Labor & Employment Litigation

Sometimes you just can't reach common ground. When workplace disputes cannot be prevented, we deploy the legal resources and skills needed to resolve claims favorably.

Relying on decades of labor and employment litigation experience, our labor lawyers work with employers to prepare a complete case assessment, develop a sensible resolution strategy, and defend the claim, all to accomplish the client’s objectives.

Regardless of the claim asserted (discrimination, wage and hour, harassment, retaliation, implied contract, etc.) or the forum where the case is pursued (federal or state court, government agency, arbitration forum), our team of labor and employment legal professionals has the experience, knowledge, and insight to execute an effective defense strategy.

In appropriate cases, we consider all options for early resolution, either through dispositive motions or through alternate dispute resolution. When circumstances require a vigorous defense, we vindicate employers’ positions with the highest level of professionalism, focus, and skill.

Recent Labor & Employment Litigation Accomplishments

The Labor & Employment Litigation team has a long track record of obtaining summary judgment orders in state and federal courts dismissing claims asserted by former employees alleging wrongful termination, age discrimination, sex discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, and related employment claims. Whether defending an employer’s disciplinary decision or a difficult reduction in force, our employment litigators have an extraordinary breadth of experience analyzing cases, marshaling evidence, and posturing cases for dismissal at the summary judgment stage.

Other recent accomplishments include:

• Worked with a rural non-profit to successfully defend against a former employee’s breach of contract claim.  Over the course of a two-day arbitration, we worked to maximize our client’s limited budget and presented a persuasive case, focusing on our client’s strongest arguments.  The former employee was seeking millions of dollars in damages and, when our client learned his claims had been denied in their entirety, this provided the flexibility our client needed to return to its regular operations.
• Successfully defended many and varied charges filed with the government agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board, the Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and similar state agencies (such as the Vermont Civil Rights Unit of the Attorney General’s Office, the New Hampshire Human Rights Commission, and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination). Our lawyers appear regularly before government agencies and have substantial experience obtaining early dismissals, securing favorable early resolutions, and winning favorable rulings after full proceedings.
• Represented national and regional employers in numerous claims in New England courts and agencies. The team worked with our clients to develop and execute streamlined processes to minimize cost while maximizing favorable results in order to handle a high volume of claims in an efficient and effective manner.  Large employers will inevitably need to defend multiple employment claims; we work with our clients to minimize the burden and cost of defending numerous claims without sacrificing quality, value, and results.
• Obtained a defense verdict after a jury trial in an age discrimination lawsuit where a former employee sought over 1 million dollars in damages.
• Won favorable contract interpretation awards from arbitrators on behalf of a unionized health care client.  To ensure that the client’s collective bargaining relationship continued in a manner that was consistent with objectives that the team first secured through tough negotiations, the team developed successful arbitration strategies to respond to a series of union grievances that threatened the client’s operational discretion. We defended the grievances through hearing and filed comprehensive post-hearing briefs, ultimately prevailing and preserving the client’s managerial positions.
• Won an important national arbitration award on behalf of a large elevator company.  When the client developed an innovative elevator design, a union filed a comprehensive grievance that threatened the commercial viability of the new product. The team developed a comprehensive strategy to defend the complex claims and successfully accomplished the client’s goals.
• Successfully prevented the effort of a client’s former employee to use the client’s confidential information and relationships with customers to establish a commercially harmful competitive business. When pre-suit efforts did not deter the former employee, the team launched a prompt federal court proceeding seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief.  At a hearing, we obtained a comprehensive order that vindicated and protected our client’s interests.
• Obtained a favorable ruling from the National Labor Relations Board that resolved a disruptive work dispute at the Trump Tower construction site in Chicago. When two competing unions threatened a work stoppage over a dispute about which union’s members should perform certain construction work, we developed a strategy to ensure a quick resolution to the dispute so that the construction project was not unduly delayed. We initiated proceedings before the NLRB in Chicago, handled the evidentiary hearings, and filed a compelling post-hearing brief; ultimately we succeeded in securing an order that fulfilled the client’s needs and permitted completion of the disputed work without further incident.