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Services Available
What We Do
Our Labor and Employment team represents clients in all aspects of labor and employment law, including:
- Employment Litigation
- Employee Defection and Recruitment
- Employment Counseling
- Traditional Labor Relations
- Employee Benefits
We provide litigation, counseling and dispute resolution services on a range of issues, including employment discrimination and harassment, wrongful discharge, wage and hour, non-compete and trade secrets, union organizing efforts, collective bargaining and arbitration, executive compensation, as well as benefits design, implementation and compliance, personnel policy development and many other areas.
Who We Serve
We have a diverse nationwide practice providing advice and defense to large and medium-size employers in many industries, including but not limited to:
- Defense Contractors (manufacturing, supply and services)
- Financial institutions
- Hospitals, healthcare providers, nursing homes and assisted living facilities
- Specialty and Mass Retailers
- Manufacturing
- Hi-tech and bio-tech
- Construction and Building Trades
- Telecommunications
- Distribution, trucking and warehousing
- Entertainment and media
- Food and beverage industry processing, distribution and retail
- Colleges and Universities; public and private schools
- Law, accounting, consulting and other Professional Services firms
- Hospitality; Hotel and Restaurant
Labor and Employment Law Practice with National Reach
Saul Ewing has a Mid-Atlantic footprint, but a nationwide reach, providing advice and defense to large and mid-size employers in nearly every industry sector with facilities throughout the U.S. Our Washington, D.C. presence enables us to readily assist clients with federal regulatory and legislative issues.
Our attorneys regularly appear before many federal and state agencies throughout the U.S., including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ), Labor (DOL) and Education.
Personal Commitment to Our Clients
We know employers have a choice when it comes to selecting the lawyer and law firm who will represent their business, agency or institution. We pride ourselves on our commitment to understanding our clients’ operations and industry and to establishing long-term relationships as trusted advisors. Saul Ewing is proud that many of its clients have relied upon the same attorneys for advice for as long as 35 years. For members of our Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits practice, nurturing and maintaining lasting client relationships is not lip service. It's the way we do business.
Investing Our Time in Learning Your Business and Needs
Part of our personal commitment is going beyond the immediate assignment to learn how our clients’ businesses operate and to gain an understanding of our clients’ cultures and needs.
Judge for yourself. As some examples, Saul Ewing LEEB attorneys have:
- Worked a shift in a fast food chain;
- Spent a day visiting stores with a client's outside salesperson to understand the business and the job duties;
- Routinely tour our clients' plants and operations and attend Board meetings;
- Regularly read industry publications and attend industry events.
These activities are typically off-the-clock. We know that the more we understand our clients' businesses and needs, the better we can serve them.
Going Above and Beyond
Long before other industries moved to 24/7 service, our attorneys made service a priority. At Saul Ewing, our clients know they can reach us when they need us. When a major workplace incident occurs, a union organizing campaign is reported, or a nasty sexual harassment complaint filed, it is typical for a Saul Ewing lawyer or team to be on a plane within 24 hours to wherever they are needed. Our attorneys have conducted training in Fairbanks, Alaska – in February; obtained an injunction against a major strike on a Sunday morning; stood on call for round-the-clock union contract negotiations and had their tires slashed during other negotiations. If one lawyer happens to be unavailable, we have a very deep bench ready to step in on short notice to provide the guidance our clients need.
Why Saul Ewing? Because we partner with our clients and are mutually invested in your business.
Representative Matters
- Saul Ewing’s Labor and Employment Group successfully defended a client against allegations that it had violated the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Our client, a freight transportation company, was sued by a former employee, who alleged that the company had violated his rights under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) when it terminated his employment under the expiration of his FMLA leave.
During the three-day jury trial, our attorneys’ cross-examination of the treating doctor and the plaintiff demonstrated that the plaintiff was unable to perform the essential functions of the job when his FMLA leave expired. After only 75 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned its verdict in our client’s favor.
- When a client’s former employee sued the company for tortuous interference and negligent retention, Saul Ewing’s Labor and Employment Group was successful in moving to have the lawsuit dismissed.
Saul Ewing represented a premier commercial and residential flooring company. A former employee sued the company, and one of its supervisors, in Superior Court in Salem, New Jersey, claiming tortious interference and negligent retention. Saul Ewing’s attorneys moved to dismiss the complaint on multiple grounds, including the fact that the plaintiff had failed to list his claims on the proof of claim he filed in connection with his personal bankruptcy – an issue discovered by our attorneys. The court granted our motion to dismiss. All counts were dismissed on the grounds that the plaintiff lacked the standing to bring his claims.
- Saul Ewing’s Labor and Employment Group obtained a summary judgment in favor of a client being sued by a former employee who alleged violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).
Saul Ewing represented a general contractor. A carpenter employed by our client sued after being fired for repeated absenteeism. The employee claimed that he had a mobility disability which was exacerbated by an alleged fall at work, and that this was the “real reason” for his dismissal, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Our client contended that the employee’s condition did not meet the ADA’s definition of a disability. Although the employee had some limitations in locomotion and difficulty sleeping, he was not substantially impaired of any major life activity. Based on this, Saul Ewing’s attorneys argued that the former employee was not protected under the ADA. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina agreed and granted our client a summary judgement.
- Saul Ewing’s Labor and Employment Group won a summary judgment in U.S. District Court on behalf of our client, a life insurance company, in racial and sexual discrimination case brought by a former employee.
Our client is a prominent life insurance company. A former employee brought suit against our client in U.S. District Court, alleging racial and sexual discrimination when she was denied a promotion to a high level management position. The case included a variety of claims, including discriminatory failure to promote on the basis of sex and race, constructive wrongful discharge, defamation and invasion of privacy. After served with the suit, Saul Ewing moved to dismiss all of the claims with the exception of the discriminatory promotion claim, on the basis that they failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The Court granted this motion. Then, after discovery, Saul Ewing moved for summary judgment on the discrimination claim. The court granted our motion for summary judgment.
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