtained her Mediation certification through Chapman Law's Mediation Clinic and through her legal career has had the privilege of advocating for victims in front of many Judges in Southern and Northern California. Education Chapman University, Fowler School of Law

Tamara S. Freeze is a founding shareholder of Workplace Justice Advocates, Professional Law Corporation, where she exclusively represents employees in employment-related matters, such as discrimination, harassment, disability accommodation, wage and hour disputes, whistleblower retaliation, employment litigation and appeals. After earning her undergraduate degree from UCLA, Ms. Freeze attended University of California Berkeley School of Law, where she focused mainly on employment law and litigation, and worked as a summer associate at Skadden Arps Slate Meager & Flom, LLP. After graduation, Ms. Freeze worked for a prominent employment defense law firms Littler Mendelson, P.C. and Bryan Cave, LLP. In 2009, Ms. Freeze opened her own practice, focusing exclusively on employee rights. In 2017 and 2020, the Daily Journal named Ms. Freeze to its list of the top 75 Labor and Employment Attorneys, a rare honor reserved for only most exceptional employment lawyers in California. Ms. Freeze has also been recognized as the Rising Star by California Super Lawyers Magazine every year since 2012, an honor reserved for no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state. Ms. Freeze has been featured in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, on radio stations and various media. In addition Ms. Freeze was recently named as one of the Top 50 Up-and-Coming Women Lawyers in Southern California and Top 100 Up-and-Coming Southern California Lawyers by Super Lawyers Magazine. In her very first jury trial, Tamara obtained a $1,377,000.00 discrimination verdict on behalf of her client, Huron Mayo, in a complex disability discrimination, retaliation and CFRA case - prevailing on all five (5) causes of action against defendant Community Development Commission of the County of Los Angeles. In June 2015, Tamara tried another employment discrimination case on behalf of a disabled school custodian and was able to obtain a $550,000.00 jury verdict for her client. The award was one of the largest discrimination verdicts in San Bernardino County for 2015. In April 2017, Tamara obtained a historic $25.1M Whistleblower Jury Verdict on behalf of her client, Steven Babyak, who was unlawfully terminated after he came forward to upper management with complaints of illegal kickbacks and FDA policy violations. The unanimous verdict is believed to be one of the largest single-plaintiff whistleblower awards in California legal history. She became a 2017 CAALA Trial Attorney of the Year Finalist for her trial work on this case. Ms. Freeze has a purple belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu and enjoys a good chess game. Education J.D., University of California Berkeley School of Law, 2005 B.A., University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), 2000

Xinyue received her J.D. degree from Chapman University, Fowler School of Law. In addition to her law degree, Xinyue obtained a bachelor's degree with a double major in Mathematics and International Relations and a minor in Accounting from Syracuse University in 2015. Xinyue has extensive legal work experience. Prior to joining WJA, Xinyue worked at a highly reputed immigration law firm for 3 years and at a boutique litigation firm for 1 year, and worked as a legal coordinator in 2017 Los Angeles Chinese Film Festival. She joined WJA in 2021 and she works tirelessly to advocate for labor rights. She believes that law is not just a set of cold, hard rules; it instead represents a way of understanding and empathizing with people's narratives, and is about providing people in various situations with different methods to overcome their predicaments. Xinyue looks forward to using her legal knowledge and skills and carrying her empathy and understanding to help employees who are enduring injustice to get the full protection of the law. Xinyue is a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese. In her free time she likes watching movies, freediving and playing badminton. Education J.D., Chapman University, Fowler School of Law B.A., Syracuse University, 2015