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

Baker Donelson's Labor & Employment Department has several attorneys who concentrate their practice in employee benefits and executive compensation matters. They are experienced in dealing with the issues that arise under the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, ADEA, ADA, FMLA and COBRA. They work closely with clients and the professional advisors to clients in designing, drafting and administering the entire spectrum of employee benefits plans. These include the following:

·         409(a) compliance;

·         Tax Qualified Retirement Plans;

·         Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs);

·         Welfare Benefit Plans, such as sickness, accident, health and flexible compensation (cafeteria) plans; and

·         Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans and all types of compensation arrangements, including stock options, group insurance and split dollar insurance.

Clients include manufacturing and distribution businesses, financial institutions, technology companies, health care companies, hospitals and medical service providers, educational institutions and non-profit and government employers, as well as a number of public companies in various industries.

·         Obtained a favorable opinion from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on an ERISA /COBRA action, affirming the district court's grant of judgment on the record. The case involved a complex set of facts involving a national food distributor's plant employee who failed to pay any premiums for his health insurance benefits during a leave of absence, and who was ultimately terminated for failure to return after the leave. Plaintiff filed suit after nearly three years, alleging he'd not been issued a COBRA notice and seeking statutory penalties of up to $110 per day for every day the company was not in compliance.

·         Secured a grant of summary judgment on behalf of Sun Life Assurance of Canada in federal district court in Tennessee overturning decision which would have made Sun Life pay $400,000 in life insurance benefits.