Find Lawyers in Washington, District of Columbia for Litigation - Labor and Employment
Practice Area Overview
Often, these employment disputes culminate in a lawsuit, which can be costly, time-consuming, and damaging to employee relations. The number of employment-related litigation filings has been steadily increasing over the last decade, ranging from large-scale class actions to individual complaints. Employers are facing greater challenges and financial exposure from both current and former employees than ever before.
Employment litigation covers many types of claims, including discrimination; harassment; wage-hour pay, classification, and overtime violations; wrongful discharge; entitlement to employee benefits; misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential information; unfair competition; enforcement or avoidance of restrictive covenants; labor union disputes; workplace safety violations; defamation and other employment-related torts. These claims often involve the many laws governing employee relations, which are often referred to as “employment law alphabet soup.” These include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), whistleblower claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) or Dodd-Frank Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
Resolving employment litigation requires knowledge of these laws and regulations, the applicable case law, and a careful case analysis and strategy. More so than in other less personal litigation, a perceptive understanding of the people involved is essential for success. Often, suits will be settled among parties or ended before trial through summary judgment based on the facts of the case. When early resolution is not achieved, however, the case will go to trial in court or before an agency tribunal. Verdicts in employment-related cases can be enormous, especially in wage-hour and other class actions, creating a high-stakes situation for employers.
Andrew M. Adelman is an associate attorney with Correia & Puth, PLLC and represents employees in all aspects of the firm’s employment litigation practice, including sex discrimination, whistleblower retaliation, and disability discrimination. Mr. Adelman’s practice is exclusively dedicated to advocating for the rights of employees. Mr. Adelman has extensive experience providing representation to individuals who have experienced discrimination based on their sex, sexual orienta...
Kristin D. Alden is a skilled litigator and fierce advocate dedicated to protecting employees’ rights in the workplace. Kristin and her firm have fought tirelessly to enforce the laws prohibiting harassment and discrimination, to protect brave employees who speak up against wrongdoing, and to compel employers to accommodate employees’ medical needs and pay them the wages they earn. Kristin manages the firm’s practice while also representing its clients from virtually every w...
Lisa Banks is a founding partner of Katz Banks Kumin LLP, where she concentrates her practice on sexual harassment and whistleblower retaliation , as well as employment discrimination, Title IX, SEC and CFTC whistleblower tips, and contractual employment disputes. Considered to be one of the leading attorneys of the #MeToo movement, Ms. Banks has successfully litigated employment discrimination and whistleblower protection cases at the trial court and appellate level for over 25 years. Ms. Ba...
Maury Baskin focuses his Washington, DC-based practice on national labor policy, challenging excessive government regulation on behalf of small and large businesses, while advising employers in compliance issues. He has extensive experience in dealing with labor relations and union pressure tactics, employment discrimination and wage and hour law. He has represented a variety of industry sectors, advising clients involved in construction, government contracting, higher education, telecommunic...
Subha Bollini represents employees with claims of employment discrimination and retaliation claims under federal, state and local law. She has litigated claims against employers of varying sizes, from small businesses to local, state, and federal agencies, to Fortune 50 corporations. In addition to representing employees in claims of discrimination based on age, race, and sex, she has litigated complex whistleblowing claims involving financial reporting, shareholder fraud, and industrial safe...
Adam Carter is a seasoned courtroom attorney who has won numerous cases at trial and on appeal. For most of his career he has focused his practice on the representation of employees and whistleblowers. Mr. Carter represents clients who bring claims against their employers involving fraud, wrongful termination, retaliation, and discrimination of all sorts. A skilled negotiator, he frequently helps high-ranking executives to reach agreement with their companies at crucial career moments such as...
Linda M. Correia is a founding member of Correia & Puth, PLLC, where she focuses her practice exclusively on the rights and representation of employees who have experienced discrimination or retaliation and students and educators who have experienced sexual assault, sex discrimination in athletics, or retaliation at school. Ms. Correia has successfully represented employees and students who have been targets of sex discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliati...
Colleen Coveney, a Partner at Katz Banks Kumin, joined the firm in 2012. Ms. Coveney represents clients in a range of civil rights and discrimination matters under federal and state anti-discrimination statutes including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and corresponding state laws. Ms. Coveney also represents whistleblowers in unlawful retaliation cases, as well as individuals submitting tips to...
Alison N. Davis represents management in employment and labor law. She has extensive litigation experience in the employment arena, including: Sexual harassment Race, national origin, age, gender and disability discrimination Overtime Wrongful termination claims Pay discrimination issues Wage and hour matters She regularly appears in state and federal courts and before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Maryland Commission on Human Relations, the District of Columbia Office of H...
Molly Elkin represents workers in large collective and class actions to recover unpaid overtime and minimum wages. She enjoys a national practice, representing unionized workforces and other employees seeking workplace justice and fair pay. In 2002, she was the first female lawyer elected into partnership, where she has paved the way for new women partners. For the past two decades, Elkin has served as lead trial counsel in countless pay cases across the country. She has collected over $150 M...
Michael Filoromo joined Katz Banks Kumin in May 2008 and co-founded the firm’s Philadelphia office in 2015 after being elevated to partner. He has litigated whistleblower cases in federal and state courts and the U.S. Department of Labor. He regularly represents clients in claims brought under the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate whistleblower protections, the False Claims Act anti-retaliation provisions, and the anti-discrimination and retaliation protections of Title VII of the Civil Rights A...
Adam Herzog, a partner of Katz Banks Kumin, joined the Firm in December 2013. Mr. Herzog has represented numerous clients pursuing whistleblower tips before the SEC, CFTC and FINCEN and has successfully assisted them in earning millions of dollars in award payments. Three of Mr. Herzog’s clients received SEC whistleblower awards in the second half of 2023 alone, some of whom participated in a $104 million total award that was the fourth largest in the SEC program’s history. Detail...
Recognized by the Washington Post as “ the feared attorney of the #MeToo movement ,” Debra S. Katz has been successfully litigating employment discrimination, civil rights, and whistleblower protection cases for nearly 40 years. Ms. Katz is a founding partner of Katz Banks Kumin LLP, where she concentrates her practice on employment discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, whistleblower retaliation claims, and contractual employment disputes. She has developed extens...
Known for her straightforward, “cut-to-the-chase” approach to lawyering, Deborah P. Kelly represents employers in virtually all areas, from multibillion-dollar high tech and financial services companies to nonprofit associations and other law firms. Deborah helps her clients adopt best practices that minimize the risk of litigation. She designs and leads in-person training for boards of directors, managers, human resources professionals and other employees. While these trainings f...
Ms. Khouri represents clients in cases of pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment, disability discrimination, student and employee rights under Title IX, age discrimination, and retaliation, as well as all types of discrimination and retaliation protected by federal and state law. Ms. Khouri advocates for clients in all aspects of the firm's litigation docket, including discovery, depositions, hearings, trials, and appeals. She is a recognized leader in the community for her advocacy on b...
Kellee Boulais Kruse is a principal at The Employment Law Group ® law firm with a passion for working on civil rights cases, especially those concerning discrimination. She has additional experience with contract disputes, whistleblower retaliation cases, and claims brought under state and federal statutes such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Energy Reorganization Act, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. Ms. Kruse re...
Avi Kumin is a founder and partner at Katz Banks Kumin. For over 20 years, Mr. Kumin has been successfully advising employees about their legal rights, resolving difficult situations with employers, and litigating employment claims in court. Mr. Kumin’s practice focuses on whistleblower protection, sexual harassment and assault, executive negotiations, contractual disputes, discrimination, and retaliation, among other areas of employment law, often in highly complex and contentious situ...
Gregory McGillivary is the managing partner of McGillivary Steele Elkin LLP. He has over 30 years of experience litigating, arbitrating, settling, and most importantly, winning multi-million-dollar cases on behalf of unions and individual workers who have been wrongly denied pay and benefits. He has represented tens of thousands of workers in a multitude of industries in both the public and private sector through all levels of the judiciary system and in arbitration. In addition to litigation...
Kate Mueting is a Partner in the Washington, DC office of Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP, a national law firm with offices in the District of Columbia, New York, California, Tennessee, and Maryland, and a Co-Chair of the firm’s Title VII Practice. She received her J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law and her B.J. from the University of Nebraska. Kate represents employees in a broad range of employment claims, including discrimination on the basis of gender, pregnancy, race, and s...
Rob Niccolini is co-chair of the firm's Healthcare Practice Group. He represents management in employment litigation and labor disputes, with special experience in the health care, technology, insurance, manufacturing, government contracting, hospitality and retail industries. His practice includes all facets of employment discrimination, harassment, wage and hour, ADA, FMLA, ERISA, covenants not to compete and employment torts, as well as labor arbitration, union campaigns and unfair labor p...
Scott Oswald is an accomplished trial lawyer who has brought more than 40 trials to verdict and recovered more than $300 million in judgments and settlements for his clients, in cases ranging from wrongful termination to employer fraud. Mr. Oswald litigates employment lawsuits nationwide, with a special focus on whistleblower matters - including qui tam law, which can deliver monetary rewards to employees who expose fraud against the government. Since founding The Employment Law Group® la...
Jonathan C. Puth is a founding member of Correia & Puth and a well-known advocate for employees. Mr. Puth represents clients with claims of sexual harassment, workplace discrimination, whistleblower retaliation, and claims for wages, commissions, and contract rights. Mr. Puth is admitted to practice before the state and federal courts of the District of Columbia and Maryland, and the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Puth litigates claims of harassment, retaliation, discrimination and wage...
Manesh Rath is a trial and appellate attorney with experience in general commercial litigation, food litigation, wage and hour and class action litigation, occupational safety and health law, association law, accessibility, and labor law. Mr. Rath has been the lead amicus counsel on several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including Staub v. Proctor Hospital and Vance v. Ball State University . Mr. Rath is a co-author of three books in the fields of OSHA law, wage and hour law, and labor ...
Carson Sullivan is Chair of Paul Hastings’ Washington, D.C. Employment Law Department and Co-Chair of the Washington, D.C. office. She represents employers in all aspects of employment law, with an emphasis on the defense of class and collective action suits. As one of the leaders of the firm’s Pay Equity Practice Group, Ms. Sullivan provides sophisticated litigation defense and works with clients to review and analyze their compensation practices for pay equity and legal complian...
Jacki Thompson represents management in a wide range of employment matters, with particular expertise in labor relations in the airline and healthcare industries. Jacki guides clients through all facets of labor law. As a member of the firm's Airline Group, she assists both airlines and airline carrier service providers in grievance resolution matters, including grievance arbitrations and mediation. She has also successfully defended multiple AIR21 cases for her airline clients. In addition, ...
Michael L. Vogelsang, Jr., is a principal at The Employment Law Group ® law firm, where he frequently handles cases that involve whistleblower retaliation, employment discrimination, wrongful termination, and other workplace claims. Since joining the firm in 2007, Mr. Vogelsang has gained extensive experience representing federal employees. He specializes in navigating the administrative labyrinth of cases across dozens of departments and agencies, such as: the Department of Defense, the ...
After a long and distinguished career in the federal government with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Ms. Wheeler joined Katz Banks Kumin in August 2015. As an appellate lawyer with the EEOC, Ms. Wheeler was in the forefront of developing cutting edge legal arguments and theories to prove discrimination and harassment under Title VII, The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Equal Pay Act. Ms. Wheeler was an Assistant General Counsel i...
Nicholas Woodfield is a principal at The Employment Law Group® law firm and is the firm’s general counsel. He is a seasoned trial attorney specializing in civil litigation and appellate advocacy and focuses his practice on whistleblower claims, wage non-payment and misclassification claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), discrimination and retaliation cases, and qui tam actions. Washingtonian Magazine has named him to its “Top Lawyers” list for his representat...
Jason Zuckerman litigates whistleblower retaliation , qui tam , wrongful discharge, discrimination, non-compete, and other employment-related claims, and authors the Whistleblower Protection Law Blog . His broad experience includes practicing employment law at a national law firm, serving as a Principal at The Employment Law Group, and serving as Senior Legal Advisor to the Special Counsel at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel , the federal agency charged with protecting whistleblowers in the...
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