Employment
Notable Representations, Key Contacts
Led by a team of first-chair trial lawyers, our Employment Practice Group services major global corporations and financial institutions across the full array of employment-related issues in the United States and internationally, including:
- Restrictive covenant and trade secrets litigation
- Major class and collective actions alleging claims of discrimination or violations of state and federal wage laws, among other complex employment litigation claims
- Executive compensation, separation and employment agreements
- Labor-Management relations
- Counseling with respect to the full breadth of issues arising from mergers, acquisitions, corporate restructurings and bankruptcies, including large-scale workforce reductions
- Compliance with workplace statutes, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), and state and local employment statutes, among others.
In addition to high-stakes litigation, our attorneys also regularly advise and counsel companies, and their boards of directors, board and management committees and senior management, on sensitive internal investigations, internal employment compliance audits, diversity initiatives and compensation arrangements. We also provide training and guidance on personnel policies and procedures to help businesses take preventative measures on matters such as employee performance problems, workforce consolidations, whistleblower claims, and discrimination and harassment complaints.
Clients repeatedly turn to our Employment Practice Group because of the reputation of our practice leaders and track record of success – which spans the globe. Notably, our ELPG is ranked among the top ten firms nationwide for labor and employment disputes, workplace and employment counseling, and trade secrets by Legal 500 US, and among the top five labor and employment practices in New York by Chambers USA. Additionally, each of our partners have been consistently recognized by Lawdragon and Human Resources Executive Magazine. Their combined knowledge is the bedrock of a strategically sized practice that addresses employment and labor law issues around the world, and as part of all three of Weil’s primary practice offerings: litigation, corporate, and bankruptcy and restructuring.
Our principal areas of expertise include:
Discrimination and Other Complex Employment Litigation: We have defended clients across many industries in class actions and other complex cases involving claims based on race, age, sex, disability, sexual orientation, retaliation, and other protected classifications.Wage and Hour Litigation and Counseling: Our lawyers have defended an array of clients in some of the largest, most complex state and federal class and collective wage and hour cases.
Restrictive Covenant and Trade Secrets Litigation and Counseling: Weil has extensive experience litigating and counseling regarding restrictive covenant and trade secrets issues.
Labor-Management Relations: Our lawyers are skilled in collective bargaining, and understand the employment issues arising from purchase and sale transactions.
Transactional and Restructuring Employment Counseling: Weil counsels clients globally on the employment and employee benefits issues that arise in mergers and acquisitions, including identifying and minimizing liabilities associated with any transaction. We also advise clients both in and out of bankruptcy in connection with their efforts to successfully restructure their workforces, including reductions-in-force and plant and office closings.
Workplace Counseling and Investigations: Weil is called upon regularly to provide employment counseling, develop employment policies and procedures, and investigate sensitive employment claims, often confidentially, for our clients.
Executive Employment and Personal Services Agreements: Our lawyers are experienced in executive employment and compensation issues in the context of mergers or other changes of corporate control, including bankruptcies, out-of-court restructurings, government-sponsored capital raisings, and spinoffs.
International Employment Capabilities: Our clients turn to Weil for counseling on the multifaceted employment and labor issues that typically arise in complex cross-border M&A transactions.
Selected Representations
Representative Matters
American Realty Capital Properties Audit Committee
Weil was engaged by the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of ARCP, a publicly-traded real estate investment trust, to conduct an internal investigation of allegations of accounting irregularities. The investigation resulted in a restatement and the separation from the company of several top executives. A multi-disciplinary Weil team advised the Audit Committee and the Board of Directors with respect to all aspects of the investigation and the resulting fallout.
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P)
Weil advised global grocery giant A&P on multi-faceted labor and employment matters arising out if its chapter 11 bankruptcy petition.
Marsh & McLennan
Weil successfully represented Marsh in an action by two former executives seeking to obtain severance benefits and the value of stock options forfeited when they were terminated in the aftermath of a New York state investigation into the practice of “contingent commissions” and alleged bid-rigging. In June 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims for malicious prosecution and abuse of process on the pleadings. In its January 2015 decision granting Marsh’s motion for summary judgment, the Court dismissed Plaintiffs’ remaining claims for severance benefits under ERISA and for the value of their forfeited equity awards under state law. In June 2016, the Second Circuit affirmed the summary judgment decision in its entirety, and for the first time established a solid legal framework supporting the right of a company to terminate an employee who fails to cooperate in an internal investigation.
Merrill Lynch
Restoration Hardware
Sterling Jewelers Inc.
Weil represents Sterling Jewelers in Jock v. Sterling, a class arbitration widely recognized as the largest private Title VII class action in the country, and a corresponding gender bias EEOC suit. In Jock, which is being litigated by the well-known plaintiffs’ firm Cohen Milstein, Weil successfully defeated class certification of all of the disparate treatment gender discrimination claims, substantially narrowing the scope of the remaining claims against Sterling. In late July 2017, Weil obtained a significant victory for Sterling when the Second Circuit vacated an earlier decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and remanded the case to Judge Rakoff to address whether the arbitrator in fact had the power to bind tens of thousands of absent class members who had never opted into the litigation.
Weil also secured a major victory for Sterling in the EEOC litigation by obtaining a complete dismissal on the basis that the EEOC had failed to produce any evidence demonstrating that it had complied with its Title VII pre-suit obligation of conducting a nationwide investigation of Sterling’s employment practices. This decision was subsequently overturned by the Second Circuit in September 2015, thereby reviving the EEOC’s nationwide gender bias suit. Weil petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to undo this Second Circuit decision. Weil successfully negotiated a virtually unprecedented settlement of the EEOC’s largest matter with no payment to the government being required by our client.
Key Contacts
See list of lawyers globally
Shortcut Links
Recent Announcement
- Weil Advises Blackstone in Preferred Equity Investment in Inhabit Deal Brief — December 03, 2024
- Weil Advises Astorg in $282M Take-Private Acquisition of Hamilton Thorne and Concurrent Acquisition of Cook Medical Reproductive Health Deal Brief — December 03, 2024
- Weil Elects 18 New Partners and Announces New Counsel Class Firm Announcement — November 26, 2024
Weil is recognized as a top tier firm nationwide and in New York for Labor & Employment.
Benchmark Litigation 2025
Since 2008 Weil has been ranked among the top five New York Labor & Employment practices.
Chambers USA 2008-2024
Weil is currently ranked as among the top 10 firms nationwide in each of three separate employment-related categories:
- “Labor and employment disputes,”
- “Trade Secrets,”
- “Workplace and employment counseling.”
Legal 500 US 2024
According to clients, Weil offers “a strong and nuanced understanding of employment law combined with an ability to cut through complexity to find the most expedient and satisfactory way to resolve issues.”
Chambers USA 2024
Awards and Recognition, Speaking Engagements, Latest Thinking, Firm News & Announcements, Recent Announcement
Awards and Recognition
- Weil Named a “Leading” Firm Nationwide and in New York for Labor & Employment Award Brief — Benchmark Litigation 2025
- Weil named a “Leading” Firm for Labor & Employment, New York Award Brief — Chambers USA 2024
- Weil Named a “Leading” Firm for Labor and Employment Disputes (Including Collective Actions): Defense Award Brief — Legal 500 US 2024
- Weil Named a “Leading” Firm for Workplace and Employment Counseling Award Brief — Legal 500 US 2024
- Weil Named a “Leading” Firm for Trade Secrets Award Brief — Legal 500 US 2024
Speaking Engagements
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Ethical Issues in Noncompete Matters? If You Don’t Think So, You’ve Discovered the First Trap for the Unwary
Speaker(s):
John P. Barry
September 16, 2024 — New York, NY — Weil Employment Practice Group Head John P. Barry served on a panel entitled “Ethical Issues in Noncompete Matters? If You Don’t Think So, You’ve Discovered the First Trap for the Unwary,” at PLI’s Noncompetes and Restrictive Covenants 2024: What Every Lawyer, Human Resources Professional, and Key Strategic Decisionmaker Should Know.
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The Basics of Restrictive Covenant Litigation
Speaker(s):
Bambo Obaro
May 15, 2024 — Practising Law Institute — Complex Commercial Litigation partner Bambo Obaro participated on a panel titled “The Basics of Restrictive Covenant Litigation,” during PLI’s 2024 Fundamentals of Noncompetes conference. The panel analyzed the key issues that often arise in restrictive covenant litigation, discussed best practices for handling a case from the perspective of a plaintiff and defendant, explored forum selection and choice of law clauses, evaluated how to maximize the likelihood of successful enforcement of restrictive covenants, and discussed how a carefully crafted preliminary injunction order can protect your company and/or client’s interests, and avoid the need for protracted litigation.
Latest Thinking
- Texas District Court Sets Aside the FTC’s Non-Compete Rule Alert — By Mark A. Perry, John P. Barry, Jeffrey H. Perry, Eric S. Hochstadt and Josh Wesneski — PDF — August 27, 2024
- Washington Expands Statute Covering Noncompetition Covenants Publication — Employee Relations Law Journal — By John P. Barry and Celine Chan — PDF — June 18, 2024
- A Divided FTC Issues Final Rule on Non-Competes – Caution is Warranted Although the Rule May Not Survive Legal Challenges Alert — Weil Alert — By John P. Barry, Jeffrey H. Perry, Eric S. Hochstadt and Mark A. Perry — PDF — April 24, 2024
- Washington Expands Statute Covering Noncompetition Covenants Alert — Employer Update — By John P. Barry and Celine Chan — PDF — April 10, 2024
- Limited Time Period in Which to Assert Arbitration Claims Upheld by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Publication — Employee Benefit Plan Review — By John P. Barry and Celine Chan — PDF — October 16, 2023
Firm News & Announcements
- Weil Advises Blackstone in Preferred Equity Investment in Inhabit Deal Brief — December 03, 2024
- Weil Advises Astorg in $282M Take-Private Acquisition of Hamilton Thorne and Concurrent Acquisition of Cook Medical Reproductive Health Deal Brief — December 03, 2024