Employment Litigation

Employment disputes, among the fastest-growing areas of litigation in federal and state courts, can disrupt an organization and detract from a business’ operations and mission. Stinson's nationally-ranked team of employment litigators can help clients minimize risk and develop litigation strategies consistent with the client's business philosophy and the nature of the dispute. Our team helps clients decide whether the best course of action is early resolution through mediation or aggressive litigation. Our attorneys are effective courtroom advocates with substantial experience in bench and jury trials in state and federal court, as well as defending cases on appeal.

Stinson's employment attorneys represent a wide range of employers in employment litigation, whether the matters are pending in federal or state court, in arbitration, or before an administrative agency. We have successfully defended employers in trial and appellate courts throughout the United States, including EEOC-initiated actions. We also have represented employers in various administrative actions before the Department of Labor and administrative law judges. 

Capabilities

• Employment discrimination claims under federal, state and local statutes (including Title VII, ADEA, ADA, § 1981 and FMLA and equivalent state statutes).
• Wage and hour claims under the FLSA and state wage and hour laws.
• Employment-related claims advanced under the Railway Labor Act, NLRA, OSHA, HIPAA, IRCA, WARN and equivalent state statutes.
• OFCCP Executive Order Affirmative Action Plan audits and administrative actions.
• Noncompetition and trade secret cases.
• Wrongful termination cases under state law.
• Retaliation and whistleblowing cases under state and federal law (including SOX claims).
• State law contract disputes.
• State law tort claims.

Our employment litigators also have experience in the management of large-scale document collection and review projects, including custodian interviews and collections by remote methods, and collection of electronically-stored information. We have experience directing document review teams, managing e-discovery projects and handling litigation of e-discovery disputes in the most cost-effective manner for our clients.

Our clients include national and international corporations as well as regional and local businesses. We've represented clients in a variety of industries, including aviation, financial services, food service, health care, higher education, hospitality, manufacturing, media, not-for-profit, professional services, retail, service providers, technology, and telecommunications.

Experience

• Defended an international funeral services company in numerous multi-state, multi-jurisdictional wage and hour class actions, successfully obtaining dismissals and/or nominal settlements.
• Defended a worldwide health care information technology company in multiple class and collective action cases, both in federal and state court, alleging violation of wage and hour laws, obtaining favorable resolutions for the company of all cases.
• Represented a nationwide distribution, warehouse, and logistics services company in the defense of an FLSA action asserting that the company misclassified independent contractors who provided delivery and courier services.
• Defended a collective action case against a federally qualified health center in which certain exempt employees alleged that they were misclassified and denied overtime compensation, successfully defeating plaintiffs' efforts to certify a class on various state law claims.
• Represented a financial institution in an FLSA collective action alleging misclassification of mortgage loan originators at 15 locations throughout Kansas and Missouri, resolving the case favorably prior to certification of the class.
• Represented one of the world's largest packaging companies in the defense of a nationwide FLSA case alleging employees were required to work "off the clock" without being paid for that time.
• Defended putative collective action claims under the FLSA on behalf of a provider of transportation and wireless networking implementation services.
• Defended a provider of support services to individuals with disabilities and a comprehensive provider of behavioral health services in class and collective action cases alleging violations of federal and state wage and hour laws.
• Defended a national automobile retailer at trial against allegations of national origin discrimination and retaliation in a case brought by the EEOC and secured a unanimous jury verdict in favor of the dealership.
• Obtained a defense verdict in a federal jury trial for a nationwide retailer in a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and retaliation.
• Successfully defended a worldwide hotel company, through trial and appeal, against claims of harassment based on race, sex and age.
• Obtained a jury verdict on behalf of an aircraft manufacturer in Title VII litigation alleging discrimination and harassment based on race, religion and national origin.
• Obtained a jury verdict in favor of a regional bank on claims of gender discrimination under state law.
• Successfully enforced a law firm's mandatory arbitration program, defended the law firm against claims of wrongful discharge and whistleblowing brought by two former employees, and obtained a finding in favor of the firm at an arbitration hearing.
• Defended a six-plaintiff race discrimination case for a national restaurant chain alleging discriminatory demotion and discharge, obtained summary judgment on five of the six cases, and negotiated a "walk away" settlement for the remaining plaintiff prior to trial.
• Represented grain industry and construction industry employers in administrative actions before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and administrative law judges to resolve OSHA standard issues beneficial to employers.
• Successfully negotiated the resolution of EEOC-litigated race discrimination claims filed against a national aerospace and defense technologies government contractor.
• Defended a client in the hospitality industry in a lawsuit alleging that the client's commission-based compensation plan did not properly compensate employees under federal and state minimum wage and overtime laws.
• Obtained numerous summary judgments for clients in multiple industries, including one of the world's largest airlines, a North American rail company, a major telecommunications company, a national garment cleaning company, a national bank, a defense contractor, a Major League baseball franchise and one of the world's largest food companies.