Jonathan L. Sulds is co-chair of the firm's Labor & Employment and Global Human Capital Solutions practices. He has been representing leading employers since 1974 in virtually every aspect of their engagement, protection, management and reward of workforce resources. He is experienced in the areas of collective bargaining and traditional labor relations, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) litigation, wage and hour matters, discrimination complaints, restrictive covenant, duty of loyalty and trade secret litigation. He also handles Dodd Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and whistleblower matters, global and domestic executive employment arrangements and corporate campaigns, as well as the labor and employment aspects of corporate transactions and class and collective actions that arise in these contexts.
Since the 1970's, Jon has been involved in a variety of key matters. His recent representations include negotiating the project labor agreement for the new stadium for one of America's most famous sports franchises. He has been lead counsel for a leading national package deliverer in two nationwide wage and hour class and collective actions seeking to challenge the exempt status of nearly every managerial position at the company. Jon represented the administrative committee of a retirement savings plan for a major energy company in the voting of company shares held in plan participants' accounts in a contested proxy contest, then represented that same committee in a parallel ERISA-based "stock drop case." In addition, Jon gained dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the dominant player in a niche of the financing industry against a start-up that had hired the plaintiff's founder and CEO, its CFO and a majority of the plaintiff's sale force. Jon also advised one of America's iconic brands on the strategy it used to end an Internet and regulatory agency-based corporate campaign that had sought to sully his client's reputation in order to pressure it into giving in to undisclosed parties' own institutional objectives.
Currently, among other matters, Jon is representing the nation's leading telecommunications company in several "Blackberry" wage and hour cases. He also represents the largest American specialty sports retailer in a nationwide collective action and leads a 40-lawyer team spanning ten GT offices advising a major media company on personnel transactions. Jon is the principal collective bargaining spokesperson for a leading magazine publisher faced with the print-to-Internet phenomenon. He is advising on structuring the collective bargaining and multiemployer pension plan strategy for a company with multiple collective bargaining agreements throughout the Country.
Jon is a frequent lecturer and writer. His breadth of experience is reflected in the treatise that he authors, New York Employment Law (Matthew Bender/LexisNexis, 2d Ed, updated annually).
Areas of Concentration
· Traditional labor law
· ERISA litigation
· Equal employment litigation
· Americans with Disabilities Act
· Discrimination and harassment laws
· Dodd Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley Act
· Whistleblower matters
· Employee benefits proceedings
· Collective bargaining
· Wage and hours
· Plant closings and mass lay-offs
· Labor aspects of corporate/bankruptcy transactions
· Employer protective covenants
· Executive employment arrangements
Significant Representations
· ADA/ADEA/Discrimination/Harassment
- Sklar v. NY Life Insurance Co., 34 Fed. Appx 403 (2d Cir. 2002) [Affirming summary judgments - ADEA]
- Priore v. NY Yankees, 307 A.D. 2d 67, 761 N.Y.S. 2d 608 (1st Dept. 2003) [Employer not liable where coworker harassment alleged; reversing trial court and granting summary judgment.]
- Nieves v. Angelo Gordon & Co., 2007 US Dist. LEXIS 27006 (S.D.N.Y. April 10, 2007) [Summary judgment - ADEA]; aff'd 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 14584 (2d cir. 2009)
· Collective Bargaining/Traditional Labor Relations
- Chief spokesperson for leading magazine publisher's restructuring of overtime, severance, work week; project labor agreement for sports venue; representing nation's primary installer of alarm systems resulting in full flexibility to compete on non-union basis.
· Corporate Transactions/Bankruptcy
- Deal structure for package delivery company's acquisition of freight companies (including MPPAA).
- Collective bargaining and labor relations structuring as condition to asset/stock acquisitions and on behalf of debtors and committees of creditors and bondholders in connection with emergence from bankruptcy.
· Corporate Campaigns
- Advised one of America's iconic brands on the strategy it used to end an Internet and regulatory agency-based corporate campaign that had sought to sully the client's reputation in order to pressure it into giving in to undisclosed parties' own institutional objectives.
- Litigation, labor relations and interface with governmental and public affairs, as well as strategic counsel to employers in various industries including consumer goods, defense, health care and utilities.
· Duty of Loyalty/Employee Mobility/Restrictive Covenants/Trade Secrets
- Counsel to investment banks, private equity funds, hedge funds, insurance brokerages, manufacturing and industrial concerns. Current/recent matters in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Indiana and Texas.
· ERISA Litigation
- Montesano v. Xerox Corp Ret. Income etc., 256 F. 3d 86 (2d Cir. 2001) [Affirming grant of judgment on pleadings dismissing nationwide class of contingent workers' claims for benefits and pursuant to § 510 ERISA]
- Davenport v. Harry N. Abrams, 249 F. 3d 130 (2d Cir. 2001) [Affirming summary judgment - contingent worker failed to exhaust remedies]
- Bakner v. Xerox Corp Employee Stock Ownership Plan, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21540 (W.D. Tex 2000); Lawrence v. Xerox etc., 56 F Supp. 2d 442(D. N.J. 1999) [Nationwide putative Varity class action; class certification denied, claims dismissed via motion]
- I.A.P.E. v. Dow Jones, 671 F. Supp. 1365 (S.D.N.Y. 1987) [Plan sponsor not a fiduciary]
- In Re Royal Dutch/Shell Transport ERISA Litigation, 04-1398 (D.N.J. 2005) [401(k)]
· Executive Employment Arrangements
- Design of global regimens
- Negotiating and drafting executive employment and compensation arrangements for:
-- Global head of structured finance for top tier investment bank;
-- Americas managing director for top five private equity fund;
-- Head of Capital Markets for leading middle market investment bank;
-- General counsel for Fortune 100 global services company;
-- President of cable television network.
- In addition, represent employers in the chemicals, biotech, hedge fund and private equity industries in the structuring of executive employment agreements.
· Independent Contractors/Contingent Workforce
- Hertz Corp. v. C'mmr of Labor, 2 N.Y. 3d 733, 778 N.Y.S. 2d 743 (2004) [New York's Court of Appeals unanimously holds class of individuals are independent contractors and not employees, reversing administrative agency findings]
- Montesano v. Xerox Corp Ret. Income etc., 256 F. 3d 86 (2d Cir. 2001) [Affirming grant of judgment on pleadings dismissing nationwide class of contingent workers' claims for benefits and pursuant to § 510 ERISA]
- Davenport v. Harry N. Abrams, 249 F. 3d 130 (2d Cir. 2001) [Affirming dismissal of contingent worker claim for benefits on exhaustion grounds]
· Stock Grants/Carried Interests/Bonus Awards
- Representing private equity and hedge funds in design and documentation; lead counsel in court and arbitration proceedings involving such arrangements.
- Budet v. Tiffany & Co., 155 A.D. 2d 408, 547 N.Y.S. 2d 81 (1st Dept. 1989) [Employer free to choose employees whom it will include in management purchase of company shares in buy-out situation]
· Wage and Hour
- Counsel to telecommunications company in "Blackberry" collective actions.
- Represents over 300 store specialty sports retailers in nationwide collection action.
- Acted as lead counsel for the nation's leading package deliverer in two nationwide wage and hour class and collective actions seeking to challenge the exempt status of nearly every managerial position at the company.
- Lead counsel, putative nationwide class actions of all managerial employees for Fortune 50 Company.
- Department of Labor (DOL) investigation of exempt status of financial planners; district determination to commence litigation reversed by regional solicitor.
- Nationwide grocery chain "off the clock" and related ERISA prohibited transaction claims
· Whistleblowers/SOX/Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
- Obtaining dismissal of SOX complaint filed by senior financial official of bus manufacturer who claimed safety issues had not been disclosed.
- Dismissal of pilot's whistleblower claim against aviation services company and fund owner of airplane
- Representing audit committee of biotech company charged by resigning general counsel with failure to make proxy disclosures with respect to research results.
- Internal investigations in various industries including entertainment, oil production and financial services.
*Some of the above representations were handled by Mr. Sulds prior to his joining Greenberg Traurig LLP.
Professional & Community Involvement
· Co-chair, National Labor & Employment Practice
· Co-chair, Global Human Capital Solutions Practice
Awards & Recognition
· Selected, a Law360 2011 Employment Practice Group of the Year
· Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, 2012
· Listed, Chambers and Partners USA Guide, an annual listing of the leading business lawyers and law firms in the world, 2007-2011
· Selected, Super Lawyers magazine, 2009-2011
· Rated, AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5
Other Experience
Related Experience
· Speaker, National Business Institute, Whistleblower Law and Retaliation Claims Update, November, 2011
· Panelist, Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Entertainment Law Committee, "Social Media", November, 2011
· Panelist, 401(k) Fees & Disclosure, American Conference Institute's 3rd National Advanced Forum on Defending and Managing ERISA Litigation, 2011
· Panelist, "Mitigating The Impact of Dodd Frank's Whistleblower Provisions," The Knowledge Congress, September 2011
· Instructor, ERISA's Enforcement Scheme, American Conference Institute's 2nd and 3rd National Advanced Forum on Defending and Managing ERISA Litigation, 2010-2011
· Faculty member of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, 1983-present
· Adjunct Professor at Cardozo Law School, teaching both Labor Law and Administrative Law
· Designated as JAMS Arbitrator in a set of commercial disputes between a franchisor and its franchisees
Articles, Publications, & Lectures
Blogs
· Co-Editor, "GT LE Blog: National Developments in Labor & Employment Law"http://www.gtleblog.com/
- Nominee, LexisNexis "Top 25 Labor and Employment Law Blogs of 2011"
Articles
· Author, "Trade Secret Protection," Security Management, November, 2011
· Quoted, "Companies Fear Lawsuits, Higher Costs From Whistleblower Rules," Compliance Week, April 26, 2011
· Author, "New Rules for Harassment Claims in New York City," New York Law Journal, April 13, 2009
· Co-author, "New Wave of 401(k) Litigation", Pensions and Investments, November, 2002
· Co-author, "State Employment Law Ruling Impacts Non-Compete Covenants," Washington Legal Foundation, November 12, 1999
· Co-author, "Discrimination by Association," New York Law Journal, July 28, 1999
· Co-author, "When an Employee's Absence From Work is Disability-Related," New York Law Journal, February 8, 1999
· Co-author, "How (and whether) To Defend Corporation and Codefendant Employees," 12 ABA Course Materials Journal No. 3 at 65, December 1987
Books
· Author, New York Employment Law (Matthew Bender/LexisNexis, 2d Ed, updated annually)
· Author, New York Employment Discrimination Handbook, 2001 Edition