Employment and Labor Law

• Discrimination and Harassment Litigation
• FMLA Compliance and Litigation
• Wrongful Termination Litigation
• FLSA Compliance and Litigation
• Employment Contracts and Severance Agreements
• ERISA Litigation
  

Fair Housing Compliance

• Anti-Discrimination Training
• Fair Housing Litigation
• Accessibility Compliance and Litigation
• Predatory Lending Litigation

Has successfully represented the following:

• A national credit card company, accused of breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA for failing to provide spousal death benefit coverage to an employee (obtained dismissal of all claims, affirmed on appeal).
• A regional housing developer/builder accused by six different families and the Ohio Civil Rights Commission of discrimination on the basis of race by not offering favorable purchase terms to African-American buyers (obtained dismissal of all claims).
• A regional multi-family housing provider accused of gender discrimination in connection with the termination of a female employee (obtained dismissal of all claims, affirmed on appeal).
• A national multi-family housing provider accused of race discrimination in the leasing of apartment units to fair housing testers (obtained dismissal of all claims).
• A national multi-family housing developer, accused of constructing apartment buildings in non-compliance with the Fair Housing Act’s Accessibility provisions (obtained dismissal of all claims).
• A national television company, accused of unlawful retaliation in response to an employee complaint of same-sex sexual harassment.
• A regional multi-family housing provider accused of unlawful retaliation in the eviction of plaintiff tenant (favorable jury verdict, affirmed on appeal).
• A national broker-dealer accused of unlawful race discrimination by a former employee (obtained reversal of $2.2 million jury verdict on appeal).
• A national apartment management company accused of the wrongful termination of an employee in violation of public policy (obtained dismissal of all claims).
• A national manufacturing company accused of improper denial of an employee promotion in violation of the FMLA and the Labor Management Relations Act (obtained dismissal of all claims).

Publications
"Employment Practices Liability Insurance: You Better Shop Around," The Employment Law Strategist (April 1999)

"Stating Preferences Under the Fair Housing Act:  What You Say (or Advertise) Can Hurt You," Suites Magazine - Northeast Ohio Apartment Association (Fall 1998)

"Marketing Critical in Fair Lending Cases," Crain's Cleveland Business (October 1998)

"Think Before You Offer: Rule 68 Offers of Judgment," The Cleveland Bar Journal (May 1998)

Presentations
“Effective Interviewing and Hiring,” Hiring and Orientation from A to Z (October 2006)
"Retaliation Claims: When Two for One is No Bargain," Rockwell Automation (August 2006)

"Employment Litigation Update," Hot Topics: Financial Services Update 2006 (May 2006)

"Working Your Way From the Courtroom Backward: Developments in Employment Discrimination Litigation," Hot Liability Topics for Financial Service Providers (March 2005)

"Hiring and Firing Landmines," ERC 2004 Employment Litigation Series (June 2004)

"Workplace Surveillance and Employee Privacy... Is Anything Private?," Best Practices in Employment Law 2003 (July 2003)

"Criminal Background Checks and The Fair Credit Reporting Act - How to Reject Applicants and Not Get Sued," The Northeast Ohio Apartment Association,  (February 2003)

"Accommodating Disabled Residents and Potential Tenants with an Eye Towards the Requirements of the Fair Housing Act and ADA - Recent Developments," National Multi-Housing Council Lawyer's Forum (April 2002)

"Effective Management Strategies for Supervisors in Ohio," Lorman Education Services (January 2002)

"Fair Housing Sexual Harassment and HUD's Proposed Regulations: Safe Harbor or Increased Exposure?," The National Multi-Housing Council (April 2001)

"The Great Debate - 2 Persons Per Bedroom - A Reasonable Occupancy Standard or Not?," The Northeast Ohio Apartment Association (September 2000)

"Batson Challenges - Is The Judge's Intuition Sufficient?," Lucent Technologies Inc., (August 2000)

"Proactive Counseling - How to Avoid a Wrongful Termination Lawsuit," The Cleveland Bar Association (March 2000)

"Funneling Your Way From the Courthouse Backwards:  Advanced Tips on Conducting an Effective Internal Investigation," NASA (March 1999)

"Act in Haste, Repent in Leisure: Investigating a Sexual Harassment Complaint," The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business (February 1998)

Adjunct Faculty Member, Case Western Reserve University School of Law

American Inns of Court - William K. Thomas Chapter

American Bar Association (Labor and Employment Law Section)

Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (Labor and Employment Law Section)

National Institute for Trial Advocacy

National Multi-Housing Council

Northeast Ohio Apartment Association

State of Ohio
U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan