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Elena D. Marcuss Partner

Baltimore T +1 410 659 4454 F fax +1 410 659 4547
Washington, D.C.
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Elena, chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Department, is a trusted advisor to in-house counsel, senior leadership and human resources professionals in the full range of employment and traditional labor matters, including complex litigation, state and federal administrative proceedings, and internal investigations.

Elena counsels clients on everyday employment matters, employment policies, and federal and state discrimination, whistleblower, wage and hour, pay equity, pay transparency and leave laws. Elena defends employers in complex class and collective actions and whistleblower matters, as well other federal and state lawsuits and administrative agency matters, including Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Department of Labor matters. She also conducts investigations into concerns raised by current and former employees.

The Maryland Daily Record named Elena to its 2024 “Employment Law Power List” and she is recognized as a top labor and employment lawyer by Chambers USA and The Best Lawyers in America.

In addition to her law practice, Marcuss serves on the boards of directors for Health Care for the Homeless and the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.

Experience
  • Representation of banking institutions and energy companies in various employment discrimination claims, including claims of retaliation, harassment, and disability, race, sex, age, national origin and religious discrimination.
  • Representation of banking institution in administrative actions with the OFCCP and OSHA under Executive Order 11246 and SOX.
  • Obtained dismissal of state law wrongful discharge claim as preempted by the at-pleasure provision of the National Bank Act, 12 U.S.C. § 24(Fifth), and affirmance by the Fourth Circuit in a case of first impression in that court.
  • Obtained summary judgment and Fourth Circuit affirmance in collective misclassification case brought by the DOL against cable installation company.
  • Representation of various employers in wage and hour payment claims under federal and state law.

Events

  • Speaker, "DEI Litigation Trends: Looking Back and Ahead for 2025," DEI 2025 Legal Enforcement Webinar Series, February 12, 2025
  • Speaker, "Discrimination: Managing through Increased Obligation and Exposure," Maryland Chamber of Commerce and Maryland S4RM State Council, Inc. 2016 Labor and Employment Law Conference, May 2016
  • Speaker, "The Essential Employment Law Update: Recent Statutory, Decisional and Regulatory Development Impacting Healthcare Employers," American Health Lawyers Association Annual Meeting, July 2014
  • Speaker, Meeting OFCCP Compliance Challenges in 2014, McGuireWoods LLP Complimentary Seminar, December 2013
  • Paper and Speaker, "The OFCCP at the Doorstep: Enforcement and Litigation Issues," OFCCP at the Doorstep, October 2012
  • Speaker, "Waubash Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes: What Has Happened Since," Rule Day Law Club, March 2012
  • Speaker, McGuireWoods Seminar, McGuireWoods Seminar, March 2009
  • Speaker, "Staying Out of Court," America’s Community Bankers HR Forum, September 2007

Insights

  • Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Employment Law – Management, 2022-2026; Litigation – Labor and Employment, 2026
  • Selected for inclusion in “Legal 500 United States,” Labor and employment disputes, 2025
  • Selected for inclusion, Labor & Employment – Maryland, Band 3, Chambers USA, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
  • Named to the “Employment Law Power List,” The Maryland Daily, 2024
  • Named to “Maryland Super Lawyers,” Employment & Labor, Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2016-2020
  • AV Rated by Martindale Hubbell

Spotlight

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