Employment Law

Employment Law

Our employment and labor law practice includes the representation of businesses and individuals in the following areas:

Businesses

  • Handbook and Policy reviews;
  • Pre-termination Counseling;
  • Family and Medical Leave compliance;
  • Defense of all forms of discrimination, wrongful discharge and employment claims;
  • Enforcement of Non-competition agreements and protection of Trade Secrets;
  • Practice before all federal, state and local administrative agencies;
  • Minimum wage and overtime defense;
  • NLRB unfair labor practice charge defense, including those emanating from union salting campaigns;
  • Arbitration of disputes under arbitration agreements.

The Firm's attorneys are active in the Labor and Employment Law Sections of the the Ohio State Bar Association and have chaired the annual Midwest Labor Law Conference. We are members of the Ohio State Bar Association, the American Arbitration Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Ohio Employment Lawyer's Association and the American Bar Association.

Employees

Our individual employee practice includes the representation of employees in the following areas:

  • Defense of non-competition suits;
  • Prosecution of all forms of discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, breach of contract and denial of leave claims;
  • Negotiation of executive employment agreements and severance packages.
  • Counsel regarding employment rights and obligations;
  • Review of employer mandated corrective action plans; and
  • Equal pay, overtime and employee compensation issues.

Employment Law FAQ Pages

Loan Officer Overtime
This article examines the overtime compensation rules specific to commissioned employees in the Financial Industry.

Employment Law Articles

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is an independent federal agency that enforces laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination complaints based on an individual's race, color, national origin, religion, ...

Union Salting Objectives
A union salting campaign is designed to intimidate or cripple a nonunion contractor. Union salts want a contractor to sign a union contract. If the contractor refuses, union salting is designed to force the contractor to spend money and waste time defendi...

Union salting: Winning a Union Salting Campaign
Union salting campaign can intimidate or cripple a nonunion contractor. Union salts want to intimidate a contractor into signing a union contract. If the contractor refuses, union salting is designed to force the contractor to spend money and waste time d...

Union salting: Combating a union salting campaign
A union salting campaign is designed to intimidate or cripple a nonunion contractor. Part of the plan is to get the employer to say the wrong thing, no matter how inconsequential, and file unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB. The following sets fo...

Union salting: Supervisor do's and don'ts
A supervisor should: Tell your employees that the union is pressuring your company to sign a union agreement without an election by the employees. If the company signs an agreement, all employees will have to pay union dues from their paychecks. Tell empl...

Ohio House Bill 333 will let Owners sue Disabled People Seeking Access to Buildings
When property owners fail to provide access to disabled people as required by law, both Ohio and federal law let disabled people file suit to gain access. House Bill 333, proposed by Ohio House Representative Michael Stinziano, would bar that, unless the ...

Ohio Employers who Fail to Respond to Requests for Separation Information may now Pay for It
Ohio recently warned employers that they could be charged for unemployment compensation benefits received by employees who obtained them fraudulently. Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services ("ODJFS") will now charge employers who "establish a pattern...

Easily Create a Table of Contents for a legal brief with Microsoft Word
As a fresh law school graduate I remember well what we did and did not learn in law school. Writing was very high on the list and was a subject taught, at least in some regard, in every single law school class I took. However no one, including my legal wr...

Easily Create a Table of Authorities for a legal brief with Microsoft Word
As a fresh law school graduate I remember well what we did and did not learn in law school. Writing was very high on the list and was a subject taught, at least in some regard, in every single law school class I took. However no one, including my legal wr...

COSTCO Sued by EEOC for Sex Harassment based on Customer's Advances
Retail giant Costco, a multi-billion dollar wholesaler with operations in eight countries, has been violating federal laws by fostering a sexually hostile environment in its stores, according to a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commissi...

Facebook "Like"s May Be Protected Employment Activity
"Like"ing a Facebook post may be a protected concerted activity under federal labor law, meaning an employer cannot retaliate against an employee because of the "like." This is according to recent decisions of the NLRB (National Labor ...

Employers Must Submit BWC Settlement Claims by October 22, 2014
Group-rated employers who received a settlement claim form from the San Allen Inc. v. Bureau of Worker's Compensation settlement have until October 22, 2014 to mail in their completed claim form. After an $859 million dollar judgment was handed down i...

Facebook Posts by Employees Can Go Too Far and Lose Concerted Activity Protection
While some Facebook posts by employees are protected as concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act, Facebook posts by employees that advocate insubordination or undermine leadership do not receive those same protections and employees making...

OSHA Expands List of Injuries Employers Must Report, Changes Exempt Industries List
On January 1, 2015, OSHA will expand the list of work-related injuries and illnesses that covered employers must report. The new list includes all work-related inpatient hospitalizations, amputations (the traumatic loss of a limb or body part), or losses ...

Ohio's Minimum Wage to Increase in 2015
Ohio's minimum wage will increase again in 2015. Ohio's minimum wage is tied to inflation and has risen every year since Ohio passed the Ohio Minimum Wage Increase Amendment, also known as Issue 2, in 2006. It is incorporated into the Ohio Constit...

Could the United States Supreme Court Find that Title VII Prohibits Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Discrimination?
In Price Waterhouse , the Supreme Court held that Title VII reaches claims of “sex stereotyping.” As a result, employers who make employment decisions based on a belief that women should not be aggressive, or that men should not be effeminate,...

How the Same Sex Marriage Ruling will change Ohio Employment Laws
The United States Supreme Court struck down Ohio’s prohibition against marriages between same sex partners in Obergefell v. Hodges . In so doing, the Supreme Court recognized a fundamental right to marriage. The Supreme Court did not recognize a fun...

2nd Circuit Agrees with NLRB; Facebook "like"s are Protected Activity
In 2014 the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its ruling in Triple Play Sports Bar . It decided that "like"ing a Facebook post may be a protected concerted activity under federal labor law, which means an employer cannot retaliate aga...

NLRB Declares Chipotle Company Policies Unlawful
An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued her ruling in the Chipotle case last month, holding that Chipotle’s policies and actions violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Specifically, the NLRB ...