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

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Services Available

National Employment Counsel Experience

Baker Donelson is the national employment counsel to a large renal care company with operations in more than 20 states.  For several years, our employment attorneys have defended this client against various employment discrimination claims and lawsuits; represented the company in disputes relating to executive employment agreements, non-competes and other restrictive covenants; provided day-to-day human resources counseling to corporate and regional human resources managers; drafted personnel policies; provided counseling related to the disciplining and termination of employees; and drafted and assisted with the administration of a drug testing policy that complies with applicable laws in every state where the employer has operations.

Baker Donelson also serves as national employment counsel to a large, public company manufacturer of both generic and brand-name pharmaceuticals.  In addition to having successfully represented the client in employment matters before the EEOC and state equivalent agencies across the country and in federal district courts, our work includes the following:

·         Provide constant employment policy guidance, including a formal handbook review and revision.

·         Prepare written Affirmative Action Plans pursuant to Executive Order 11246, VEVRA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

·         Provide ongoing ERISA compliance guidance, including drafting summary plan descriptions and ERISA policies.

·         Provide management training for the client on subjects including workplace harassment, insider trading and union avoidance.

·         Assist in developing a plan for reductions in force at the client's facilities nationwide, including drafting and presenting specific severance agreements.

·         Conduct specific investigations based on employee complaints of harassment.

·         Provide guidance and consultation regarding other labor and employment issues, including hiring and termination, performance improvement plans, performance review processes, and Title VII, ADA, FMLA and FLSA issues.

Compliance Advice

Our attorneys provide employment compliance advice to hospitals, doctors' groups, long-term health providers and other health care providers on a variety of issues, including wage and hour, employee termination, disability, family and medical leave, hiring, drug testing and background checks.

Employment Policies and Handbooks

We prepare various employment policies and handbooks for doctors' groups and other health care providers on an on-going basis.

Defense of Employment Claims

Our employment attorneys in Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama have successfully defended dozens of discrimination claims and lawsuits brought by current and former employees of health care companies over the past several years.  We represent health care clients in administrative actions across the United States, including cases and actions involving alleged discrimination on the basis of age, religion, race, disability, sex and reprisal.

ERISA Compliance and Litigation

Our benefits attorneys also counsel health care companies on ERISA compliance and benefit plan administration issues.  In 2003, our trial attorneys completed the successful representation of more than 30,000 former employees in an ERISA lawsuit to determine which of two groups of former employees of a health care company were entitled to over $250 million in disputed assets from an employee stock ownership plan.  (The health care company interplead the disputed assets into court and was not an adverse party.)

Immigration

Our immigration attorneys work with several large health care companies, including a major nursing home company and a national renal care company, to assist in securing work visas for nurses immigrating from overseas.

OSHA

Our attorneys regularly assist a national supplier of medical equipment and other companies with their OSHA compliance needs.

Wage and Hour

Our attorneys have worked with home-health care clients on wage and hour issues pertaining to pay of employees making home patient visits.  We also have defended a hospital on a wage and hour claim.

Labor

Baker Donelson attorneys have proven success assisting health care employers to resist union organizing activities and to negotiate successfully with existing unions.  The following are some representative labor matters we have handled for health care companies:

·         We recently represented a national renal care company when Local 1199J, AFSME, AFL-CIO filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent registered nurses and patient care technicians in a combined bargaining unit. Following the election, the ballots were impounded with no count to date. This is due to our pending request for review of the decision by the Newark NLRB Regional Director that the registered nurses are "employees" rather than "supervisors" based on their job responsibilities, including their status as part-time charge nurses during certain portions of their shifts.

·         We are currently assisting a Kansas hospital to resist an organizing effort which targets the facility's nurses by IUOE Local 123.