The maze-like rules, regulations and laws governing labor and employment can be a minefield for employers. MARC’s extensive litigation experience in all types of employment-related claims helps clients defend against lawsuits early and forcefully. Our successful representations run the gamut from trial verdicts on behalf of Fortune 50 corporations to dismissal of claims before administrative agencies. We investigate complaints from their inception and work with in-house counsel, management and corporate employees to aggressively defend our clients.
MARC attorneys represent major corporations and small companies before state and federal courts throughout the Northeast as well as before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, state and local human/civil rights agencies, and the administrative venues of the New Jersey and New York Departments of Labor.
We also have extensive experience counseling employers on their day-to-day legal obligations as well as effectively representing employers through litigation alternatives such as mediation, arbitration and early neutral evaluation intended to avoid litigation or resolve it expeditiously.
Employment Litigation
MARC represents a spectrum of clients, including, among others, Fortune 500 oil and pharmaceutical corporations, in jury and nonjury trials with claims ranging from wrongful discharge, discrimination and retaliation to breach of employment contract and misappropriation of trade secrets.
We represent employers in race, religion, sex, national origin, whistleblower, sexual orientation, disability and age-discrimination claims as well as in contract, severance, confidentiality and noncompete agreement disputes. MARC also has extensive experience defending employers before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and in wage and hour matters, including misclassification of workers’ exempt or independent contractor status, overtime pay violations and other issues.
Our practice includes matters involving the:
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Civil Rights Act of 1866 (Section 1981)
- Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA)
- Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
- Equal Pay Act (EPA)
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA)
- New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD)
- New Jersey Wage and Hour Law
- New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL)
- New York Labor Law (NYLL)
- New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL)
- Rehabilitation Act of 1973
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)
Our recent engagements include:
- Winning a no-cause verdict in state court for a major petroleum company on CEPA claims.
- Winning a no-cause verdict in state court for a large pharmaceutical company alleged to have violated CEPA.
- Obtaining summary judgment in federal court for a Fortune 500 oil company and a manager, dismissing ADA and FMLA claims.
- Obtaining summary judgment in federal court for a Fortune 500 company, dismissing FMLA, NJLAD and other state law claims, a decision affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
- Securing a finding of no probable cause from the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights over discrimination allegations tied to a company's rehiring decisions after a layoff.
- Securing a finding of no probable cause from the New York State Division of Human Rights.
- Obtaining dismissal of an EEOC charge alleging national origin discrimination.
- Obtaining dismissal of an EEOC charge alleging a large pharmaceutical company failed to accommodate a disability where the claimant did not return after a short-term disability leave, effectively abandoning the job.
- Successfully enforcing a restrictive covenant on behalf of a public company against former employees.
- Successfully opposing injunction applications in which employers sought to enjoin former employees from engaging in competition.
- Obtaining dismissal of a workers’ compensation claim from the New Jersey Department of Labor, Appeal Tribunal, on behalf of a Fortune 500 oil company, where the claimant-employee voluntarily resigned.
- Settling on favorable terms government audits involving wage and hour claims pre-litigation.
- Obtaining summary judgment in state court on behalf of a New Jersey Board of Education and the individual board members, dismissing CEPA and workers’ compensation retaliation claims.
Employment Counseling/Contracts
MARC regularly advises employers on compliance with federal, state and local employment laws. This includes drafting employment agreements, policies, personnel manuals, separation agreements, noncompete agreements and other restrictive covenants. We similarly advise employers on various employment-related concerns, including hiring and termination, policies and procedures, wage and hour compliance, leaves of absence, disability accommodation, noncompete and trade-secret protection as well as undertake workplace audits that allow employers to assess potential vulnerabilities, such as employee misclassification.
Internal Investigations
MARC attorneys have extensive experience in conducting internal investigations for major U.S. corporations. Corporate counsel often turn to MARC to conduct investigations of allegations by an employee or third party concerning improper behavior such as harassment, retaliation, fraud, whistleblowing, discrimination or employee misconduct.
Please contact John B. McCusker, or Michael R. Futterman for additional information.
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