REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE
Employment Litigation, Employment Administrative Agency, and Employment Counseling
- Counseled clients on day-to-day human resources issues implicating Title VII, FMLA, ADA, FLSA, USERRA (and analogous state laws), and other state laws concerning payment of wages, leaves, workers’ compensation, work breaks, background checks, drug testing, and separation of employment.
- Defended administrative charges filed with the EEOC, DOL, Ohio Civil Rights Commission, Indiana Civil Rights Commission, Illinois Human Rights Division, New York Division of Human Rights, Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission, and numerous 11(c) “whistleblower” complaints filed with OSHA.
- Prepared various dispositive motions, including motions to dismiss and summary judgment, and other procedural motions, such as motions to compel discovery, to compel arbitration, to stay proceedings, and to obtain sanctions before both Ohio and federal courts.
- Took and defended numerous depositions for lawsuits and hearings arising under Ohio and federal courts.
- Defended clients in federal (FLSA) wage and hour class action lawsuits alleging unpaid overtime by preparing motions opposing conditional certification, drafting notices for opt-in collective action plaintiffs, overseeing extensive discovery, preparing motions for decertification and summary judgment, and mediating the cases to final disposition.
- Advised clients on wage and hour law compliance and assisted several employers with wage and hour audits launched by the DOL-Wage and Hour division.
- Counseled clients on immigration compliance and Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) Form I-9 audits, and responded to Social Security Administration “No-Match” letters.
- Assisted clients in OSHA inspections, and negotiated with OSHA to minimize penalties and citation classifications for alleged OSHA violations including citations arising out of employee injuries and fatalities.
- Litigated cases before the Occupational Safety Health Review Commission from complaint to hearing before an administrative law judge and, when necessary, appeals before the Commission in Washington, D.C.
Traditional Labor Experience
- Negotiated initial and successor collective bargaining agreements in manufacturing, credit union, trucking, private education, and private acute care hospital industries.
- Litigated unfair labor practice cases before administrative law judges and representation hearing cases concerning the appropriateness of petitioned-for collective bargaining units.
- Successfully sought review and obtained reversal of representation hearing decision reached by a Regional Director before the NLRB in Washington, D.C.
- Planned, developed, and implemented employer strategies in union election campaigns.
- Defended management in union arbitrations for both discharge and contract interpretation cases.
- Defended and obtained dismissals or withdrawals to numerous NLRB unfair labor practice charges.
- Counseled and advised clients on traditional labor legal questions, implementing collective bargaining agreements, and other legal obligations arising under federal labor laws relating to plant closures, mass layoffs, reductions in force, and mergers, acquisitions, and dispositions of unionized businesses.
Workers’ Compensation
- Represented state-funded and self-insured clients in workers’ compensation administrative and court proceedings.