Employment Law

WORKPLACE CHALLENGES NEED TIMELY, PRACTICAL AND SCALABLE SOLUTIONS

It is not enough to stay on top of the law. What all employers need – regardless of size or industry – is legal expertise coupled with a responsive and practical approach that meets business objectives while mitigating risk. That’s where Prince Lobel’s Employment Law Group comes in. With backgrounds ranging from AMLAW 100 law firms to national and boutique employment law firms, and from in-house to the public sector, Prince Lobel’s employment attorneys are trusted advisors in each of the five pillars of employment law:

Compliance

• Design and implement scalable policies and procedures to ensure both Massachusetts and multi-state employers are in compliance with an ever-widening range of federal, state and local laws, such as family and medical leave; earned paid sick leave; pay transparency; recruiting and hiring; pay equity; anti-discrimination and harassment; workplace safety and health; background checks; reductions in force and terminations; mass layoffs and plant closings; and wage payment.
• Design and implement incentive compensation programs, such as commission plans and bonus plans.
• As Department of Labor Certified OSHA trainers, conduct onsite safety inspections, compliance audits and training.
• Provide virtual or on-site employment compliance training, either companywide (such as anti-discrimination and anti-harassment) or targeted (such as Employment Law 101 for Managers; Employment Risk Avoidance for Senior Executives; and Advanced Leave of Absence Management for HR Professionals).

Counseling/Investigations/Risk Avoidance

• Guide employers through sensitive and critical decisions, such as performance management, leave of absence management, reasonable accommodation requests, and employee discipline and termination.
• In conjunction with Prince Lobel’s Internal Investigations Group, conduct internal workplace investigations and assist employers with investigations or audits by state, federal and other regulatory agencies.
• Conduct employment practices audits.

Transactions

• Draft and negotiate all forms of employment-related agreements, such as offer letters, executive employment agreements, severance agreements and plans, change in control agreements, retention agreements and equity agreements.
• Draft and negotiate restrictive covenant agreements for both Massachusetts and multi-state employers, such as confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-competition, non-solicitation and non-raiding covenants.
• Draft and negotiate commercial agreements with employment-related third parties, such as consultants, independent contractors, HR service providers, benefit administrators and staffing and recruiting agencies.
• In conjunction with Prince Lobel’s Business Transaction Group, provide employment due diligence support for mergers, acquisitions, and other corporate transactions.

Employment Litigation

• Defend employers in state and federal court against every type of employment claim, including wage and hour violations; discrimination and harassment; whistleblowing and retaliation; leave interference; invasion of privacy; breach of contract and employment torts.
• In conjunction with Prince Lobel’s Business Litigation Group and Intellectual Property Group, prosecute and defend claims for breach of non-compete, non-solicitation and other restrictive covenants, misappropriation of trade secrets and other confidential business information, and related torts.
• Defend employers in administrative actions before federal and state agencies, including the Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.
• Defend employers before the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission with respect to OSHA investigations and citations, from routine compliance inspections to matters involving fatality.
• In addition to mediating and arbitrating employment disputes in various forums, Prince Lobel’s employment attorneys are admitted to practice in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island.

Executive Advocacy

• Advise executives and professionals of public and privately held companies (including equity backed, venture capital backed and closely-held entities) in various industries, including life sciences, high tech, and health care, on their employment, contractual, compensation, severance and equity arrangements, as well as advise on corresponding tax implications, including 409A and 280G.
• In conjunction with Prince Lobel’s Family Law Group, assist executives with employment and compensation matters relating to their divorce proceedings.

Compliance

Assisted multi-state employers in various industries in designing and implementing scalable policies and procedures to comply with local and state pay transparency and pay equity laws.

Cost-effectively managed multi-state mass layoffs and reductions in force for several public and private life science companies, including drafting agreements and internal and external communications, ensuring compliance with applicable state laws, conducting disparate treatment and disparate impact analyses, and assessing Federal and State WARN implications.

Assisted several management and human resource teams in the life sciences industry in streamlining onboarding and offboarding policies and procedures while ensuring compliance with a multitude of state laws.

Counseling/Investigations/Risk Avoidance

Conducted a high-profile investigation of allegations of systemic race discrimination in employment and vendor relationships at a quasi-public agency, resulting in more than 60 witness interviews and a publicly disclosed 65-page report that was the subject of numerous media reports.

On behalf of a scientific device manufacturer, investigated allegations by a senior employee of retaliation and discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity and gender as well as retaliation for taking a protected leave of absence.

Conducted an internal investigation for a public pharmaceutical company regarding a regulatory employee’s allegations of whistleblowing.

On behalf of a global life science support company, conducted an internal investigation into allegations of sexual harassment by a senior executive that allegedly occurred over several jurisdictions, including the United States, Canada and Europe.

Conducted an internal investigation for a corporation in response to a whistleblower alleging violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

Served as fact-finding investigator and conducted investigations for universities in response to complaints of discrimination and violation of university policies.

Transactional

Worked with several life science companies preparing for an IPO in amending and restating their executive severance and change in control agreements, restrictive covenant agreements and severance plans.

Provided employment and litigation related due diligence for several life science companies in support of their financing efforts.

Developed templates, policies and procedures for staffing and recruiting agencies, including master service agreements, statements of work, employment agreements and restrictive covenant agreements with both recruiters and account representatives.

Litigation

Harassment and Discrimination

Won a favorable decision from the Massachusetts Appeals Court upholding the Superior Court’s dismissal of claims brought against a 200-officer police department by a lieutenant claiming disproportionate treatment due to his race and prior complaints.

In case brought by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, successfully represented a government contractor in the first gender-based compensation discrimination case to go to trial.

Obtained summary judgment for a healthcare provider in a gender and sexual orientation discrimination, harassment and bullying claim brought by a male nurse.

After a multi-day Public Hearing at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. obtained a complete dismissal of race and disability discrimination claims brought against a large public agency.

Obtained dismissal in the Federal District Court of Colorado of an eleven count complaint against a global pharmaceutical company alleging discrimination and retaliation on the basis of race, gender and “sex plus race” in violation of Section 1981, Title VII and Colorado state law.

Obtained summary judgment for a large Massachusetts employer on a disability discrimination claim where the employee alleged a failure to accommodate her need to work in a fragrance-free environment.

Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a public authority in a race discrimination case relating to promotions.

Obtained summary judgment for a prominent teaching hospital in an age discrimination case.

Wage and Hour

Won a favorable decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on behalf of a large, public authority, where the Court ruled that the Massachusetts Wage Act does not require payout of unused sick time upon termination and clarified other aspects of the Wage Act.

Restrictive Covenant

On behalf of a public software company, successfully enforced a non-competition covenant against a former executive in the Massachusetts Superior Court while obtaining a dismissal of the executive’s $8 million counterclaim.

Assisted a supplier of municipal emergency equipment in defeating a competitor’s attempt to enforce a non-competition covenant and prevent our client from employing the competitor’s former employees.

Represented a technology staffing company pursuing claims for restrictive covenant violations and trade secret misappropriation against a former employee who formed a competing company.

Successfully enforced a non-competition covenant in the Massachusetts Appeals Court for a large, Massachusetts-based biotech company.

Represented a sales executive in five-year dispute with his former employer resulting in two opinions by the First Circuit Court of Appeals clarifying Massachusetts law on the Massachusetts Non-Compete Act, the material change doctrine, contractual choice of law, and damages for breach of customer non-solicitation covenants.

Won a default judgment for discovery violations in a trade secret misappropriation case.

Other

Successfully defended a public agency in a high-stakes trial in Suffolk Superior Court, where the plaintiff sought millions but ultimately was awarded only $16,000 on a single claim.

Served as co-lead defense counsel and prepared for trial in a Wage Act, defamation, tortious interference, and whistleblower retaliation case brought by a former executive against a management consulting company.

Represented a commercial painting contractor facing OSHA citations in relation to a fatal electrocution at a worksite.

Executive Advocacy

Represented dozens of life science executives in their personal employment and compensation arrangements, including drafting and negotiating employment contracts, offer letters, change in control agreements, severance agreements and all types of equity agreements as well as advising on compensation benchmarks.

Represented management group of two, different public technology companies in the energy sector regarding its members’ severance and change in control rights with regard to corporate restructurings.