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Practice/Industry Group Overview
S&C's labor and employment practice, established over 50 years ago, is recognized globally as a leader among our peer firms. S&C's labor and employment practice is well known for providing comprehensive services both to the Firm's regular corporate and banking clients as well as to other clients who seek our specialized expertise.
According to Practical Law Company's PLC Which Lawyer? 2007, S&C is renowned for "its widely acclaimed strengths in the gamut of employment issues." Prominent legal media such as Practical Law Company's PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook and Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business recognize S&C as the only firm with top-ranking lawyers in both employment litigation and executive compensation and benefits. S&C's labor and employment litigators work closely with members of our Executive Compensation and ERISA practice to assist clients in connection with the full spectrum of employment issues that confront today's businesses.
S&C's labor and employment lawyers have extensive experience:
- Advising clients with respect to routine and complex discrimination and other employment-related issues and, when necessary, defending employers in single and multi-plaintiff and class action litigation in state and federal courts and before arbitration panels.
- Advising and litigating restrictive covenant cases involving non-compete, non-solicit and trade secret claims, cases involving forfeiture of stock awards for breaching such agreements, and all manner of other employment-related claims.
- Providing expert advice on a broad spectrum of employment matters, including compliance with complex domestic and foreign statutes, independent contractor and FLSA classification and related wage and hour issues, workforce restructuring, investigations of employee complaints, resolution of particular employee situations, creation of employment agreements and severance arrangements and international issues.
- The Firm also has deep experience in traditional labor law, providing specialized labor counsel in connection with mergers and acquisitions, assisting non-unionized clients in addressing issues under the National Labor Relations Act, responding to labor disputes that may or may not directly involve clients, and providing representation to employers with unionized workforces, including negotiation and administration of labor contracts and representation of clients in labor arbitrations.
Recent Labor and Employment Litigation Highlights
- Representing Microsoft in the damages phase of the landmark "permatemp" class action concerning the entitlement of temporary workers and independent counsel to participate in employee benefit plans. S&C acted as lead counsel in mediation of the settlement terms and resolution of the matter.
- Winning an appellate decision on behalf of a prominent financial firm affirming the dismissal of an action raising claims under New York's wage law that challenged the structure of the firm's compensation system. The decision established an important precedent applicable generally to equity awards issued by financial firms and other corporations as part of compensation.
- Overturning the district court's grant of class certification in In re Initial Public Offering Securities Litigation. In a decision obtained by the Firm's Litigation Department that also represents a big win for the employment defense bar, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected a lenient standard for class-action certification that had been established as a result of the employment discrimination class action Caridad v. Metro-North Commuter Railroad.
- Successfully defending American International Group
against breach of contract, fraud and fraudulent inducement claims brought by a former executive.
- Successfully defending a prominent financial firm in a series of NASD arbitrations in connection with claims by former employees concerning a stock award plan and compensation.
- Obtaining a significant arbitration victory dismissing race discrimination claims against a major national sports league after a three-day arbitration hearing. In his decision, the arbitrator rejected the claimants' discrimination claims in their entirety and categorically rejected the claim that the client engaged in a pattern and practice of discrimination.
- Successfully defending former partners of a national accounting firm who left to form a significant forensic investigation business, in a suit brought by their former employer to enjoin them from proceeding with their business. We defended expedited proceedings in state court, and brought the case to a successful and swift resolution for the client.
Practice Contacts
Theodore O. Rogers, Jr.
New York
P +1-212-558-4000
F +1-212-558-3588
rogersto@sullcrom.com
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