Akerman LLP has added 13 labor and employment lawyers to its Labor and Employment Practice Group in seven months. Those include partners Zachary Bulthuis from Huntington Legal Solutions, Michelle Lee Flores from Cozen O’Connor and Jeffrey Horton Thomas from Thomas Employment Law, all of whom join the Los Angeles office, in addition to Jeffrey Kimmel from Meister Seelig & Fein LLP in New York and Jessica Travers from Littler Mendelson P.C. in Jacksonville, Fla.

In a release, the firm said that, since 2016, the team’s headcount has more than doubled in size from 21 to 50 lawyers in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Texas, Washington, D.C. and across Florida.

The release continues:

“We are dedicated to growing our capabilities for clients in areas where they need us most,” said Eric Gordon, chair of the Labor and Employment Practice Group. “Employers today are faced with a new set of uncertainties brought on by significant shifts in U.S. employment and immigration policies. The expansion of our team in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and across Florida advances our ability to problem-solve on the ground with our clients while serving their interests nationally.”

Zachary Bulthuis
A versatile lawyer with experience litigating employment, commercial and intellectual property disputes, Bulthuis focuses his practice on representing management in labor and employment disputes. His clientele is diverse, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to local businesses and individuals.

Bulthuis has extensive courtroom experience, and has obtained success for his clients in both alternative dispute resolution and trial settings. His work includes litigation of, and advice on, wage and hour, California’s Private Attorney General Act (PAGA), trade secret, reimbursement and unfair competition claims arising from employment relationships. Bulthuis frequently provides outside general counsel services on myriad legal and business issues, including advising on licensing and employment policies and disputes, and advice and preparation of a wide range of contracts.

Michelle Lee Flores
Lee Flores is an employment litigation and consulting lawyer with deep experience handling jury and bench trials, arbitration, mediation and pre-litigation negotiations involving sex, race, religion, age and disability harassment and discrimination, and wage and hour violations, including class actions and wrongful termination. Lee Flores, a nationally recognized employment advisor, counsels clients on employment compliance, internal investigations, discipline, terminations, reductions in force, wage and hour matters and cannabis in the workplace. She formulates and guides clients on workplace policies and procedures manuals, drug testing policies, employment contracts and separation agreements, and harassment and discrimination prevention policies, including preventive counseling and in-house training. Regarded as a thought leader on employment matters, Lee Flores has been quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Economist, Variety, Fast Company, Corporate Counsel, SHRM and Law360, among others. Lee Flores has received many honors and recognitions, most recently she was voted for the fifth year in a row as a Southern California Super Lawyer.

Active in the community and across prominent professional organizations, Lee Flores also leads the efforts of several business and civic institutions. Those include her involvement as trustee of the boards of the Mexican American Bar Foundation and the University of California Press Foundation, among many others.

Jeffrey Horton Thomas
From Fortune 500 corporations to mid-market employers, Horton Thomas focuses his practice on representing employers and management in all aspects of California and federal employment law before state and federal courts and administrative agencies. He regularly defends employers on issues involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, disability accommodation, wage and hour, and PAGA lawsuits and administrative actions. His clients span various sectors including hospitality, technology, retail, professional services, manufacturing and apparel. Clients value his aggressive approach and mature judgment in defending litigation.

On the thought leadership front, Horton Thomas also has served as a contributing employment law editor to Modern Restaurant Management magazine and is a regular legal guest on KABC Talk Radio’s “So, What’s Your Problem.”

Jeffrey Kimmel
With a diverse national practice focusing on employment law and complex commercial litigation, Kimmel represents clients in federal and state courts, as well as in various arbitration forums and before federal, state and local administrative bodies. His clients operate across multiple sectors, including technology, entertainment, hospitality, real estate, insurance and financial services and range in size from small, closely held companies to publicly traded corporations with thousands of employees. Kimmel routinely represents management in matters relating to wage and hour violations, wrongful termination and anti-discrimination and regularly counsels employers on day-to-day human resources and legal compliance issues.

Kimmel represents high level executives in connection with the negotiation of employment contracts and compensation packages. Kimmell also works with many high net worth and high profile individuals on employment related matters to limit personal exposure arising from their direct or indirect employment relationships.

Jessica Travers
Travers focuses her practice on helping large and small employers avoid and resolve conflicts with employees. She is an experienced litigator handling a variety of intricate employment issues, including overtime and minimum wage, discrimination and retaliation, whistleblowing, workplace harassment, employee leave and reasonable accommodations, employee class and collective actions, and non-compete and breach of contract claims. Her clients span various industries, including the hospitality, retail, transportation and energy sectors.

Travers’ representation of employers occurs before federal and state agencies, state and federal courts, the courts of appeal and arbitral forums. Whether the matter is small or complex, she brings the same amount of subject-matter expertise, efficiency, tenacity and experience to reach the best resolution for the client. Travers understands litigation can be costly and burdensome for companies. Thus, she believes litigation avoidance is key to her clients’ overall success and uses her extensive litigation experience to counsel employers on implementing lawful policies, handling workplace conflicts within the law and mitigating workforce risks. Travers is also a frequent speaker on these topics.

Akerman’s Labor and Employment Practice Group also has recently welcomed associates Zoe Bekas and Steven Gallagher from Thomas Employment Law and Jade Brewster from Constangy, Brooks, Smith and Prophete LLP in Los Angeles, Chris Eby from Semple, Farrington & Everall P.C. in Denver, Tiffany Hendricks from Perlman, Bajandas, Yevoli & Albright P.L. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Melissa Overbeck from Bracewell LLP in New York, Sasha Segall from Loeb & Loeb LLP in West Palm Beach, Fla. and Paul Rutigliano from Meister, Seelig & Fein in New York. They bring experience in employment litigation and counseling for employers.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. on Monday reached a confidential settlement with a former employee, rather than face punitive damages for wrongfully firing her in January 2015 from the the restaurant she once managed, reports The Fresno Bee.

A Fresno jury last Thursday awarded Jeanette Ortiz $7.9 million in her wrongful termination civil case for loss of past and future wages and emotional distress against the fast-foot giant, a company that is worth about $1.3 billion, according to reporter Pablo Lopez.

Instead of letting the jury decide punitive damages, which could have been as much as nine times the original award, Chipotle’s lawyers settled with Ortiz and her lawyers for an undisclosed sum.

“In its verdict, the jury of four men and eight women ruled that Oritz was not a thief, but was a victim of a scheme to fire and defame her for filing a worker’s compensation claim for a job-related injury to her wrist caused by carpal tunnel syndrome,” writes Lopez.

Read the Fresno Bee article.

Fisher & Phillips LLP reports that a delivery driver for gig economy company DoorDash has been ordered by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to take his misclassification case to a private arbitrator instead of court pursuant to a valid arbitration agreement he entered into.

“The April 25 decision is a solid win for gig employers and could provide a template for how other similar businesses should structure their own arbitration agreements,” writes Richard Meneghello.

Delivery drivers for DoorDash are classified as independent contractors, but one driver filed suit, claiming wage and hour violations, and sought conditional class certification.

“If there is an agreement to arbitrate with a delegation clause…, we will consider that clause to be valid and compel arbitration. Challenges to the arbitration agreement as a whole are to be heard by the arbitrator,” the 5th Circuit said.

Read the article.

A federal district judge in Chicago has dismissed a non-compete case—at the pleading stage—finding that the non-competition covenant at issue was overbroad, as a matter of law, according to Winston & Strawn.

The firm’s post says that the judge ruled because the covenant restricted the employee from taking any position with another company that engaged in the same business as the employer, without regard to whether that position was similar to a position the employee held with the employer, or was otherwise competitive with the employer.

The case is Medix Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Dumrauf.

Read the article.

A new study from BarkerGilmore confirms that female lawyers are still paid less compared to their male counterparts — and the disparity is greater for GCs.

The Global Legal Post reports on the study: “On average, female in-house counsel earn 84 per cent of what male in-house counsel earn. The gap is much larger at the general counsel level, with a 78 per cent disparity, than at managing counsel or senior counsel levels, which show 90 per cent and 89 per cent disparities respectively.”

Above the Law takes a look at overall compensation for general counsel of both genders: “As one might expect, general counsel have the largest variation — with total compensation ranging from $350K to around $900K based on company revenue. Managing counsel, those with at least one direct report who aren’t the GC, are much more consistent across companies, with comp averaging from just under $300K to around $350K.”

Read the Legal Post article.

Barnes & Thornburg LLP has added Gray Mateo-Harris as a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department. Joining from Ogletree Deakins, Mateo-Harris will reside in the firm’s Chicago office, which has added five partners this year.

Mateo-Harris, a native Spanish speaker from the Dominican Republic, has clients including employers in the manufacturing, retail, technology and real estate industries.

In a release, the firm said Mateo-Harris has experience defending employers in litigation at both the state and federal court level through trial and appeal, including in restrictive covenant and contract- and tort-based actions, as well as with respect to alleged violations of wage payment and equal employment opportunity laws. She represents clients in arbitrations, mediations and administrative proceedings, including before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Illinois Department of Human Rights, the Illinois Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board. Her traditional labor practice includes assisting clients with union-avoidance issues, election proceedings, collective bargaining, grievance and contract arbitrations, and unfair labor practice charges.

“We’re off to an incredibly strong start with recruiting this year and the pipeline remains full of exceptional and diverse talent who are attracted to an ascendant practice in a full-service firm,” said Ken Yerkes, chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Law Department, which has added partners Amy Zdravecky, Dawn Collins and Tae Kim in recent weeks. “Gray’s sophisticated experience in employment litigation and traditional labor law and commitment to excellent client service make her a true asset for our practice.”

Mateo-Harris provides pro bono representation to several nonprofit organizations on employment matters, and has represented indigent clients as part of the Circuit Court of Cook County Domestic Violence Clinic and the Northern District of Illinois Judicial Settlement Assistance Program. She is actively involved with the National Bar Association, the Black Women Lawyers Association, the Women’s Coalition, the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois and the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She routinely mentors underrepresented students and attorneys through the Chicago Committee and the University of Illinois. Mateo-Harris also serves as a hearing officer and board member of the Cook County Sheriff’s Merit Board.

“Gray is the ‘complete package’ when it comes to tackling the most complex employment issues and offering proactive counseling to clients,” said Mark Rust, managing partner of Barnes & Thornburg’s Chicago office. “We’re thrilled to have her aboard.”

Mateo-Harris received her J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law and a B.S from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, both cum laude.

Barnes & Thornburg LLP has added Amy Zdravecky as a partner in the Labor & Employment Department. Joining from Miller Canfield, Zdravecky will spend time in the firm’s Chicago and Grand Rapids offices. Her arrival follows a recent expansion of the labor and employment department with the addition of partners Dawn Collins and Tae Kim in Los Angeles.

In a release, the firm said Zdravecky is an employment and labor law attorney who counsels employers in a number of industries. Her labor practice focuses on proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). She also has experience with state and federal employment laws, including Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

“We’re thrilled to welcome Amy to the firm,” said Ken Yerkes, chair of Barnes & Thornburg’s Labor & Employment Department. “She brings significant new breadth and depth to our nationally recognized traditional labor expertise and, following recent additions in Los Angeles, is the latest example of our commitment to adding talent, not just numbers.”

The firm said Zdravecky also assists clients involved in contract negotiations, discrimination matters, union-organizing campaigns, arbitrations, collective bargaining and NLRB elections. In addition, she provides training on union avoidance, general employee relations and sexual harassment. Her clients include employers in the retail, hospitality, warehouse, distribution, manufacturing, food production, transportation and healthcare industries.

“Amy is a fantastic asset to our local, regional and national labor and employment law practice,” said Bob Sikkel, managing partner of the firm’s Grand Rapids office. “Grounded in years of experience, her counsel will be extremely valuable to management who are continually facing a variety of labor and employment challenges.”

Zdravecky earned her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and her B.A from the University of Michigan.

The U.S. Supreme Court has emphatically reaffirmed the requirement that collective bargaining agreements must be interpreted according to “ordinary principles of contract law” when deciding whether retired employees are entitled to health care benefits, according to a post by Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC.

Richard C. Kraus and Mindi M. Johnson discuss CNH Industrial N.V. v. Reese. 

“The case involved a dispute over union retiree health benefits. In 1998, CNH entered into a CBA which provided group health care benefits to certain employees set to retire under the company’s pension plan. After the CBA expired, a class of CNH retirees and surviving spouses initiated a lawsuit in federal court asking for declaratory judgment that they were entitled to health care benefits for life and seeking to enjoin CNH from modifying those benefits.”

Read the article.

Above the Law got its hands on an email sent out by Paul Hastings that on the surface promotes diversity, but does so by praising male partners.

Editor Kathryn Rubino comments: “Paul Hastings seems to think men at the firm need a pat on the back for ‘including [women] in client work’ and other basic stuff they should be doing anyway. Pro tip: If you’re trying to promote diversity, giving (mostly) white men center stage is doing the very, very least you can do.”

The firm-wide email, reproduced on Above the Law’s website, features photos of each of the nine male “champions” and promotes their practice areas. The promotion is followed by praise from unnamed women, such as “[He] is a true champion to women and men at the firm and is also just a nice guy!”

Read the Above the Law article.

The restaurant company that owns Seasons 52, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, the Capital Grille and other well-known brands, agreed to pay almost $3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by job applicants who claimed they were denied employment because of their age, the EEOC said Wednesday.

The Miami Herald reports” “A complaint filed in Miami federal court in 2015 said it was ‘standard operating procedure’ for Darden [Restaurants] to disproportionately deny jobs to Seasons 52 applicants aged 40 and older, Reuters reported. That’s a violation of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act.”

Reporter Crystal Hill writes that the EEOC said applicants who were turned away were told they were “too experienced,” as well as, “we are not looking for old white guys.”

Read the Miami Herald article.

The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced a settlement of criminal charges against Knorr-Bremse AG and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. for having maintained agreements not to compete for each other’s employees, according to Locke Lord.

Authors Stephen P. Murphy and Joseph A. Farside Jr. write that one executive went so far as to state in an email that no-soliciting was a “prudent cause for both companies” and that the companies would “compete in the market.”

In announcing the settlement, an assistant AG noted that the criminal complaint was part of a broader Antitrust Division investigation into agreements not to compete for employees, typically known as no-solicit or no-poach agreements.

Read the article.

A New York federal jury awarded 10 former and current employees of a Long Island company $5.1 million because the company was found to have forced them to practice certain religious activities, reports The Washington Post.

Post contributor Gene Marks writes that the EEOC suit alleged that United Health Programs of America employees were being forced to follow an internal “Harnessing Happiness” system started by an aunt of the owners in 2007 that required them to engage in activities such as prayers, religious workshops and “spiritual cleansing rituals.”

“Nine employees said the ‘religiously infused atmosphere’ created a hostile work environment for them, and the jury agreed,” according to Marks. “The same jury also found that another employee was fired for opposing the practices. A judge had previously ruled that the Harnessing Happiness system — which was also known as ‘Onionhead’ — constituted a religion.”

Read the Post article.

NAVEX Global has published the 2018 Ethics & Compliance Hotline & Incident Management Benchmark Report. The report is available for downloading at no charge.

The newly released report shows the number of employee complaints and misconduct reports are rising — and a surprising 44 percent of all reports are substantiated.

However, cases are taking longer than ever to close, NAVEX points out in the report. “When cases take too long to resolve, employees feel unheard and are more likely to report outside your organization, where you miss the opportunity to mitigate risk with an appropriate response. Download the report to compare your compliance program against industry standards and get best practices from the experts to help you encourage internal reporting.”

Download the report.

Seyfarth Shaw has some advice for franchisor when considering their legal strategy in “no-hire” agreement class actions: franchisor employers should assess whether the joint employer risk is worth accepting in order to pursue the single-enterprise defense.”

In its Workplace Class Action Blog, the firm discusses class actions claiming that provisions contained in franchise agreements prohibiting the hiring of employees of other intrabrand franchisees without the consent of their employer violate the antitrust laws.

The authors discuss the single-enterprise defense, potential joint employer liability, and other defenses.

Read the article.

The Washington Post reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that Just Born Quality Confections, the firm that makes the candy known as Peeps, could not unilaterally stop enrolling new employees in a pension without paying a penalty, something it had tried to do since 2015.

Reporter Damien Paletta explains possible consequences: “The appeals court decision could have a major effect on hundreds of other companies that are trying to determine whether to continue making payments to their own multi-employer pension plans. A number of multi-employer plans have weak balance sheets, exacerbated by a wave of aging workers and new retirees. This dynamic has forced some firms to pay higher premiums to their pensions in an effort to boost solvency.”

The case arose when Just Born announced three years ago that it would no longer enroll new employees in the multi-employer pension it had participated in for decades and would instead divert money into a 401(k) plan for those workers.

Read the Post article.

Employment and labor law practice Littler and ComplianceHR, a joint venture of Littler and Neota Logic, announced the launch of PAID Forward.

In a release, the firm said PAID Forward helps employers navigate a new self-reporting program from the Department of Labor (DOL) that allows them to proactively address potential wage and hour underpayments under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) without incurring penalties or litigation threats. The Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program, which the DOL announced on March 6, encourages employers to audit their compensation practices, report any potential violations to the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division and remedy errors and compensate employees accordingly.

The release continues:

“The DOL’s PAID program provides employers with a unique opportunity to self-report potential minimum wage, overtime or other violations through a formal mechanism and proactively resolve any issues, while avoiding various litigation-related expenses,” said Tammy McCutchen, a principal in Littler’s Washington, D.C., office, Vice President of ComplianceHR and a former administrator of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division. “PAID Forward is a valuable resource for employers that combines Littler’s vast knowledge of FLSA audits and wage and hour compliance with ComplianceHR’s artificial intelligence platform for delivering clear and actionable information.”

“We are rolling out a new suite of expert system applications to identify potential off-the-clock work and compensation inappropriately excluded from the overtime calculations,” said Lori Brown, Chief Executive Officer of ComplianceHR. “These new apps, together with our award-winning Navigator OT which analyzes the risk of overtime misclassifications, will provide our users with a comprehensive suite of tools for assessing FLSA compliance – the first step to participate in the DOL’s PAID program.”

The PAID Forward solution begins with a tool to determine if a company is eligible to participate in PAID and then uses the ComplianceHR application to identify potential FLSA risk. Finally, a team of experienced Littler attorneys will guide the company through identifying appropriate remedial actions going forward, calculating back wages, preparing the necessary submissions to the DOL and negotiating with the DOL to ensure practices being corrected are not subject to future litigation.

“Many employers are rightfully excited about this new program, but as with any major move by the federal government on employment law, there are a lot of questions,” said Lee Schreter, Co-Chair of Littler’s Wage and Hour Practice Group. “The PAID Forward service helps employers streamline their auditing and reporting, while providing counsel from attorneys to most effectively work with the DOL and ensure pay practices are compliant moving forward.”

The DOL’s PAID program opened April 3 and was initially designed as a six-month pilot program, after which the DOL will evaluate the effectiveness, participation rate and results to determine whether to make it permanent.

Jennifer L. Ciralsky has joined Michael Best in its Milwaukee office as a partner in the firm’s Labor & Employment Relations Practice Group.

“We’re thrilled to have Jennifer join our employment team,” said Daniel Kaufman, Labor & Employment Relations Practice Group Chair. “Jennifer brings a wealth of knowledge and experience representing management in a wide range of employment issues. She is a great addition to our already-strong practice.”

In a release, the firm said Ciralsky advises clients on a broad range of employment laws including Title VII, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act, and Wisconsin wage and hour laws. She additionally provides counsel on discipline and terminations as well as affirmative action obligations.

The release also says Ciralsky defends employers in state and federal courts and before state and federal government agencies, including the Wisconsin Equal Rights Division, the Wisconsin Department of Labor Standards, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Department of Labor.

“I’m excited to join Michael Best’s Labor & Employment Group,” said Ciralsky. “The firm’s nationwide growth and full-service capabilities, coupled with its strong labor & employment bench, create the ideal platform for serving clients’ myriad needs. I’m looking forward to working alongside my colleagues to provide added value to clients.”

Prior to joining Michael Best, Ciralsky worked at a global labor and employment firm.

Ciralsky received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center, her M.B.A. from Georgetown University, and her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin.

Meritas will present a webinar titled “When #MeToo Means #YouToo: What to do when you’re in the sexual harassment hot seat.”

The event will be Wednesday, May 2, 2018, at 1 p.m. CDT.

“The #MeToo movement has many employers uncertain about the best ways to protect themselves from sexual harassment complaints and the right way to respond after a complaint has been made,” the firm says on its website. “This seminar will explore how our definitions of sexual harassment have evolved in the age of #MeToo and the misconceptions that have formed around this issue.”

“Participants will come away with actionable advice they can put to use to avoid the damage that such claims can create, not just in terms of liability but also in workplace culture, employee attraction and retention.”

Register for the webinar.

A recent article published by Goodwin Procter describes a Department of Justice challenge to an agreement between two of the largest rail equipment suppliers in the world that prohibited them from competing to hire each other’s employees, often referred to as “no poach” or “no hire” agreements.

“The negotiated settlement requires the Defendants to cease participation in these agreements and imposes a slew of onerous compliance obligations to assure no conduct of this sort occurs in the future,” according to the article. “This is a notable harbinger of the DOJ’s future enforcement intentions. Companies with any such agreements with competitors – be they written or informal – should consult with counsel immediately to assess their potential exposure. Agreements that are reasonably necessary to achieve a legitimate business transaction or collaboration between or among companies remain lawful.”

Read the article.

Agreements among companies to not hire each other’s workers are more risky than ever, warns Pepper Hamilton LLP in a post on its website.

“The DOJ’s Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, Makan Delrahim, stated on January 19 that the division has criminal cases targeting these agreements in the works,” the post says. “Meanwhile, lawsuits challenging no-poach agreements in technology, entertainment, health care and other industries have settled, sometimes for hundreds of millions of dollars. The DOJ announced its latest settlement, a civil settlement with two rail equipment suppliers, on April 3, underscoring that it did not bring criminal charges only because the suppliers ended their agreements before the FTC and DOJ issued guidance on ‘no-poach’ agreements in October 2016.”

The article concludes with some actions that firms should take to identify and limit their exposure.

Read the article.