Labor & Employment

We expertly represent clients in all aspects of their employment relationships. Our lawyers provide clients with practical and sound advice on a broad range of labor and employment law issues, helping them create and maintain a productive and well-managed work force while avoiding employment-related disputes. The Firm assists employers with respect to work force restructuring and employee terminations, discipline, and performance, and counsels employers on compliance issues under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other federal, state, and local laws. Our lawyers routinely provide advice and assistance with respect to investigations of employee misconduct, including allegations of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, and substance abuse. We also conduct comprehensive audits of employment practices and present seminars to our clients’ management and employees on pertinent employment-related subjects, including sexual harassment, wage and hour laws, disability leave, and equal employment opportunity laws. Our lawyers also draft and negotiate employment documents of all types, including employment contracts, consulting agreements, trade secret/confidentiality agreements, severance agreements, personnel policies, employee handbooks, and affirmative action plans that are designed to fulfill employers’ obligations under the law and to prevent issues that arise in the workplace.

When disputes cannot be avoided, our lawyers have extensive experience defending employers in state and federal courts and before administrative agencies against wage and hour violation claims, ADA claims, discrimination claims (based on age, sex, race, national origin, pregnancy, religion, disability, sexual orientation and other protected classes), and harassment and retaliation claims.

Recent Successes

Prevailing before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the dismissal on sovereign immunity grounds of a lawsuit brought in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey by former principals and vice principals in a county school district who claimed they were fraudulently induced into retiring and resigning in violation of their due process right to continued tenured employment;
Forcing the dismissal of a non-compete action brought against the Firm’s client in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania;
Prevailing before the Supreme Court of New York (Kings County), which awarded the Firm’s clients, a local hospital and its chief nurse, summary judgment against claims for pregnancy discrimination and hostile work environment;
Prevailing before the New Jersey Appellate Division, which affirmed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in our client’s favor dismissing Title VII and state law discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful discharge claims;

Prevailing before the New York State Division of Human Rights in a suit brought against our client, a luxury hotel owner/operator, by a former employee alleging that she was terminated on account of her pregnancy;
Successfully resolving Title VII and state discrimination claims for nuisance value in two actions brought against our client, a regional busing company, in the United Stated District Court for the Southern District of New York and before the New York State Division of Human Rights;
Prevailing before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, which awarded our client summary judgment against Title VII discrimination claims;
Prevailing before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the entry of summary judgment dismissing Title VII race and gender discrimination claims against our client in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey;
Prevailing before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, which awarded our client summary judgment against a hostile work environment sexual harassment claim brought under New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD);
Prevailing before the New Jersey Superior Court (Bergen County), which awarded our client summary judgment against whistleblower claims brought under the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA);
Prevailing before the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, which granted the Firm’s client summary judgment against state law gender discrimination and retaliation claims; and
Prevailing before the New York Supreme Court (New York County), which awarded our client summary judgment against state law hostile work environment sexual harassment claims.