Discrimination Law
The new millennium demands imagination and sophistication in human resources management. Legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1991, mandated changes in employment practices and allowed stiffer penalties against errant employers. The media’s day-in, day-out attention to sexual harassment issues has made all employers more vulnerable to these claims. Today, even informed personnel choices can spawn lawsuits, and too often the outcome is shaped by claimants looking for a deep pocket and sympathetic juries who view employers as presumptively guilty. Today, more than ever, management needs skilled and experienced legal advisers to help them wend their way through this minefield of regulation and risk.
Vedder Price seeks to solve client employment problems before they become costly. To that end, our firm offers an array of services to help clients achieve their economic goals and avoid expensive employment-related litigation. If litigation ensues, we aggressively defend our clients, bringing to that task a superior level of proficiency acquired through years of experience representing companies of all sizes in both service and manufacturing industries.
However, we are attuned to the realities of employment litigation. Our firm maintains appropriate lawyer staffing geared to the type of suit involved, adheres to established parameters in litigation expenses, and never loses sight of economies that may be achieved by reasonable settlement.
Vedder Price offers customized counseling on how to accomplish cost savings and workforce improvements, while minimizing litigation exposure. Our services include:
- Advice on personnel decisions, including how to interview and assess job applicants, monitor and control alcohol and drug abuse, develop and maintain appropriate personnel records, and use progressive discipline effectively;
- Assistance in identifying problem terminations and developing strategic alternatives;
- Development of alternative dispute resolution procedures;
- Suggestions for reduction-in-force methodologies, such as the establishment of RIF committees, RIF procedures and voluntary retirement packages;
- Advice on compliance with WARN Act requirements associated with mass layoffs or plant closings;
- Statistical analyses necessary to audit workforce composition and determine if proposed personnel actions will have an adverse impact on protected individuals or groups;
- Assessment of pension and welfare benefit plans and plan changes affecting salaried and union-represented employees;
- Evaluation of workplace safety and health programs, and advice on compliance with federal and state Occupational Safety and Health requirements.
The firm has approximately 40 labor and employment lawyers in Chicago and New York. We have been litigating in the labor and employment law field for more than fifty years. We are well equipped to effectively and creatively defend any type of employment litigation and have represented and continue to represent a broad cross section of public employers, Fortune 100 and New York Stock Exchange corporations, as well as smaller, privately held companies. Issues successfully litigated for these clients include:
- Race, sex and other employment discrimination suits, both individual and class;
- Wrongful discharge claims of all types, including those based on alleged handbook-created contracts or in tort for retaliatory discharge, fraud or negligence;
- Charges and suits brought by unions and employees under Sections 8 and 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, including actions to enjoin illegal strikes;
- Fair Labor Standards Act and Equal Pay Act actions, both individual and class;
- ERISA litigation raising individual and class claims for benefits, and assertions of breach of fiduciary duty or improper modification or termination of plan benefits;
- OSHA litigation involving hazardous substance and ergonomic issues;
- Employment arbitration based on employment contracts and securities registration agreements.
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