Polsinelli

Polsinelli continues to offer labor and employment capabilities in California. The firm maintains a presence in California with Carmen Cole residing in the firm's Los Angeles office. She serves as lead partner representing CEC Entertainment in a disability discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former kitchen worker at the Burbank location of Chuck E. Cheese. Cole successfully obtained dismissals on the retaliation, failure to accommodate and failure to engage in the interactive process causes of action on summary judgment. She also successfully dismissed the plaintiff's claim for punitive damages. In an employment discrimination matter, Cole is defending Aerotek and Panthea Moezzi against alleged national origin and race discrimination claims brought by the plaintiff under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. The plaintiff alleges she was wrongfully terminated based on her Mexican national origin; however, her failure to provide legal authorization to work in the US was the cause of her termination. The matter went to arbitration in August 2019.

In Colorado, Polsinelli is recognized for the active practices of several labor and employment partners. The Denver-based partners Sean Gallagher and Donald Samuels are dedicated to resolving labor and employment disputes for clients. Gallagher is representing Array BioPharma in a complex case in which a company alleged to have misappropriated trade secrets filed a declaratory judgment action seeking determination as to whether it did misappropriate trade secrets. Samuels represents the Colorado Springs Gazette in a case that challenged the classification of newspaper delivery persons as independent contractors by Clarity Media Group under the Colorado Employment Statute. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment initially found that the newspaper delivery persons were employees and subject to unemployment; however, Samuels successfully challenged the department's findings and it reversed its position on 24 individuals. He is also handling a case in the Northern District of California, representing Synaptics against allegations of medical disability, national origin and age discrimination, as well as wrongful termination, retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Samuels was successful in filing motions to dismiss, resulting in all six claims for relief dismissed with prejudice. There is a motion currently pending for attorneys' fees and costs.

Recognized for its group of trial lawyers throughout several regions, Polsinelli continues to grow its labor and employment presence in major markets like District of Columbia. The firm recently expanded its labor and employment practice, extending its capabilities this year with the addition of Connie Bertram in DC. Bertram brings over twenty years of experience with a specialty in handling matters on behalf of the government contracts industry. Recently, Bertram represented plaintiff Edelman Financial Services in a non-solicitation dispute. She sought and successfully obtained a preliminary injunction in Virginia state court against a former employee and his new employer after he resigned with no prior notice and immediately violated his employment agreement by engaging in solicitation activities. She also represents leading firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson in complex case that involved an OSHA investigation, an administrative proceeding before the OSHA Administrative Law Judge, and a federal court case in Massachusetts involving whistleblower claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The OSHA investigator found in favor of the client following a two-year investigation.

The labor and employment practice maintains a presence in Illinois with lawyers practicing out of the Chicago office. Several of the labor and employment lawyers in Chicago are experienced in resolving conflicts on behalf of employers. In particular, Scott Gilbert is active in both traditional labor and employment disputes. Gilbert represents management and employers in related cases. In an ongoing employment matter, he is representing a company against former employee who filed claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Gilbert is handling a labor relations dispute. He is defending Orchids Paper Products Company against the National Labor Relations Board in a National Labor Relations Act case. Both cases have the potential to be significant in value. The potential back-pay award in the labor matter exceeds seven figures, and in the employment matter, the plaintiff is eligible to recover lost wages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and other monetary damages.

Polsinelli's Missouri office houses one of the strongest labor and employment groups at the firm. The Kansas City office is equipped with leading trial lawyers highly experienced in employment litigation. Residing in the office is Denise Drake who is well known to labor and employment practitioners Missouri. One peer notes, "Denise has a really good reputation."  Drake has been lead partner predominantly handling a class and collective actions. She has obtained significant victories in the case, successfully convincing the court to deny the conditional certification in the Rule 16(b) collective action and defeated the Rule 23 class action for the Missouri state law claims. Drake also serves as the labor and employment practice chair. Eric Packel is also one of the leading lawyers in the firm's Kansas City office. He serves as the chair of the firm's covenants and trade secrets practice and recently resolved a case representing Lockton entities in a violation of restrictive covenants case against former partners and associates and their new employer. Packel was also successful in a recent jury trial. The case involved retaliation and whistleblowing claims filed by a former quality control technician that worked with the client for 12 years. The plaintiff filed eight complaints and charges with various agencies, including OSHA, the EEOC, the Kansas Human Resources Commission and the NLRB. He made various complaints to the different agencies, including claims that he was subjected to sexual harassment to the EEOC and KHRC and several safety violations were reported to OSHA. The plaintiff’s final OSHA complaint occurred in October 2018 and OSHA visited the facility in November. The client terminated the employee, arguing that the termination was due to the company’s concern that the plaintiff’s complaints were not in “good faith,” rather an effort to extort money for severance. Packel obtained a complete defense verdict for the client after a three-day jury trial.

In Texas, Polsinelli offers a handful of labor and employment partners with experience and expertise to handle employment litigation.  Dallas partner Thomas Reddin serves as the labor and employment practice’s vice chair. He is active in litigation as well. Reddin is lead counsel defending HC Beck against alleged race discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation claims brought by several employees working on a major construction project in Dallas. HC Beck is one of three primary defendants named in the case. Reddin and co-defendants have sought to compel arbitration based on an arbitration agreement that the client and plaintiffs signed at the time of hire. Although the trial court denied the Motion to Compel, the defendants have filed an appeal to the Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas in Dallas. The case involves a unique issue of enforceability of arbitration agreements, specifically the use of electronic signature and whether the client is a third party beneficiary to the agreement.

Polsinelli is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri but maintains a national presence with the help of its 20 additional offices throughout the U.S. More than 800 attorneys provide legal counsel in approximately 100 practice areas and 70 industry areas, making it one of the most comprehensive firms serving individuals, corporations, and institutions. “Polsinelli has really made its mark," confirms a client.

Missouri litigators Dan Boulware and Russell Jones, Jr. were part of the lead counsel team that obtained a verdict on behalf of former Kansas resident, Gene Bicknell -the largest Pizza Hut franchise owner in the U.S.-in what is believed to be the largest individual tax case in Kansas history. The suit stemmed from a $48 million tax bill determined by the Kansas Department of Revenue claiming that he was still a Kansas resident and therefore owed Kansas taxes on the sale of his company. Following an eight-day trial in July 2018, the Court ordered the State of Kansas must return $48 million paid by Bicknell in tax, interest and penalties over the course of the 10+ year dispute. Boulware also represented 372 plaintiffs-farmers, landowners and business owners to victory in a mass-action lawsuit for flooding against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The suit, originally filed in 2014, alleged the Corps of Engineers' actions violated the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment that bars the Government from taking private property without just compensation. Kansas City litigator William Quirk chairs the appellate practice group, where he is active representing clients on appeals and trial motions in state and federal courts.

Denver trial lawyer Colin Deihl is a new addition to the Benchmark list for his work across all stages of business litigation. His more than 25 years of courtroom experience has made him a trusted authority on breach of contract, fraud, and representations, as well as environmental statute violations. He is active representing a theme park and entertainment company in two putative consumer class actions involving automatic renewal of annual passes.

Trial lawyer and newly acquired star litigator Connie Bertram joins Polsinelli’s DC office where she focuses her practice on whistleblower, trade secrets, government contractors and litigation. She routinely conducts internal investigations involving top-level executive employees in matters involving alleged fraud, theft or misuse of company data, trade secrets, sexual harassment and code of conduct violations. Recent representations include successfully representing a Fortune 50 food distributor on claims for trade secret theft, breach of contract and breach of duty of loyalty, as well as defending claims under SOX and the FCA. Polsinelli also added veteran healthcare litigator David King to their litigation team in the Nashville office. He routinely represents a wide range of health care entities, including profit and not-for-profit hospital systems, ambulatory surgery centers, air ambulance services, specialty providers, physician groups and ancillary service providers, and other medical device companies.