Employment & Labor Law

Our team takes a proactive and practical approach when representing our clients in employment and labor relations matters in court and before various administrative agencies. Our team possesses a wealth of experience serving a diverse range of clients, from sole proprietors to large corporations.

Our team’s experience is not limited to defending against claims brought by employees. Our attorneys have significant experience in unfair competition, restrictive covenants, and trade secret matters, advising new businesses and guiding management in established businesses on how to protect their proprietary information and customers.

Our team regularly advises employers on Title VII, § 1981, state civil rights statutes including the Equal Pay Act, FLSA – Fair Labor Standards Act, WARN – The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, FMLA – Family and Medical Leave Act, PDA – Pregnancy Discrimination Act, PWFA – Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, ADA – Americans with Disabilities Act, USERRA and Military Leave Laws, NLRA – National Labor Relations Act, OSHA – Occupational Safety and Health Act, Drug Testing Statutes, Medical Marijuana Statutes, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Unemployment Compensation, Child Labor Laws, ERISA – Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and COBRA rights.

We proactively train management on how to prevent workplace problems and help create a productive workforce. Working closely with our clients, we develop current, cutting-edge employment policies, employee handbooks, and agreements. We guide employers in wage and hour audits and labor disputes. We help shut down class actions before they begin. We offer training and education on navigating employment regulations, anti-discrimination and harassment, and personnel issues in order to minimize liability exposure. These, combined with providing proactive counsel on day-to-day employment issues, help avoid costly litigation. But when litigation is unavoidable, our team drives the litigation process with the goal of winning dispositive motions and obtaining defense verdicts. Because of our extensive courtroom experience, we are able to provide “trial-tested advice” when we counsel employers.

Our team has extensive experience counseling employers on all aspects of the design, implementation, and operation of qualified retirement, profit sharing, and executive compensation plans, including employee stock ownership plans and Section 401(k) savings plans. We routinely represent employers on qualified plan matters before the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. We regularly advise clients concerning fiduciary and prohibited transaction issues, and the implications and liabilities involved with participation in multi-employer union pension plans. We also advise clients on the tax implications and laws governing the provision of medical benefits, disability coverage, ERISA, and life insurance, including employers’ liability for health continuation coverage under COBRA.

We provide legal representation and assistance on employee health and safety issues. Our employment attorneys counsel employers about their obligations to comply with federal, state, and local health and safety standards. We represent employers in all facets of employment litigation, including state and federal OSHA proceedings.

Our attorneys have substantial experience in employment-related litigation involving allegations of breach of contract, wrongful termination, employment discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour violations, misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential information, unemployment compensation claims, class action lawsuits, and other employment-related torts. We have represented clients through all phases and all types of employment litigation, ranging from individual charges and single plaintiff cases to broad-scale class and collective actions. With offices in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, and Washington, we represent our clients before federal and state courts and administrative agencies, including the United States Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and related state agencies.

When litigation is unavoidable, our experienced trial attorneys defend employers in all state and federal forums, including the EEOC, the DOL, OSHA (and their state equivalents), along with state and federal trial and appellate courts.  We also defend employers in arbitrations arising out of arbitration clauses found in employment contracts we have helped our clients draft and adopt.

We conduct independent, internal investigations for our clients when concerns are raised in the workplace, including workplace misconduct, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, policy violations, or other employment-related issues. These investigations are crucial for ensuring compliance with company policies and the law, maintaining a safe and fair workplace, and protecting the organization’s reputation.

Our team counsels unionized employers, employers facing a union organizing, and employers facing the threat of a union organizing. We represent clients concerning union avoidance, strike management, and contract interpretation and administration. We also represent our clients in labor arbitrations, National Labor Relations Board proceedings, and in contested cases in state and federal courts.

Careful analysis and planning are the most important parts of creating effective and enforceable restrictive covenants.  At Fennemore, we take the time to understand our clients’ business and identify their trade secrets and confidential information.  This understanding helps us draft tailored restrictive covenants that protect what is protectable while remaining narrow enough to resist challenges.

An enforceable restrictive covenant is only part of the equation. There are many things companies can do to prevent or limit theft of confidential information that don’t require a restrictive covenant agreement.  We help our clients implement policies and practices that protect information even in the absence of an enforceable restrictive covenant.

Our unemployment compensation practice includes services relating to unemployment insurance, taxes, and benefits. We represent employers defending against claims for benefits by former employees in all jurisdictions. We also represent employers when the adverse party is the state’s Department of Economic Security.