In recent years, labor and employment disputes have grown larger, more complex and far more likely to pose a significant threat to an employer’s core business interests. The plaintiffs’ bar has dramatically increased its use of high-stakes class, collective, and mass actions to cover a wide spectrum of labor and employment, wage and hour, and public accessibility claims; federal and state agencies are focusing on claims of systemic discrimination and substantially increasing their budgets to litigate pattern or practice cases; and legislators continue to debate laws involving data privacy, employees’ rights to form unions, the use of credit and criminal background checks in the hiring process and other emerging issues. Muddying the waters further, judicial decisions across the country are often in direct conflict, making it difficult for employers to determine appropriate “safe harbor” policies and practices for their workforces.

The experienced lawyers of Hunton Andrews Kurth’s national labor and employment team understand the many challenges facing employers today. We have earned deserved reputations as “go to” lawyers for major employment, wage and hour, labor relations and public accessibility cases across the nation. Our lawyers have extensive experience defending class, collective, and mass actions, and have the distinction of being included in a select group of attorneys in the country who have tried complex representative proof cases to jury verdicts. We have successfully litigated thousands of high-profile, high-risk matters in federal and state courts, in hearings before federal and state law enforcement agencies, and in mediations and arbitrations. We have maintained a traditional labor practice over the last five decades and today our vast experience in assisting our clients with managing and terminating anti-corporate campaigns is unmatched.

• Representing national retailer clients in nationwide EEOC investigations involving class pay and promotions claims under Title VII, class race discrimination claims under Title VII arising from the use of criminal background checks during the hiring process, and class disability discrimination claims under the ADA based on the use of maximum leave policies.
• Defending numerous state and national wage and hour class and collective actions against national retailer, casual dining, manufacturing, hospitality, education, and transportation clients presenting meal period, rest break, misclassification, off-the-clock, tip pooling, compensable time, and other claims.
• Representing manufacturing, food and multi-services clients in the prosecution of claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) challenging the legitimacy of union tactics and actions during prosecution of anti-corporate campaigns.
• Defending national public accommodation clients in nationwide ADA pattern or practice public accessibility cases filed by the U.S. Department of Justice presenting challenges to new architectural designs.
• Representing multiple national retailer clients in Title VII pattern or practice cases filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission presenting race, national origin, sex, and religious discrimination claims.
• Defending complex government agency actions including glass ceiling and affirmative action audits, occupational safety and health investigations and related litigation in the finance, manufacturing, utility, banking and services industries.
• Representing clients in trade secret protection and restrictive covenant litigation on a nationwide basis, across multiple industries, including manufacturing, energy services, financial, insurance and consulting services.
• Defending national public accommodations clients in statewide class, multi-plaintiff, and federal and state agency pattern and practice public accessibility actions seeking to mandate new captioning and narrative description technologies.
• Managing national and regional dockets of employment, labor relations, wage and hour, and/or public accessibility cases for national retailer, services, manufacturing, casual dining, and movie exhibitor clients.
• Guiding clients through complex reductions in force, reorganizations, business restructurings and relocations, and labor contract negotiations.
• Assisting clients in all employment and labor aspects involved in the buying and selling of businesses both domestic and foreign including the negotiation of asset and stock purchase agreements and executive contracts.