Tanya Smith

Tanya T. Smith is an Associate at Arias Sanguinetti Trial Lawyers in the Northern California office, where she represents employees in discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, whistleblower, and public employee rights matters. With more than a decade of plaintiff-side and union-side employment law experience, Tanya has built her career around helping workers challenge workplace injustice and hold employers accountable.

She represents employees across California and Nevada in state and federal courts, as well as before administrative agencies including the Public Employment Relations Board and State Personnel Board. Her practice encompasses litigation, arbitration, mediation, and administrative proceedings involving a wide range of employment disputes. Throughout her career, she has secured favorable outcomes for employees facing discrimination, retaliation, disability-related workplace issues, and whistleblower violations.

Tanya has first-chaired a five-week jury trial involving employment discrimination and whistleblower retaliation claims and has led other significant employment matters involving FEHA disability discrimination and Labor Code Section 1102.5 protections. Her courtroom experience, combined with years of employment litigation practice, allows her to develop practical legal strategies while remaining focused on the individuals whose livelihoods and careers are at stake.

Her commitment to employee advocacy was shaped by her own experience standing up to institutional misconduct. Before becoming an attorney, she worked as an investigative newspaper reporter before transitioning into education as a high school English teacher. While teaching, she discovered that students and faculty were being exposed to toxic mold and asbestos due to unsafe construction practices. After documenting the hazards and reporting them to OSHA, working alongside her own attorney throughout that matter introduced her to employment law. She was ultimately inspired to attend law school at night while continuing to teach full time. The experience reinforced her belief that laws protecting workers only matter when someone is willing to enforce them, a philosophy that continues to guide her practice today.

In addition to her litigation practice, Tanya is a recognized leader within the employment law community. She served as Co-Chair of the Public Employee Committee for the California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA) from 2023 to 2024 and remains actively involved in advancing education and advocacy on behalf of workers. Earlier in her career, she also served as an enforcement attorney with California’s Fair Political Practices Commission, where she developed experience interpreting and enforcing California’s campaign finance laws. She remains knowledgeable in political law and campaign finance compliance, particularly as those issues intersect with labor organizations and public entities. She is also a member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ), Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC), and Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA).

Tanya earned her J.D. from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, where she received the Stauffer Charitable Trust Award for Excellence in Legal Writing. Licensed in both California and Nevada, she continues to advocate for workers throughout the western United States. She remains passionate about journalism, education, public policy, and helping people better understand complicated systems. Those interests continue to shape both her legal practice and her belief that knowledge is one of the most powerful tools employees have when standing up for their rights.

Contact her at tanya@aswtlawyers.com.