Practice Areas & Industries: Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Baker Donelson attorneys have a wealth of experience helping employers in the health care industry meet their goals. Our lawyers have extensive experience drafting and interpreting contracts between health care companies and professionals, including physician employment agreements, non-compete agreements, medical director agreements, exclusive provider agreements, coverage agreements and physician recruitment agreements. By drawing on the combined talents of the Firm's employment attorneys and its health care lawyers, our clients are assured that their contracts comply with the requirements of the federal and state fraud and abuse laws, Medicare's prohibitions on reassignment and other statutory and regulatory challenges unique to health care companies.

Baker Donelson's health care labor and employment knowledge extends to the traditional labor front, where unions are increasingly targeting health care employers with organizing efforts. For example, our lawyers are currently representing a national renal care provider before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C. in a dispute stemming from a union organizing campaign that involves cutting-edge legal issues. This case could determine when and whether certain nurses and patient care assistants will be eligible to join bargaining units during union campaigns. We also provide valuable guidance to our clients in the health care industry on how to minimize the threat of union organizing activity and stay union-free.

Our attorneys are attuned to the needs of health care employers in specialized sectors of the industry. We regularly help tax-exempt health care organizations avoid the pitfalls presented by the prohibitions against private inurement when they hire executives. We also have the know-how to help teaching hospitals handle the challenges arising from the NLRB's ruling that medical residents are employees for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act and from the standards recently announced by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education that prohibits residents from working more than 80 hours per week.

Services Available

Every day our employment attorneys counsel health care employers on strategies for avoiding litigation and complying with relevant federal and state employment and labor laws. We regularly assist health care employers with supervisor and employee training and the preparation of personnel policies and procedures. When litigation arises, our employment attorneys are skilled at defending health care employers against employment discrimination lawsuits in state and federal court as well as against claims brought before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal Department of Labor and state and local agencies.

Representative Matters

• Advised a leading national distributor of medical supplies and equipment on OSHA matters.
• Advised a Tennessee-based hospital on environmental, safety and health matters relating to asbestos and hospital renovation.
• Advised a vision correction industry leader on OSHA matters.
• Provided general labor work and advice regarding workplace policies and procedures to national dialysis company.
• Defended religion-based weight loss program in religious discrimination lawsuits filed by employees in state and federal court.
• Provided advice regarding employee termination/discipline to nursing home staffing company.
• Performed ERISA work for pediatric physicians group and for minor medical physicians group.
• Provided general counseling on employment matters to nonprofit organization that is a recognized leader among providers and physicians in designing and implementing health care quality improvement programs.
• Provided general counseling on employment matters to group of medical clinics.
• Handled two wrongful termination matters for independent group of cardiology physicians.
• Provided general counseling on employment matters to county hospital in Mississippi.
• Provided general counseling on employment matters and employee handbooks to Mississippi-based organ recovery center.
• Prepared executive employment contracts and provided employment law counseling to company that provides data system solutions to health care providers, payors and large self-insured clients.
• Provided employment law counseling for nurse practitioner service.
• Served as national counsel for physician-oriented dialysis company, providing advice and counsel on general employment and labor law, wage and hour compliance, defense of employment claims in federal court and before administrative agencies, preparation of executive employment contracts and enforcement of non-competes.
• Defended EEOC claims and provided general employment law counseling to a multi-location ear, nose and throat medical practice.
• Prepared executive employment contracts for southern regional health system.
• Defended EEOC claims and provided employment law counseling to Nashville-based medical practice.
• Prepared executive employment contracts, defended EEOC claims, advised on drug testing legal compliance and provided general employment law counseling to urology physician practice management company.
• Prepared ERISA documents for not-for-profit private medical practice.
• Provided general employment counseling to and prepared ERISA documents for renal care foundation.
• Provided advice regarding ERISA matters to private physicians group and to vision correction industry leader.
• Litigated a variety of employment claims including age, race, sex, religion and reprisal discrimination for long-term health care provider.
• Represented large group of orthopedic physicians on a variety of employment issues; prepared various employment policies; litigated discrimination claims and provided compliance advice on employment issues.
• Handled immigration matters (labor certifications) for nationwide insurance provider and for provider of life event management services.
• Handled physician/staff employment issues and contract disputes for not-for-profit private medical practice.
• Defended cardiologist group against ERISA claims brought by two former physician members of the practice.
• Provided counsel for one of a national dialysis company's clinics in Newark, New Jersey, both in proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board and in orchestration of a counter-campaign in circumstances where Hospital Workers Union, District 1199N, sought representation of the clinic's RNs and patient care technicians in early December 2001. Our attorneys argued that the clinic's RNs must be excluded from the unit as supervisors remains pending before the NLRB, as it raised significant policy issues for the health care industry. The contested ballots will not be opened, if at all, until the NLRB rules on this substantial issue.
• Appeared at NLRB hearings on issues including inter alia the supervisory versus employee status of charge nurses and subsequent litigation of this issue.
• Conducted and managed counter-campaigns to defeat union organizational efforts at health care facilities.
• Conducted supervisory and management training for health care employees on union avoidance strategies.