Venable has a long history of managing complex labor and employment class and collective actions on behalf of employers across the country. We present a team of attorneys who are experienced in all areas of class and collective actions involving claims of discrimination and harassment, wage and hour violations, and complex personnel-related lawsuits.

Discrimination and Harassment Class Action Claims

Venable attorneys have been involved in some of the largest employment discrimination class actions in the country, contesting such diverse and complex issues as requests for ex parte communications with class members, attorney-client privilege, opposition to requests for depositions of foreign executives, and Daubert issues.

In order to provide the highest levels of representation to our clients, we work regularly with the country's leading experts who support employment discrimination litigation, as well as nationally recognized jury and trial consultant firms. Venable attorneys have also developed deep experience and the capacity to handle large volume document cases in the class action context. In this role, our attorneys and Information Technology professionals often have consulted with clients on the establishment of client-hosted document repositories, including the selection of host vendors, the establishment of protocols for scanning and coding documents, and assisting the host vendor troubleshoot and resolve technical obstacles.

Employers facing class and collective labor and employment actions also depend on Venable to develop comprehensive public relations strategies and rapid responses to attempts by plaintiffs to exert political pressure through lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill and elsewhere.

Venable's experience as labor and employment counsel in defense of discrimination class actions has extended across many areas, including:

• Litigated what would have been the largest employment class action ever tried before a jury in the United States. This case involved more than 3,000 managers in a nationwide class action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The certified class, one of the largest in an employment discrimination case, alleged race discrimination in promotion under Title VII and Section 1981.
  
• Defended glass ceiling claims against one of the nation's largest government contractors, a software company, and a major consumer packaging company, and investigations of the hiring practices of a major Las Vegas hotel/casino.
  
• Represented a federal government agency in three putative class action cases pending before the EEOC, challenging the agency's hiring, promotion, retention and termination practices.
  
• On behalf of a major financial institution in Delaware, defended against class action and hiring discrimination litigation brought by the Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).
  
• Successfully defended a major medical institution against a directed age discrimination investigation pursued by the EEOC.
  
• Acted as lead negotiating counsel for all respondents in a Commissioner's charge of systemic race discrimination against a building trades union, a mechanical contractors association and its member contractors.
  
• Represented a major food manufacturer in its negotiation of a settlement agreement which resolved both an EEOC Commissioner's charge and 16 individual charges.
  
• Successfully defended a major manufacturer from an EEOC lawsuit alleging a pattern and practice of sex discrimination. Prior to trial, Venable secured a dismissal with prejudice of the EEOC's claims due to the agency's failure to conciliate in good faith.

Wage and Hour Collective Actions

More than 1000 wage/hour collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) were filed against employers during 2007, by far the most common type of class or collective action filed in the federal courts.

Venable attorneys are experienced in handling all aspects of wage and hour collective actions, which are very difficult (and expensive) to litigate all the way to trial, and many of which have resulted in millions of dollars in back pay being paid to plaintiff employees and their attorneys. We have represented employers in suits over exempt/non-exempt classification issues; alleged misclassification of employees as independent contractors; failure to include time spent by employees as time "worked," improper calculation of the regular hourly rates; improper deduction of meal breaks; failure to properly pay for travel time; "off the clock work; failure to pay accrued wages or benefits; violations of "prevailing wage" laws; and many others.

At the same time, Venable has provided value to its clients by focusing on proactive steps to avoid or reduce the likelihood of a class or collective wage claim. Our attorneys work with clients to develop audit and training strategies designed to allow management to change defective wage and hour practices before they result in employee claims. As part of this process, our attorneys review employee handbooks, employment agreements, and personnel policies and regularly counsel employers on corrective actions.

Representative examples of matters in which Venable has defended employers in wage and hour collective or class actions include the following:

• Defended a construction contractor against a collective action filed by workers who were not paid overtime because they were classified as independent contractors.
  
• Defended several mortgage brokers and related financial firms whose brokers claimed to have been misclassified as exempt from overtime.
  
• Represented over 40 commercial producers in an entertainment industry-wide wage and hour class-action lawsuit. Venable continues to represent many of these producers in opt-out and related individual actions.
  
• Consulted in the defense of a firm accused of failing to pay proper travel time to a class of employees and of improperly deducting lunch breaks.
  
• Defended numerous construction contractors accused by the U.S. Department of Labor of prevailing wage violations covering large numbers of employees under the Davis-Bacon Act and state prevailing wage laws.

We are concerned with every aspect of the defense of class and collective actions. Our decades of experience across a wide range of industries and practice areas helps our clients avoid patterns of mistakes that lead to large scale litigation disputes, defend themselves when litigation arises, and control their litigation costs.