We offer a full service employment law practice to companies and executives, including counseling on employment law and human resource matters, advice and counsel concerning restrictive covenants and employment agreements, and defending single plaintiff and complex employment law litigation.
Counseling
We counsel employers on a variety of issues, including equal employment opportunity laws, employee discipline and termination, leaves of absence, privacy and social media laws, wage and hour compliance, restrictive covenants, and reductions in force. We can develop, draft, revise and implement personnel practices and policies in such areas as sexual harassment and discrimination, reasonable accommodations for disabilities, employee discipline and terminations, and social media communications, among others.
The firm counsels employers on a wide variety of employment and human resources issues, including:
- Restrictive covenants and employment agreements
- Employee discipline and termination
- Reductions in force and workplace restructurings
- Equal employment opportunity laws and workforce diversity
- Leave policies and procedures and the interplay of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the ADA, Short Term Disability and State Laws
- Privacy and social media
- Wage and hour compliance
- State and Federal background check laws
Investigations
The firm has extensive experience in conducting routine as well as highly sensitive investigations for clients involving issues of gender, race and ethnicity harassment, employee fraud, whistleblowing or other possible wrongdoing by employees or executives.
Litigation
Consistent with the goals of many of our clients, we aim to achieve the best early resolution of employment disputes. If necessary, we are ready and able to represent our clients in litigation and at trial. We have significant experience defending employers in federal and state courts, and before administrative agencies. We have represented employers in pre-litigation and throughout litigation, including claims brought under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Equal Pay Act and many other state and federal discrimination laws and common law tort and contract workplace claims, such as defamation, wrongful discharge, trade secrets violations, intentional infliction of emotion distress, and restrictive covenants. Our lawyers have significant experience in successfully defending class actions on behalf of clients, with outcomes including defeat of class certification, full wins or favorable settlements for clients.
Representative Matters by Lawyers in the Firm
- Defended public employer in over 30 cases arising from same purported defect in employee terminations. Developed legal defense and won two appellate decisions in less than a year that effectively shut down all cases, with no damages awarded against employer.
- Won dismissal of non-compete suit against sales person for sport drink retailer in DuPage County.
- Successfully defended executive against non-compete claims asserted by former employer in computer security software services sales. Through creative and aggressive counsel, former employer agreed to drop all claims.
- Have defended to agency dismissal or confidential settlement many EEOC and IDHR claims based on Race, Age, National Origin, Disability, and other characteristics.
- Advise global client on social media, background check, and leave policies with application to all 50 states and with international reach.
- Advise global and multi-state clients on a regular basis concerning the full panoply of employment laws, including restrictive covenants, confidentiality and privacy matters, discrimination, terminations, accommodations, leave issues, wage laws, and background check laws.
- Have conducted extremely sensitive internal investigations involving claims of sexual harassment, whistleblower allegations, potential misappropriation of confidential and trade secret information, and other charges, involving high-level executives, members of clients’ legal departments, and others.
- Advise clients on pay equity and other practices related to women in the workplace.
- Successfully defended a major pharmaceutical company at trial against age discrimination claim brought by sales representative. Won complete defense verdict.
- Successfully defended corporation against breach of employment contract and ERISA claims brought by two former top executives.
- Review and analyze all non-disclosure, non-solicitation and non-compete agreements of incoming executive-level candidates for international consulting firm.
