Overview

Ropes & Gray's employment litigation team defends clients against their most sensitive and complex employment matters, from multimillion-dollar class actions and cross-border investigations to employee raids, noncompete disputes, discrimination claims, and pay equity audits. We deliver practical, results-driven counsel that protects your interests and gets you back to business.

Efficient, Strategic Defense and Resolution

Our experienced litigators defend clients in state and federal courts, before administrative agencies, and in arbitration. We negotiate favorable settlements when resolution best serves your goals. Employment issues demand swift action, and we are responsive, agile, sensitive to reputational risk, and relentlessly focused on outcomes. Our employment litigators are deeply embedded within Ropes & Gray’s corporate transactions and executive compensation and benefits teams, ensuring we bring a sophisticated and holistic view to our clients’ most sensitive employment disputes.

How We Help

We offer support across the following areas:

Trade Secrets, Noncompetes and Restrictive Covenants

Disputes with Highly Compensated Individuals

Whistleblower Litigation

Class Actions, Collective Actions, and Complex Litigation

Depth Across the Full Spectrum of Employment Law

Our team has successfully handled contested proceedings under virtually every federal and state employment statute, including:
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)
- Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) and Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
- Work Adjustment Retaining and Notification Act (WARN)

Experience

Trade Secrets, Noncompetes and Restrictive Covenants

Defended a health care company executive against a breach of contract claim advanced by his former employer based on an alleged violation of the executive’s non-competition agreement.
Achieved complete victory for a biotechnology company and an individual defendant in federal court in the Southern District of New York against claims by a competitor that the individual defendant had breached his non-competition covenants and that our client had tortiously interfered with the competitor.
Successfully reached a settlement following mediation for amajor disaster recovery service provider with an industry competitor over a dispute involving trade secret theft and misappropriation, breach of contract, civil conspiracy, and employee raiding.
Represented a leading medical device company and individual in a dispute brought by a former employer to enforce non-competition, confidentiality, and non-solicitation covenants in the employment agreement with the former employer.
Successfully represented a health care system in an arbitration over the enforceability of noncompete covenants after two physicians threatened to leave their employment to found a practice in the same small community and affiliate themselves with one of the healthcare system’s largest competitors.
Reached a highly favorable settlement on behalf of a group of executives accused of violating their restrictive covenants when they founded a private capital-backed startup in the logistics industry.
Represented a global strategic advisory and consulting firm and three of its executives in an action challenging the enforceability of restrictive covenants in state court in California with millions of dollars at issue.
Extensive experience securing former employees’ compliance with restrictive covenants through various aggressive pre-litigation tactics.

Disputes with Highly Compensated Individuals

Successfully represented a venture capital firm, together with its executive leadership team and affiliated entities, in a confidential arbitration brought by a former managing director, who sought $92 million in damages from alleged wrongful termination.
Successfully represented a major health care products and medical device company in a lawsuit brought by its former president of emerging markets alleging that he was owed $25 million in severance and other benefits.
Resolved a highly contentious executive separation matter for a portfolio company of a leading private equity firm involving a dispute over the forfeiture of vesting of equity awards upon termination of employment.

Whistleblower Litigation

Successfully defended board members in whistleblower action brought by former chief compliance officer upon termination.
Guided public company through internal investigation involving sensitive whistleblower and retaliation claims by former employee.
Conducted investigation on behalf of medical device company into whistleblower allegations made by former member of senior management.
Represented three former high-ranking executives of a publicly traded company in connection with their claims of whistleblower retaliation under the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Acts.
Helped national health care system to secure dismissal with prejudice of whistleblower’s 80-page qui tam complaint alleging False Claims Act violations, as well as to obtain unprecedented monetary sanctions against the relator’s counsel for misconduct.
Represented a medical practice in litigation with terminated physician alleging violations of the Florida State Whistleblower’s Act as well as unlawful retaliation under federal law.

Class Actions, Collective Actions, and Other Complex Litigation

Defended a private equity sponsor against class action joint-employer liability claims relating to alleged WARN Act violations at medical testing portfolio company.
Successfully represented a leading Massachusetts hospital in defense of a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit.
Representing a non-profit medical research organization in a multimillion dollar case in which the physician-plaintiff alleged discrimination based on national origin, gender, and age.
Secured defense award on behalf of thirteen employers after a four-week arbitration before three retired judges on claims for industry-wide disparate treatment and harassment based on gender and race in a case originally brought as a putative federal court class action.
Defended leading privately held insurance claims management company against California putative class action involving allegations of independent contractor misclassification.
Successfully defended proposed wage and hour class action settlement against challenge from plaintiff objectors in California state court.