Practice Areas & Industries: Kilpatrick Stockton LLP

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Though Kilpatrick Stockton advocates prudence and planning to avoid the expense and disruption of litigation, our team is superbly qualified should actions need to be taken. Nearly every one of the lawyers in our Employment Litigation and Class Actions Practice has substantial experience in defending a wide variety of lawsuits alleging violations of federal and state employment laws.

Our Labor and Employment Group attorneys have defended numerous multi-plaintiff or class action cases under Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Fair Labor Standards Act, ERISA, and more recently the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Kilpatrick Stockton attorneys have also defended more than thirty employment-related class action or attempted class action lawsuits. In many of these cases, we were able to defeat class certification, thus removing most, if not all, of the potential defense costs and liability from the civil action. For example, in one lawsuit alleging sex and race discrimination claims on behalf of a putative class numbering in the thousands, our attorneys conducted intensive discovery that demonstrated the absence of a certifiable class and convinced the plaintiffs to settle for a nominal amount and voluntarily dismiss their lawsuit. Our attorneys also recently defeated attempted class action certification on claims of racially discriminatory hiring practices at multiple branches of a national mortgage company.

Our attorneys have addressed class-wide claims of discrimination based on race, sex, national origin, and age. In one matter, for example, our lawyers negotiated a favorable settlement of broad race discrimination claims against a large grocery store chain, thus preempting the threatened class action suit.

In handling complex class action lawsuits, Labor and Employment Group attorneys often enlist the special knowledge or experience of attorneys in other practice areas of the firm to address the legal issues in the most expeditious and cost-effective manner. For example, our lawyers have worked with Employee Benefits Group lawyers to defend successfully two multi-claimant lawsuits (one of which involved a putative class of 2,000 plaintiffs) alleging that the defendants violated ERISA by not disclosing plans to offer enhanced retirement programs in the future. In addition to our substantial experience in handling class action litigation, we have represented employers throughout the nation in a broad range of lawsuits asserting claims on behalf of individuals.