Qiaojing Ella Zheng - Palo Alto, CA

Qiaojing Ella Zheng is Managing Partner of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight's Palo Alto and San Francisco Offices, San Diego Partner, and Chair of the firm’s Asian American Litigation and Finance Practice Group.

Qiaojing Ella Zheng is one of the nation’s leading plaintiff-side employment and civil rights litigators, whose practice sits at the intersection of workplace rights, whistleblower advocacy, technology, and the advancement of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities.

In 2022 Ella was named a Rising Star by Law360 and selected as an Asian Leader Worth Watching by Profiles in Diversity Journal. Since joining Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, she has been honored by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Northern California every year since 2016. She was named among the Top 40 Under 40 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyers in California by The National Trial Lawyers. Ella was also an honoree of the Tribute to Women Awards by YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley in 2018, and received the 2020 Minority Bar Coalition Unity Award.

At Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, Ella’s practice encompasses a wide range of legal matters. She represents employees across the economic spectrum in individual and class actions involving wage and hour violations, discrimination and harassment on the basis of gender, race/national origin, age, sexual orientation, and disability, retaliation and wrongful termination claims. She also represents executive and managerial personnel in both public litigation and privately negotiated settlements. In addition, Ella carries a heavy caseload of pre-litigation matters representing C-Suite, employees and whistleblowers. Those cases offer significant advantages to workers seeking justice and accountability while maintaining their privacy.

Over the years, Ella has led some of the most significant employment and whistleblower matters involving Silicon Valley companies. Most recently, she filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against xAI and SpaceX on behalf of a former xAI engineer, a case that has generated substantial national media attention and places Ella at the forefront of emerging legal issues surrounding artificial intelligence, corporate accountability, and protections for employees who speak out about matters of public concern. Ella frequently represents whistleblowers in qui tam lawsuits under the U.S. False Claims Act and works on cases involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the SEC Whistleblower program, the IRS Whistleblower program, and other statutes involving fraud against the federal and state governments.

In addition, Ella has extensive experience in financial services practice. She regularly advises entrepreneurs, companies, and financial institutions in Silicon Valley and China on regulatory and compliance matters. In particular, Ella specializes in representing China-based clients in legal matters arising under U.S. laws, including licensing and compliance for securities broker-dealers and investment advisers under the U.S. SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and state-level regulatory authorities. Having obtained legal education and work experience in both China and the U.S., she brings a unique perspective to facilitate her clients’ cross-border business activities, and devotes herself to bridging the cultural gap between domestic and foreign parties.

Ella’s representations have included:

• Securing final approval of a $4.9 million class action settlement in Song and Ji v. Weee!, on behalf of approximately 1,400 delivery drivers who alleged wage theft, misclassification, unlawful tip deductions, break violations, and workplace safety violations
• Filing a groundbreaking lawsuit against xAI and SpaceX on behalf of a former xAI engineer who alleges he was retaliated against and terminated after raising concerns regarding AI safety and compliance issues
• Representing co-founder and executive Dr. Yuhui David Chen in his claims of breach of contract, promissory fraud, retaliation, and wrongful termination against global semiconductor company InnoGrit Corporation and its CEO Dr. Zining Wu, culminating in an $8.3 million arbitration award that included $650,000 in punitive damages against Dr. Wu personally and $500,000 in emotional distress damages after a 12-day Zoom arbitration
• Representing lead plaintiff Dandan Pan and a class of female employees in a gender discrimination class action case against Qualcomm, culminating in a $19.5 million Court-approved settlement and comprehensive programmatic reforms
• Litigating individual whistleblower retaliation claims on behalf of a former Chief Nursing Officer and a Private Attorney General Act lawsuit on behalf of nursing staff and mental health workers against Aurora Behavioral Healthcare – Santa Rosa and Signature Healthcare Services, culminating in a $2.85 million Court-approved settlement that includes robust programmatic relief
• Representing former Senior Vice President of Strategic Marketing and Communications Sabrina Joseph in her $365M lawsuit against Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX)
• Negotiating a confidential settlement for approximately 600 hourly warehouse workers who were denied overtime, meal, and rest break pay in a wage and hour class action case against Ma Laboratories, Inc. (Ma Labs), a San Jose-based computer parts distribution company
• Representing female executive in her breach of contract and fraud claims against a leading global aviation company and achieved 7-figure settlement through mediation
• Representing an Asian female employee against a multinational financial services company in her discrimination claims and obtained multi-year front pay and emotional distress damages through settlement negotiation
• Representing an auditor against a financial institution in his claims of retaliation and wrongful termination, culminating in a substantial monetary settlement and positive reference letter from the company
• Representing a female software engineer in her pregnancy discrimination case against a global social media company and secured a multiyear severance through settlement negotiation
• Successfully secured a Broker-Dealer License with FINRA on behalf of Tiger Brokers/Up Fintech Holding Limited (NASDAQ: TIGR), a leading global securities brokerage firm

Ella received her law degrees from Zhejiang University in China (LL.B.) and Thomas Jefferson School of Law (LL.M.). While at Zhejiang University, Ella also minored in the Intensive Training Program of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Chu Kochen Honors College and received numerous honors including the Best Student Leader, Outstanding Social Work Award, and the Best Debater of the Year.

A member of the California and New York bars, Ella has presented at international and national conferences on a broad range of topics that include gender and pregnancy discrimination, race and national origin discrimination, wage and hour violations, biases in the legal profession, discrimination in the tech industry, diversity and inclusion, women leadership, financial regulations, COVID-19 fraud, negotiation and mediation, and class and collective actions.

Ella was the President of the Chinese American Lawyers of the Bay Area (CALOBA) and a Board Director of the General Association of Zhejiang Entrepreneurs USA. Ella currently serves as a Board President of YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley, a Board Member of the Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (CALDA) and is a registered volunteer attorney with the TIME’s UP Legal Defense Fund administered by the National Women’s Law Center. Beyond cases, Ella’s most enduring accomplishment may be the creation of Sanford Heisler’s Asian American Litigation and Finance Practice Group, the first and only dedicated practice of its kind at a national civil rights firm. Since founding the practice, she has built a national multilingual team serving clients nationwide and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for workers, executives, and whistleblowers. Through litigation, thought leadership, community education, and mentorship, Ella has become a leading national voice on workers’ rights while expanding access to justice for historically underserved communities.

Before joining Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, Ella was an associate at a boutique general practice firm in San Diego, California, where her practice encompassed a wide range of areas including international business, corporate, civil litigation, and immigration issues.

When Ella is not lawyering, she enjoys traveling, singing, emceeing international conferences and community events, and spending time with her husband and their daughter.