Employment Litigation

LGWM’s Employment Group defends employers in litigation settings in both state and federal courts.  LGWM represents security companies, manufacturing companies, hotels, restaurants, management companies, staffing companies, construction companies, trucking companies, treatment facilities, counseling facilities, and other businesses in state court against claims of retaliatory discharge under the  workers’ compensation laws and claims of discrimination under Alabama’s Age Discrimination in Employment Act and in federal court against claims arising under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, the Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994. LGWM also defends and pursues claims on behalf of employers with regard to breaches of employment agreements and restrictive covenants in both state and federal courts.

Cases of Note

• LGWM represented a civic center against claims of race discrimination filed by four former employees. The District Court granted summary judgment with regard to all claims asserted by the plaintiffs other than their pay discrimination claims under Title VII. LGWM tried the pay discrimination claims before a jury and obtained a jury verdict in favor of the civic center.
• LGWM represented a quality control company working for a large automobile manufacturing facility with regard to claims of race discrimination and retaliation by a former employee. The claims were tried before a jury, and the jury returned a verdict in favor of the quality control company with regard to all claims.
• LGWM represented a trucking company in a suit filed by the EEOC on behalf of two job applicants. The EEOC contended that the trucking company failed to hire the applicants on the basis of their race. After extensive discovery, including expert discovery regarding racial profiling, the District Court granted summary judgment in favor of the trucking company.
• LGWM represented a national retail sales company against a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act filed by eight former employees on behalf of themselves and similarly situated sales representatives who claimed they were not paid for overtime hours worked. With liability fairly certain and the potential for a collective of 169 members, LGWM successfully obtained a class-wide settlement.
• LGWM represented a company and its president against claims of harassment based in state tort law asserted by a former high level employee. LGWM obtained summary judgment with regard to all claims asserted by the former employee.
• LGWM represented a mining company against retaliatory discharge claims by a former employee under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of the mining company. The former appealed the summary judgment ruling to the Eleventh Circuit, and the Eleventh Circuit upheld the dismissal of the former employee’s claims.
• LGWM represented a drug treatment center in two lawsuits filed by two former employees – one who asserted nine claims of sex and race discrimination and one who asserted 12 claims of sex and race discrimination and for violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act. LGWM successfully obtained summary judgment with regard to all claims asserted by each plaintiff in both cases.
• LGWM represented a commercial real estate firm against claims of sexual harassment involving the firm’s president and chief executive officer. The claims required an extensive firm-wide investigation which resulted in the recommended termination of the president and chief executive officer.
• LGWM represented a security company who was sued by a former security officer for race and sex discrimination associated with the security officer’s transfer to a new position and subsequent termination. LGWM successfully obtained summary judgment on behalf of the security company with regard to all claims asserted by the security officer.
• LGWM represented a restaurant owner with regard to seven Charges of Discrimination filed by seven former servers and managers. LGWM participated in an extensive on-site investigation with the EEOC in which every employee of the restaurant owner was interviewed. The EEOC determined the claims were not substantiated by its investigation.