Myrna Castañón, Attorney at Law

Myrna Castañón is a labor and employment attorney with 20+ years of experience. Ms. Castañón has litigated federal, state and administrative cases in Northern and Southern California. Shortly after graduating from law school, Ms. Castañón worked as an associate at Kazan, McClain, Edises, Simon & Abrams, where she practiced products liability litigation. After working in the private sector, she worked in the public sector and specialized in Labor & Employment.

Ms. Castañón started working for the federal government in 2000. While at the U.S. Postal Service, she also served as an Acting Deputy Managing Counsel and in that capacity she managed attorneys in the area of Labor & Employment. During her tenure with the Postal Service, she had a 90+% success rate in handling cases. She was lead counsel in a multi-million dollar class action (race discrimination case) and was solely responsible for preparing the case for trial. This was the largest case handled by the U.S. Postal Service in the Pacific Area. Not only did she obtain a successful verdict, but she also received one of the highest awards in the organization and recognized for her outstanding litigation skills.

Ms. Castañón also served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the United States Attorneys Office in the Northern District of California. She trained federal agents and prosecuted white-collar offenses, such as mail fraud and worker’s compensation fraud. She successfully defended a $600,000 dollar disability discrimination case in U.S. District Court for the Northern District and obtained a jury verdict in less than 30 minutes.

From 2010-2012, Ms. Castañón served as Special Counsel to the City of West Covina. In this capacity, she advised the Mayor, Mayor Pro Tern, and the members of City Council on high profile labor and employment cases. In January 2012, she served as lead counsel in a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the City of West Covina. She successfully obtained a jury verdict on behalf of the City of West Covina.

Since 2014, Ms. Castañón has served as Special Counsel to the City of Montebello. In this capacity, she defends the City on high profile labor and employment cases.

Ms. Castañón has represented management before the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, California Department of Industrial Relations, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, Los Angeles Superior Court, and the United States District Courts in the Northern and Central Districts.

In addition to litigating cases, Ms. Castañón advises and counsels management on various labor and employment matters, including wage and hour matters. She has trained management in the areas of sexual harassment, disability discrimination, reasonable accommodation, the interactive process, and FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act).

She received her undergraduate degree in History at the University of California, Los Angeles. At UCLA, she received an academic scholarship and was on the Dean’s Honor List for four terms. Ms. Castañón received her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She is licensed to practice law before the State of California and the United States Court for the Central and Northern Districts, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Ms. Castañón is a native of East Los Angeles and is fluent in Spanish. She has used her language skills to assist low-income Spanish speakers. She was profiled in the San Francisco legal periodical, The Recorder, for outstanding pro bono services. She is also a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of California, the Mexican American Bar Association, and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Lawyers Association.

In her spare time, Ms. Castañón enjoys playing competitive tennis, international travel, and pampering her English Bulldog.