Gallagher, Malloy, and Georges

Labor and Employment

Employment Litigation

Workplace disputes can be disruptive and stressful, whether you are the employee or employer. To circumvent these situations, key steps can be taken at the human resources level to reduce the risk of dispute between an employer and employee. However, when the circumstances make litigation unavoidable, our lawyers’ expertise in the area of employment law is a valuable asset to have working for you.

Our firm assists its business clients in developing cost-effective solutions to employment problems including counseling and taking pro-active steps to avoid risk in employment relationships, advising on issues such as wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and racial discrimination. We also provide assistance in developing and reviewing employment procedures regarding hiring, promotion, discipline, drug testing, and other issues. Our attorneys can assist employers in creating effective and defensible policies as well as forms and documentation, including handbooks, applications, performance reviews and termination documents. Our attorneys counsel clients regarding the retention and monitoring of all such records, including electronic messages. In addition, the firm's attorneys are adept at negotiating and drafting all types of employment agreements, in particular contracts to protect trade secrets and proprietary information, and finally to limit employees from competing after the end of the employment relationship.

If litigation becomes necessary, our attorneys are skilled in developing and providing aggressive representation. Our lawyers have many years of experience handling litigation on behalf of employers and employees on most legal issues arising out of employment relationships.

Our Labor and Employment Group lawyers have experience with all types of employment litigation matters in federal and state forums, including administrative agencies. Specifically:

• Claims relating to age, race, sex, national origin and disability discrimination;
• Claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour law;
• Claims under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act for breach of contract and violation of the duty of fair representation;
• Breach of contract actions, including breach of a resignation offer and release agreement;
• Drafting of separation and release agreements, including covenants not to compete;
• Defense of various state tort claims such as defamation, tortious interference with business expectancy and wrongful discharge;
• Actions to set aside arbitration awards, including both defending and asserting such claims;
• Resolution of claims through alternative dispute resolution (ADR), both mini-trials and mediation.

If you would like additional information or a consultation, please contact our offices at (215) 963-1555, or click here for our contact form.