LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
Our regional labor and employment practice consists of over 30 attorneys located in our New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Jackson, Tupelo, Houston and Tampa offices. We believe that the strength of our practice is our attorneys, including a former state court judge, a former trial attorney with the National Labor Relations Board, a board certified tax attorney, a board certified labor attorney, and a member of the American Arbitration Association Advisory Counsel for Employment Law Disputes who is also a panelist for their Panel of Neutrals. We represent management clients of varying sizes, with respect to virtually any labor or employment law issue, including labor relations, employment discrimination and harassment, safety and health, civil rights and constitutional law, and human resources and performance management. Our clients include private and public employers, business organizations, and trade associations. Representative clients include Fortune 500 companies, power and telephone utility companies, and public employers. Attorneys handle a broad array of administrative charges and investigations before administrative agencies, such as:
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission;
- U.S. Department of Labor;
- Occupational Safety & Health Administration;
- Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs;
- Employment Standards Administration;
- Wage-Hour Division; and U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.
We also represent clients in all phases of arbitration and litigation in both federal and state courts. The facets of our representation range from responding to "demand" letters or "charges" of discrimination/harassment to answering complaints, conducting discovery and pretrial proceedings, selecting juries and handling trials and/or appeals. As part of our practice, we also defend state agencies, municipalities, and public officials in constitutional and civil rights suits that arise from employment relationships. We also routinely assist individuals to obtain permanent residency and temporary work permits such as L-1s, H-1s, H-2s. We have a number of staff members who are fluent in Spanish and other foreign languages. Our labor and employment attorneys also advise clients in matters involving unions, including:
- Maintaining union free status;
- Preventive personnel decisions;
- Union election campaigns;
- Strikes and boycotts;
- Negotiation of labor contracts;
- Arbitration of disputes;
- Litigation of unfair labor practices.
An important part of our practice involves planning and employment advices. Specifically, we provide human resources management and/or corporate counsel advice about:
- Performance evaluation/appraisal systems;
- Reductions in force;
- Development of employment policies and practices;
- Employee handbooks;
- Preparation of affirmative action programs for government contractors;
- Discipline systems;
- Workplace harassment and misconduct investigations;
- Supervisor/employee training;
- Employment issues related to mergers and acquisitions;
- Alternative dispute resolution, including mediation;
- Development of alternative dispute resolution programs.
