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Employment Law
The Employment Law Group at Prince Lobel gets results. The Group’s ability to identify and resolve issues before they become problems is renowned. If a problem does develop into litigation, our employment lawyers litigate with great success, representing a broad array of employers in state and federal courts and before government agencies. We also train employers to limit risk by devising and implementing sound employment practices.
The firm’s Employment Law Practice Group offers a broad range of employment law services including:
- Defending employers against retaliation discrimination, whistleblower, wage and hour claims, and defamation claims
- Advising on and litigating non-competition, confidentiality, and trade secret issues
- Counseling with respect to critical employment decisions, such as terminations and disciplinary actions
- Drafting employment contracts and severance agreements
- Preparing employment policies and manuals
- Ensuring compliance with federal legislation, including Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act
- Conducting wage and hour audits and advising employers on worker classification issues
- Assisting clients in responding to investigations or audits by state and federal agencies and regulatory bodies
- Providing advice with respect to plant closings and workforce reductions
- Providing policy advice with regard to the use of email, Internet, social media and personal blogs
- Considering and pursuing alternative dispute resolutions
Training
Prince
Lobel offers a variety of employment
law training courses, and can tailor any course to meet your needs.
Anti-harassment and discrimination training courses are conducted by
trainers
certified by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. A
sample
of our training courses include:
- Preventing and Addressing
Sexual Harassment (for managers and/or employees)
- Addressing and Preventing
Unlawful Harassment (for managers and/or employees)
- Assessing the Need for and
Providing Reasonable Accommodations
- Avoiding Pitfalls in Hiring,
Discipline, and Termination
- Meeting the Challenges of Social Media Use in the Workplace
- Avoiding Wage and Hour
Claims
- Addressing Basic Employment Law for Managers
All of our
trainings can be modified for newly hired managers and employees,
or for those requiring only refresher courses.
For more information on our Employment Law Practice Group or the firm's training programs, please contact Group Chair Daniel S. Tarlow at dtarlow@princelobel.com or 617 456 8013.
Representative Matters
- In a recent case, Prince Lobel
successfully defended class-action claims brought by employees who sought to
represent all black and Hispanic employees denied promotions at the
employer railroad. After many months of factual discovery, extensive legal
briefing, and a lengthy oral argument to the court, a United States district court judge refused to certify the class. The victory was significant for
Prince Lobel's client, and had even wider implications generally for
employers who may face similar class claims. Prince Lobel attorneys proved
that, with the right facts and a thorough understanding of the complex law
governing discrimination class actions, employers can convince courts to rule
in their favor.
- Prince Lobel obtained the
dismissal of a 17-count complaint brought by a police officer against his
department in which the officer alleged various civil rights and tort claims
relating to his alleged whistleblowing activity. By adopting an aggressive
legal strategy, and mastering complex legal and factual arguments, Prince
Lobel was able to defeat the claims early on, thus avoiding
costly and lengthy litigation.
- Prince Lobel won a significant
decision when the trial court awarded summary judgment in favor of our client,
a day care center for the children of hospital employees. The decision is
meaningful for employers as it confirms that a claim for wrongful termination
in violation of public policy is a very narrow exception to the at-will
employment doctrine and does not constitute a catch-all cause of action. The court found that to sustain a claim of that type, an employee must identify
a "clearly defined" public policy articulated by the legislature.
- Prince Lobel attorneys defended
their client and ten male supervisors against claims by six female former
employees, each of whom claimed that she was subjected to gender discrimination
and retaliation. Among their claims, the women contended that they received
inferior equipment and were subjected to greater discipline than male bus
drivers who worked for the company. The plaintiffs sought compensatory and
punitive damages against the company, in addition to attorney fees and
costs. Prince Lobel's attorneys proved that, with the right facts, juries
can get beyond first impressions created by "me too" evidence. After a five-week trial, the jury returned a take-nothing verdict in favor
Prince Lobel's client and the ten male supervisors.
- A former temporary worker
sued Prince Lobel's client claiming it had discriminated against him based on
handicap when it failed to hire him for a series of full-time job openings. The
plaintiff also asserted client retaliation. We were able to achieve summary
judgment in Massachusetts Superior Court showing that there was no
discrimination in the hiring process, and that the plaintiff’s employment was
terminated due to the employer’s legitimate concerns about his conduct on the
job.
- Prince Lobel represented a
start-up technology company and the members of its board of directors in a case
brought by its founder alleging that the company had engaged in age discrimination
when it terminated his employment at age 79 in a layoff. Through an exhaustive
presentation of the facts to the Massachusetts Commission Against
Discrimination at the prehearing stage, we were able to get all of the claims
dismissed.
- A former employee of a high-tech
company filed a complaint under USERRA asserting that Polaroid had failed to
honor its obligation to rehire him after his tour of duty ended. Prince Lobel
was able to successfully resolve the case for nuisance value by persuading the
Department of Labor that the employee’s claim was likely time-barred and
negated by the reduction in force.
- In a class-action lawsuit brought
on behalf of individuals whose health and welfare benefits were terminated
prior to the sale of a Fortune 1000 company, Prince Lobel's employment
litigators persuaded the United States district court to transfer proceedings
to the District of Delaware resulting in the dismissal of the action and
avoidance of exposure which could have exceeded $25,000,000.
- In a particularly difficult sexual
harassment case wherein the individual plaintiff accused Prince Lobel's multimedia client of sexual harassment due to the alleged gross behavior of
the client’s on-air personalities. The firm's efforts enabled the client to
resolve the matter after minimal litigation and at less than 5% of the
plaintiff’s settlement demand.
- When an international vice
president responsible for sales left the client’s employ to work for one of its
chief competitors, Prince Lobel successfully prevented the former employee
from competing with the client for the duration of the employee’s non-compete
agreement by obtaining court orders restricting the scope of the employee’s
employment in his new position.
- A partner in a large regional
accounting firm was discovered to have engaged in a personal relationship with
an associate of the firm. Prince Lobel's employment lawyers succeeded in
developing a strategy resulting in the adoption of a non-fraternization policy
and the voluntary termination of the partner.
- Firm attorneys obtained EEOC dismissal of gender discrimination and retaliation claims brought by a female news reporter against our client, a cable and Internet financial news program.
- Prince Lobel defended a national magazine in federal court against an allegation that it had misclassified a sales representative as an independent contractor rather than an employee.
- Employment attorneys counseled a teaching hospital during its internal grievance proceedings, which were initiated by a female medical resident alleging gender discrimination.
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