Sedgwick’s employment and labor attorneys represent companies and their managers in lawsuits and administrative actions brought by employees and by governmental agencies advancing employees’ claims. We defend class action and other multiclaimant proceedings arising from alleged labor law violations, represent clients in claims brought by whistleblowers and prosecute trade secret actions involving former employees.
Included within the firm’s expertise are actions based on the Americans with Disabilities Act, federal and state discrimination and harassment laws, Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), Equal Pay Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, National Labor Relations Act, state wage and hour laws, and OSHA and its corresponding state laws. Sedgwick also represents companies in the development of workplace policies and procedures, and counsels clients on labor relation matters.
Workplace Investigations
Beyond the many federal and state laws requiring employers to conduct investigations into workplace issues, workplace investigations often prevent an issue from escalating to the point of legal action. When employees raise workplace concerns regarding harassment, discrimination or other alleged employment law violations, employers must conduct unbiased investigations into the matter. Sedgwick attorneys are experienced in conducting impartial investigations and can assist employers in complying with legal requirements and ensuring that the people involved in the investigation are treated objectively and fairly.
Training Programs
While our Employment & Labor attorneys are known for their trial and litigation expertise, Sedgwick also offers in-house preventative training programs to our clients, including sexual harassment prevention training and wage and hour classification audits.
Sedgwick’s training programs include sexual harassment prevention workshops. Many states have employee training requirements, including California, which mandates that covered California employers ensure that their supervisory personnel receive two hours of sexual harassment prevention training at least every two years. Sedgwick's dynamic and entertaining attorneys provide effective, interactive training that ensures employers are complying with state and federal laws and includes practical guidance regarding the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace.
With the recent onslaught of wage and hour lawsuits, employers cannot afford misclassification of employees. These lawsuits are costly and time consuming, and can result in staggering verdicts that often include punitive damages, Private Attorney General Act penalties, attorney fees and up to four years in back wages. Sedgwick conducts wage and hour audits and can train employers how to conduct their own audits to ensure compliance with all applicable laws. When appropriate, Sedgwick attorneys work with our clients to establish a methodology for reclassifying employees in a way that minimizes disruption of operations and reduces the risk of litigation.
Employee Benefit Disputes
Our attorneys are experienced in representing fiduciaries of employee benefit plans covered by ERISA. We represent fiduciaries of sole sponsor, multiple employer and multi-employer benefit plans in disputes with plan participants who claim entitlement to pension benefits or augmented pension benefits. We also represent fiduciaries of employee welfare benefit plans in disputes centered on payment of medical benefits, life insurance benefits and other ERISA-governed, non-pension forms of benefits. Our clients include Taft-Hartley trusts as well as trusts that were not created as a result of collective bargaining agreements.
Group Benefit Plan Litigation
Sedgwick provides specialized experience in group benefit plan litigation. Our combined expertise in ERISA litigation and insurance bad faith litigation allows us to provide our clients with multifaceted representation. We represent group benefit providers, including insurance carriers and self-insured employers, against claims made by benefit recipients.
Wage and Hour Compliance and Litigation
Wage and hour lawsuits are on the rise throughout the country, and most are brought as class actions. In this climate, employers cannot afford to risk misclassifying employees. Sedgwick helps clients conduct wage and audits designed to minimize exposure to lawsuits and liability. Upon completion of an audit, our attorneys help clients devise a methodology for reclassifying employees in a way that minimizes disruption of operations and reduces the risk of litigation.
We represent clients before the U.S. Department of Labor and state and local agencies. Our lawyers also have extensive courtroom experience successfully litigating employment disputes, such as wage/hour issues, matters involving determination of exempt status, calculation of overtime and other pay obligations, meal and rest breaks, treatment of temporary workers, independent contractors and subcontractors’ employees and other compensable time issues. We have succeeded in reducing our clients’ exposure and avoiding penalties in this ever-expanding area of law.
Counseling and Policy Development
We believe we serve our clients best when we help them avoid workplace disputes and litigation that consumes corporate time and resources. To that end, we work with clients to develop employment policies and procedures that are effective and valid. Sedgwick lawyers provide on-site training to managers, human resource professionals and counsel. Our on-site tutorials are concise and tailored to each client’s environment. We also offer our Employment Briefings Alert, a newsletter summarizing recent and significant employment law.
Separately, we work as partners with clients addressing workplace challenges as those issues arise. We counsel managers, corporate counsel and human resources personnel on issues as diverse as the application of W.A.R.N. to reductions in force and supervisors’ individual liability. We pride ourselves on offering sound, practical advice that is just a phone call or an e-mail away.
Union Management Relations
Sedgwick attorneys represent management in all aspects of union management relations. We work with clients whose workforces have not been unionized to develop effective strategies to prevent union involvement in their businesses. Our attorneys represent management in union-organizing campaigns and in sometimes related claims before the National Labor Relations Board. For our clients with union-organized workforces, we negotiate and administer collective bargaining agreements. We also represent our clients in grievances and labor arbitrations.
Trade Secrets and Unfair Competition
Our attorneys advise clients on methods of protecting valuable trade secret assets, including the review, negotiation and drafting of complex employment contracts and consulting arrangements that address a diverse range of intellectual property issues, including the maintenance of confidentiality. We handle various employment-related disputes dealing with intellectual property issues, including misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contracts containing covenants restricting competition and disclosure of confidential information, and other unfair competition lawsuits. In addition, we assist our clients in limiting exposure through preventive counseling and preparation of detailed licensing and assignment agreements related to trade secret information.
Employment Law for Medical Providers
Our attorneys operate at the cutting edge of employment law for medical providers, keeping pace with and anticipating developments in this rapidly evolving field. Our specialists wrote The Health Care Liability Deskbook, a comprehensive resource that includes a detailed overview of federal and state employment and labor law issues in the medical arena.
We have extensive experience in handling arbitrations and grievances on behalf of hospitals, HMOs, nursing homes, medical groups and health insurers. Our attorneys often are able to solve human resources dilemmas on the spot, preventing litigation at a considerable savings in time and money. When required, Sedgwick can provide a full range of litigation services for medical providers at the claims, pretrial, arbitration, mediation, trial and post-trial levels.
Sedgwick’s employment and labor attorneys represent companies and their managers in lawsuits and administrative actions brought by employees and by governmental agencies advancing employees’ claims. We defend class action and other multiclaimant proceedings arising from alleged labor law violations, represent clients in claims brought by whistleblowers and prosecute trade secret actions involving former employees.
Included within the firm’s expertise are actions based on the Americans with Disabilities Act, federal and state discrimination and harassment laws, Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), Equal Pay Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, National Labor Relations Act, state wage and hour laws, and OSHA and its corresponding state laws. Sedgwick also represents companies in the development of workplace policies and procedures, and counsels clients on labor relation matters.
Workplace Investigations
Beyond the many federal and state laws requiring employers to conduct investigations into workplace issues, workplace investigations often prevent an issue from escalating to the point of legal action. When employees raise workplace concerns regarding harassment, discrimination or other alleged employment law violations, employers must conduct unbiased investigations into the matter. Sedgwick attorneys are experienced in conducting impartial investigations and can assist employers in complying with legal requirements and ensuring that the people involved in the investigation are treated objectively and fairly.
Training Programs
While our Employment & Labor attorneys are known for their trial and litigation expertise, Sedgwick also offers in-house preventative training programs to our clients, including sexual harassment prevention training and wage and hour classification audits.
Sedgwick’s training programs include sexual harassment prevention workshops. Many states have employee training requirements, including California, which mandates that covered California employers ensure that their supervisory personnel receive two hours of sexual harassment prevention training at least every two years. Sedgwick's dynamic and entertaining attorneys provide effective, interactive training that ensures employers are complying with state and federal laws and includes practical guidance regarding the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace.
With the recent onslaught of wage and hour lawsuits, employers cannot afford misclassification of employees. These lawsuits are costly and time consuming, and can result in staggering verdicts that often include punitive damages, Private Attorney General Act penalties, attorney fees and up to four years in back wages. Sedgwick conducts wage and hour audits and can train employers how to conduct their own audits to ensure compliance with all applicable laws. When appropriate, Sedgwick attorneys work with our clients to establish a methodology for reclassifying employees in a way that minimizes disruption of operations and reduces the risk of litigation.
Employee Benefit Disputes
Our attorneys are experienced in representing fiduciaries of employee benefit plans covered by ERISA. We represent fiduciaries of sole sponsor, multiple employer and multi-employer benefit plans in disputes with plan participants who claim entitlement to pension benefits or augmented pension benefits. We also represent fiduciaries of employee welfare benefit plans in disputes centered on payment of medical benefits, life insurance benefits and other ERISA-governed, non-pension forms of benefits. Our clients include Taft-Hartley trusts as well as trusts that were not created as a result of collective bargaining agreements.
Group Benefit Plan Litigation
Sedgwick provides specialized experience in group benefit plan litigation. Our combined expertise in ERISA litigation and insurance bad faith litigation allows us to provide our clients with multifaceted representation. We represent group benefit providers, including insurance carriers and self-insured employers, against claims made by benefit recipients.
Wage and Hour Compliance and Litigation
Wage and hour lawsuits are on the rise throughout the country, and most are brought as class actions. In this climate, employers cannot afford to risk misclassifying employees. Sedgwick helps clients conduct wage and audits designed to minimize exposure to lawsuits and liability. Upon completion of an audit, our attorneys help clients devise a methodology for reclassifying employees in a way that minimizes disruption of operations and reduces the risk of litigation.
We represent clients before the U.S. Department of Labor and state and local agencies. Our lawyers also have extensive courtroom experience successfully litigating employment disputes, such as wage/hour issues, matters involving determination of exempt status, calculation of overtime and other pay obligations, meal and rest breaks, treatment of temporary workers, independent contractors and subcontractors’ employees and other compensable time issues. We have succeeded in reducing our clients’ exposure and avoiding penalties in this ever-expanding area of law.
Counseling and Policy Development
We believe we serve our clients best when we help them avoid workplace disputes and litigation that consumes corporate time and resources. To that end, we work with clients to develop employment policies and procedures that are effective and valid. Sedgwick lawyers provide on-site training to managers, human resource professionals and counsel. Our on-site tutorials are concise and tailored to each client’s environment. We also offer our Employment Briefings Alert, a newsletter summarizing recent and significant employment law.
Separately, we work as partners with clients addressing workplace challenges as those issues arise. We counsel managers, corporate counsel and human resources personnel on issues as diverse as the application of W.A.R.N. to reductions in force and supervisors’ individual liability. We pride ourselves on offering sound, practical advice that is just a phone call or an e-mail away.
Union Management Relations
Sedgwick attorneys represent management in all aspects of union management relations. We work with clients whose workforces have not been unionized to develop effective strategies to prevent union involvement in their businesses. Our attorneys represent management in union-organizing campaigns and in sometimes related claims before the National Labor Relations Board. For our clients with union-organized workforces, we negotiate and administer collective bargaining agreements. We also represent our clients in grievances and labor arbitrations.
Trade Secrets and Unfair Competition
Our attorneys advise clients on methods of protecting valuable trade secret assets, including the review, negotiation and drafting of complex employment contracts and consulting arrangements that address a diverse range of intellectual property issues, including the maintenance of confidentiality. We handle various employment-related disputes dealing with intellectual property issues, including misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contracts containing covenants restricting competition and disclosure of confidential information, and other unfair competition lawsuits. In addition, we assist our clients in limiting exposure through preventive counseling and preparation of detailed licensing and assignment agreements related to trade secret information.
Employment Law for Medical Providers
Our attorneys operate at the cutting edge of employment law for medical providers, keeping pace with and anticipating developments in this rapidly evolving field. Our specialists wrote The Health Care Liability Deskbook, a comprehensive resource that includes a detailed overview of federal and state employment and labor law issues in the medical arena.
We have extensive experience in handling arbitrations and grievances on behalf of hospitals, HMOs, nursing homes, medical groups and health insurers. Our attorneys often are able to solve human resources dilemmas on the spot, preventing litigation at a considerable savings in time and money. When required, Sedgwick can provide a full range of litigation services for medical providers at the claims, pretrial, arbitration, mediation, trial and post-trial levels.