Labor and Employment

We provide legal insight and practical solutions for one of the most complex and highly regulated areas of business.

Key Contacts

Meet Our Team

Areas of Focus

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Experience

  • Litigation Achievements

    • Set new law in what is now the seminal employment discrimination case respecting retaliation and attorney's fees in Massachusetts, won what appeared at the outset to be an unwinnable, restrictive covenant injunction case in the US District Court, Southern District of New York which is now one of the seminal cases in that area of the law, won at the First Circuit Court of Appeals and set an important precedent on “attributable bias”, won a Sarbanes-Oxley case before OSHA in Texas and negotiated a favorable settlement of a multi-state FLSA collective action case in federal court in Tennessee. 
    • Won a significant victory for our client Teradyne, Inc. At the summary judgment stage, the Superior Court overwhelmingly ruled in Teradyne's favor, dismissing 14 of 16 plaintiff claims. At trial, a jury found Teradyne not liable for discrimination—plaintiff’s primary theory of liability. Following trial, we successfully persuaded the Court, on behalf of our client, to vacate an award of punitive damages on plaintiff’s retaliation claim (the only relief awarded) and to deny plaintiff any recovery of attorneys' fees. We continued to represent Teradyne in appellate proceedings, where the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the lower court's post-trial rulings, resulting in a complete and total victory for our client. 
    • Successfully obtained summary judgment for Amphenol Printed Circuits on the plaintiff’s FMLA retaliation claim and then prevailed on appeal in the First Circuit Court of Appeal. The case was the feature story in the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly as it set an important precedent on the issue of "attributable bias." 
    • Successfully obtained dismissal of New York wage claims and common law claims at the motion to dismiss stage in a case before the Federal District Court, Southern District of New York. 
    • Successfully obtained dismissal at the motion to dismiss stage in a Delaware Court of Chancery of an interference with contractual relations claim.
    • Successfully obtained dismissal at the motion to dismiss stage in a Massachusetts state court of claims of age discrimination and various common law claims.
    • Successfully represented the Boston Celtics in the enforcement of the team's rights under the NBA collective bargaining agreement in a precedent setting case decided by former Commissioner Stern.
    • In a class action wage and hour case against a franchisor and a number of franchisees in Massachusetts Superior Court, our Labor and Employment attorneys successfully obtained dismissal at the motion to dismiss stage for our client franchisee, while a number of the other defendants remained in the case. 
    • Successfully obtained dismissal of a Sarbanes-Oxley complaint at the US Department of Labor involving alleged international tax irregularities, and after the decision was appealed, obtained a withdrawal by the complainant just prior to trial. 
    • Successfully settled two class action lawsuits in the Federal District Court of Tennessee against Imperial Distributors, brought by a group of employees claiming they were entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act. 
    • Successfully obtained dismissal of three cases brought against the same private school alleging age discrimination and retaliation at the Massachusetts Commissions Against Discrimination.
    • Achieved important and hard-won victory for TransUnion Holding Company in a restrictive covenant suit in the Southern District of New York, which involved a no-hire agreement with LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a division of Reed Elsevier.
  • Investigations

    • Represented the audit committee of a big box retailer to investigate allegations of an inappropriate personal relationship with an employee by the then-CEO. 
    • Conducted privileged, independent corporate culture reviews of a financial institution’s policies and procedures. We provided legal advice to improve the firm’s culture and to foster best practices following the filing of a lawsuit alleging gender discrimination and a hostile work environment, pay inequality and retaliation. 
    • Conducted investigations and provided counselling on offshoot of a Congressional Hearing matter.
    • Conducted a number of high-profile investigations for federal banks and international companies.
  • Other Representations

    • Providing timely and critical advice across a wide array of disciplines as members of the firm’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) Task Force. The labor and employment members of the task force assist clients with issues involving labor, employment and worker safety; anti-discrimination; and many other areas affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 
    • Represented an app platform business against allegations of misclassification brought by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. 
    • Represented a company before the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance against a claim that the majority of its independent contractors were misclassified. 
    • Represented numerous government contractor clients in a variety of industries in OFCCP audits, resulting in successful closures.
    • Regularly counsel and assist our clients on the wide variety of labor and employment compliance issues, and conduct comprehensive audits on matters ranging from workforce classification (i.e., proper classification of employees under state and federal wage and hour laws, and appropriate designation of service providers as independent contractors), to review of clients' I-9 records and procedures in place for verifying (and, where appropriate, reverifying) employees' right to work in the United States, to in-depth analysis of clients' compensation practices. We also provide extensive support and guidance to clients during government agency audits.

Recognition

  • The Legal 500 United States – Recognized WilmerHale across 41 practice areas, including Labor and Employment, in 2024.
  • Chambers USA Guide – Recognized 105 lawyers and 63 practice areas in 2024. Chambers described our labor and employment lawyers as a “practical team that provides sound advice,” with a “recognized capacity to handle an array of labor and employment matters, including employment litigation, traditional labor law and management training.” 
  • U.S. News – Best Lawyers® – Our Labor and Employment Practice was recognized in the 2014–2024 editions.
  • Boston Magazine – Recognized Ariella Feingold, Michael Lenzi, Laura Schneider and Andrew Stauber as top labor and employment lawyers in the 2023 Top Lawyers List.
  • Best Lawyers in America – Laura Schneider has been recognized for her employment law – management practice in the 2016–2024 editions.

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