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Practice

Employment and Discrimination

In recent years, there has been an explosion of employment-related lawsuits. This trend is the result of several factors including the growing awareness by both employers and employees of their rights and responsibilities in the workplace and the continual development of new case law and statutes on discrimination. Our employment and discrimination lawyers monitor this dynamic area of law including changes and developments regarding:
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act
• Americans With Disabilities Act
• Fair Labor Standards Act
• Family Medical Leave Act
• New York's Whistleblower Act

Employer Representation
Our employment and discrimination attorneys provide representation to employers both large and small. Our attorneys make it a priority to become familiar with our clients' businesses. We work with clients proactively to address employment and discrimination issues before they become problems and assist in the implementation of policies to ensure that all relevant federal and state laws and regulations are followed to minimize the potential for liability. We advise our clients in all areas of human relations practices to satisfy an employer's business objectives while improving employee productivity and morale. We have assisted our clients with
• employment contracts
• employee handbook development
• employment policies on sexual harassment
• drug testing policies
• employment references
• unemployment claims
• severance and release procedures and agreements

Executive Compensation and Employment Contracts
Our attorneys are experienced in drafting, reviewing and negotiating employment and executive compensation agreements for both businesses and professionals. We pride ourselves in our thorough analysis of all provisions of employment contracts to obtain the best possible results for our clients as well as ensuring that all agreements comply with state and federal regulations including ERISA provisions. We counsel on:
• executive severance agreements
• executive bonus clauses
• stock option agreements/stock bonuses
• non-compete and trade secret protection agreements
• non-solicitation clauses
• retirement benefits
• tax implications

Employee Advocacy
We represent individuals throughout New York State who have been:
• denied pay or overtime
• passed over for a job or promotion based on age, sex, race, religion, national heritage, sexual orientation or disability
• denied equal pay based on discrimination
• harassed at work
• wrongfully terminated,
• retaliated against for whistleblowing, or
• denied rights under the Family Medical Leave Act

Litigation
We represent clients in all forms of adversarial proceedings including: • breach of employment contracts
• age discrimination
• sex discrimination
• race discrimination
• sexual harassment
• national origin discrimination
• whistle-blower and retaliation, and
• violation of non-compete agreements

We have provided representation before various federal and state agencies including the New York State Division of Human Rights, the Department of Labor, the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In every stage of these proceedings, from investigation and settlement conferences to hearings and appeals, our involvement has been highly effective. Contact us to learn more about how our services can protect your business.


Attorneys

Dafni S. Kiritsis
L. Micha Ordway, Jr.
John L. Valentino