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Case Study
A team of McGuireWoods attorneys successfully barred a plaintiff from recovering in a disability discrimination case against our client, a leading independent national distributor of natural, organic and specialty foods. The plaintiff, a forklift operator, alleged disability discrimination after he claimed that asthma prevented him from working in freezers or coolers and was subsequently terminated. Although the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) found probable cause that he had been the victim of discrimination, prompting an investigation of the accommodation policies in place at our client’s facility, the plaintiff did not fare as well in federal court after McGuireWoods discovered that he had filed for bankruptcy without disclosing his pending charge and claims to the Bankruptcy Court. Our client filed a motion to dismiss and asked the Court to find plaintiff judicially estopped from any recovery. In an attempt at salvaging his claims, plaintiff reopened the bankruptcy proceedings. The Judge found this attempt unavailing and ruled that the failure to timely disclose the claim precluded the plaintiff from any recovery.
Representative Matter
Guided an international manufacturer with 85,000 employees at more than 100 locations in 27 countries in the development and updating of their affirmative action plans at all U.S. establishments.
Representative Matter
Obtained a directed verdict in an age discrimination case in federal court in Milwaukee after plaintiff presented his case to the jury.
Representative Matter
Effectively applied for and obtained dismissal of substantial English Employment Tribunal claims for consolidated unfair dismissal and unauthorized wage deductions brought against directors of an overseas investment fund by all of its UK employees.
Representative Matter
Effectively petitioned the NLRB for review for a national beverage manufacturer following the dismissal of an employee decertification petition by the Regional Director (which came over a year after the petition was filed), resulting in a Board reversal of the Regional Director’s decision, a subsequent decertification vote and the largest decertification victory in our client’s history.
Representative Matter
Won summary judgment for national retailer in a $5 million adversary proceeding in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.
Representative Matter
Effectively defended a large manufacturer following a catastrophic explosion in North Carolina that resulted in a multi-agency investigation, including reviews by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, and the North Carolina Department of Labor.
Representative Matter
Obtained dismissal of a putative class action involving 34 plaintiffs on the grounds that the state law claims under the Illinois Wage Payment Act for failure to pay overtime were preempted by §301 of the LMRA and barred by failure to exhaust administrative remedies under a collective bargaining agreement. We later prevailed in the arbitration of subsequently-filed grievances on the grounds that they were untimely filed.
Case Study
McGuireWoods recently obtained dismissal of a constitutional challenge to a contract awarded to McGuireWoods' client Manpower. Manpower won a contract from the State of South Dakota which designated Manpower as the exclusive staffing provider to South Dakota’s WINS program. The WINS program is designed to attract out of state workers to South Dakota, where there is a shortage of skilled labor. South Dakota businesses who qualify for the program are permitted to use Manpower to search for out of state workers for a state-subsidized placement fee. The state also provides Manpower with a stipend to start up the program. more >>
Case Study
McGuireWoods LLP announced today that it represented Plano Molding Company in its acquisition of Frabill Inc. The transaction, which was announced on Monday, closed on June 15. It brings together under one roof Plano, the worldwide leader in fishing tackle storage systems, and Frabill, the North American leader in live bait storage, landing nets and portable ice fishing shelters and related accessories.
Case Study
Los Angeles labor and employment attorneys Matthew Kane, Michael Mandel, Sabrina Beldner and Sylvia Kim have won the dismissal of a California meal-break violations class action brought against the Vistar and Roma Food divisions of client Performance Food Group (PFG). On Feb. 8, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted PFG’s motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ second amended complaint on the grounds that California’s meal-break laws and all of the plaintiff’s claims based on alleged violations of those laws are preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA), which expressly preempts state laws that have a significant impact on the routes, services or prices of federally-regulated motor carriers.
Representative Matter
Acting for a US-based international group providing execution software and market intelligence for investment banks and corporations in connection with the misappropriation, misuse and disclosure of confidential information and trade secrets by a former employee.
Case Study
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle granted summary judgment for Boeing in the latest in a series of Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower cases McGuireWoods has defended on behalf of the company.
The latest order, in Kim v. Boeing, was significant because the court indicated that it would not follow the U.S. Department of Labor Administrative Review Board (ARB) and abrogate a commonly used defense for this type of claim, sticking instead with the more favorable rule developed in the courts of appeal.
Case Study
A McGuireWoods Washington, D.C., Business and Securities Litigation team won on summary judgment a case involving a former human resources officer for Verizon. The plaintiff was responsible for investigating sensitive and significant sexual harassment and discrimination complaints for the company. As such, she had access to many confidential and privileged documents. She alleged that Verizon, through its supervisors, created a racially hostile work environment; discriminated against her because of a disability; discriminated against her under the FMLA; and fired her because of her race. Verizon contended that the plaintiff's problems at work and her termination were based on her failures in handling a high-profile sexual harassment investigation involving a senior official.
Case Study
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the whistleblower provisions in Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) do not protect employee leaks to the media. Rather, the statute’s plain language protects only disclosures made to federal regulatory and law enforcement agencies, Congress and employee supervisors.
Representative Matter
Defending a US-based retirement community against claims of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination, following employee disciplinary proceedings and dismissal for bullying and harassment of colleagues.
Case Study
McGuireWoods helped Philips Electronics North America Corporation and its sister company, Lifeline Systems, Co., obtain summary judgment in a Title VII and ADEA case in the Northern District of Georgia. The plaintiff alleged he was discriminated against and subsequently terminated due to his sex and age. In response to the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, the plaintiff abandoned his sex claim and proceeded only on his age claim. Both a magistrate judge and a district court judge found that the plaintiff failed to prove a prima facie case of age discrimination, but even if the plaintiff had, there was no evidence that the defendants’ reasons were pretext for discrimination.
Case Study
An administrative law judge recently dismissed a Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower complaint filed against McGuireWoods' client The Boeing Company, the world's largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. The judge held that the filing was untimely and the complainant was not entitled to equitable tolling. In a matter of first impression, the judge held that the tolling period started when a letter was delivered to the complainant's private mailbox company, not when the complainant picked the letter up from the mailbox company.
Case Study
McGuireWoods' Labor and Employment Department in Los Angeles recently defended one of its financial services industry clients in a wage and hour/ERISA class action regarding several of its employee incentive compensation plans. The ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California granted summary judgment in favor of our client on all claims brought by three former financial advisors.
Case Study
After a two-week trial in August 2009, McGuireWoods recently obtained a decision on behalf of the Boeing Company in a Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower case. In the 46-page opinion, the administrative law judge sided completely with the Boeing Company on all three contested points, holding that the complainant failed to prove that equitable tolling should apply to his case; failed to demonstrate the existence of a hostile work environment; and failed to prove that his allegations were protected activity under the statute. The third point was hotly contested and represents a matter of first impression in Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower cases.