Rabasca, Michael A

Stephen J. Quezada is an Associate of the Firm based in Houston and handles cases all over the State of Texas. Prior to joining Kennard, Mr. Quezada was an Associate at a labor & employment law firm with a national client base. While a defense attorney, Mr. Quezada represented management and companies in a broad array of labor and employment matters. Mr. Quezada's experience includes representing employers before government agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He now brings this experience to assist individuals and small businesses.

Mr. Quezada has defended management and companies in litigation brought by current and former employees under a variety of employment laws. Mr. Quezada has litigated matters under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Texas Labor Code involving allegations of race, color, sex, and national origin discrimination, as well as sexual harassment (hostile work environment and quid pro quo) and retaliation. Mr. Quezada also assisted in defending matters involving age discrimination.

Mr. Quezada has extensive experience in collective action wage and hour litigation brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act by current and former employees to recover alleged unpaid minimum wage and overtime. Mr. Quezada's wage and hour experience includes representing employers alleged of tip pool violations, improper deductions, waiting time violations, break and lunch time violations, improper record keeping, independent contractor and exemption misclassification (paying an employee a salary for all hours worked), minimum wage and overtime violations, and FLSA collective action proceedings. Mr. Quezada also routinely counseled management and human resources professionals on day-to-day employment issues. Given Mr. Quezada’s practice in counseling management and human resources professionals, he is also able to provide employer compliance guidance to small businesses.

In 2008 Mr. Quezada graduated summa cum laude from the University of Houston C.T. Bauer College of Business with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accountancy and a minor in Spanish for the Business Professions. In 2011, Mr. Quezada graduated from the University of Houston Law Center with a Doctor of Jurisprudence. While attending UH Law, Mr. Quezada was a member of the Hispanic Law Students Association and the Student Bar Association. Mr. Quezada was also an articles editor on the Houston Business and Tax Law Journal, where his research interests included undocumented workers and their treatment under the major employment law statutes.

Mr. Quezada is a member of the American Bar Association, Houston Bar Association, Hispanic Bar Association of Houston, and the Mexican-American Bar Association. Mr. Quezada is licensed to practice in all state courts of Texas, as well as in the United States District Courts for the Southern, Western, and Eastern Districts of Texas.

Mr. Quezada is fluent in Spanish and can assist clients accordingly.