Employment Law,
Workplace
Investigations &
Trade Secrets
Litigation
Our Employment Law, Workplace Investigations & Trade Secrets Litigation practice offers unique advantages to clients in the handling of employment- and workplace-related litigation, internal and regulatory investigations, and allegations of trade secrets, non-competition and restrictive covenant violations. Our lawyers in the area bring to each matter a cutting-edge understanding of employment law as well as formidable experience in trying cases and defending clients in significant white collar and regulatory enforcement matters. The team also leverages an extraordinary bench of former prosecutors and senior federal and state government officials to provide strategic advice on the most challenging employment matters.
We are frequently the first to be called in for fast-moving workplace-related crises—such as the high-profile internal investigations that ushered in the #MeToo era—and matters with little precedent, such as our work in overcoming some of the earliest district court and appellate challenges to public and private workplace vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Workplace Investigations
We are the nation’s “go to” firm for the most sensitive and important internal workplace investigations. We have led investigations concerning a wide variety of workplace issues, including alleged sexual harassment, discrimination, employment policy violations, compliance issues or the disclosure of trade secrets. We also have deep experience in helping companies and boards investigate and navigate potentially serious allegations of wrongdoing asserted against senior executives. Our work in this area enables companies and boards to take informed and strategic action to address and resolve corporate crises and avoid full-scale regulatory enforcement actions. It can also significantly limit exposure to lawsuits and adverse publicity.
Employment Litigation
We regularly litigate employment- and executive-related cases in federal and state courts before juries or judges and in arbitration or mediation. Our attorneys have defended leading companies and executives in individual and class action discrimination suits, federal and state wage and hour collective and class actions, breach of contract actions, Title IX claims, high-value termination and compensation disputes, as well as harassment, hostile work environment and retaliation claims.
Trade Secrets, Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation & Restrictive Covenants
We have successfully prosecuted and defended dozens of non-competition, non-solicitation and trade secrets disputes for some of the most prominent companies in the world. In fact, two of our lawyers were recently recognized by The American Lawyer for winning a rare preliminary injunction trial victory, affirmed on appeal, barring a former senior executive from accepting a competing position at another technology company. We have litigated numerous actions to enforce confidentiality agreements and restrictive covenants in the merger and acquisition context, often on an expedited basis. Our lawyers also have experience representing companies seeking to hire an executive bound by restrictive covenants as well as individual executives that are bound by or entering into restrictive covenants.
We are deeply familiar with the law and public policy regarding the enforceability of non-competition agreements and regularly brief and argue these issues in court. Our litigators are often brought in during the negotiation of non-disclosure agreements, non-solicitation provisions and non-competition restrictions between companies and executives to advise on the enforceability of such provisions under the latest laws in various jurisdictions.
“No-Poaching” Investigations and Litigations
We have been at the forefront in advising organizations facing criminal and civil liability as so-called “no-poach” agreements have increasingly been targeted by state and federal prosecutors and private plaintiffs. Our team has represented numerous businesses in government investigations targeting the use of these provisions, including the first such probe conducted by the Washington State attorney general. Leveraging our world-class Antitrust Practice capabilities, we have also defended franchisors and their franchisees in follow-on antitrust litigation brought on behalf of franchisee employees, including some of the first putative class actions regarding “no-poach” provisions.
Employment Law Counseling & Training
Our lawyers offer preventative and creative counsel to clients, including employment compliance audits, customized training programs, and the review of in-house employment and whistleblower policies, training and compensation arrangements. Our primary goal is to enable senior management and boards to take informed, proactive and effective action, thereby reducing future liability.
Recent
Experience
Recent Engagements
Workplace Investigations
- 21st Century Fox in government and internal investigations, including the internal investigation of sexual harassment claims against former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes and the investigation of claims related to former Fox News TV personality Bill O’Reilly.
- BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, in an internal review of the company’s processes for investigating employee complaints, including its handling of former employees’ allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination reported in the media.
- The National Hockey League’s Boston Bruins franchise in conducting an independent review of the team’s signing of Mitchell Miller and providing recommendations on updated player-vetting policies.
- The independent members of the board of directors of Carta in connection with an internal investigation concerning allegations of executive mismanagement, hostile work environment, and gender discrimination raised by a former C-Suite executive.
- The Board of Directors of Consumer Reports in an independent investigation into issues impacting the organization’s workplace culture with respect to issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Employment Litigation
- Amazon in winning the dismissal of nearly all claims brought by a former employee in a putative state-wide class action alleging disability discrimination, failure to provide a reasonable accommodation and retaliation. The Eastern District of California dismissed the plaintiff’s discrimination and wrongful termination claims, as well as the putative class action claims, and the parties subsequently reached an agreement to resolve the litigation on favorable terms.
- Barnes & Noble in litigation related to the termination of its CEO, notably securing the dismissal of a $70 million defamation claim and the favorable settlement of all remaining claims.
- The National Football League in defense of a putative class action brought by a former NFL head coach alleging racial discrimination in the hiring of head coaches, coordinators and general managers.
- NBCUniversal in the favorable settlement of Rule 23 class and FLSA collective actions brought by Parking Production Assistants who worked on NBC Universal-produced films and television shows alleging violations of the FLSA and New York Labor Law.
- Pfizer in securing the denial of a preliminary injunction and dismissal of a high-profile “reverse discrimination” suit brought by a newly created non-profit advocacy group, Do No Harm, alleging that Pfizer’s Breakthrough Fellowship Program to create a pipeline for diverse talent in the company’s leadership ranks violated Section 1981, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the Affordable Care Act, and various New York State and New York City human rights laws.
- SS&C Technologies in:
- the settlement of a collective and class action under the FLSA and New Jersey state wage and hour laws; and
- a settlement of putative class action brought by former employees alleging violations of New York state wage and hour laws.
Trade Secrets, Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation & Restrictive Covenants
- Citigroup in the dismissal of a putative class action brought by current and former employees alleging that the non-compete provisions of their employment agreements violated California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL).
- Comtech Telecommunications in securing the favorable settlement prior to trial of two consolidated actions in federal district court involving claims against a former employee and her new employer, Motorola Solutions Inc., for breach of her employment agreement’s non-compete, non-solicit, and confidentiality provisions and tortious interference, as well as defending claims of breach of contract, wage withholding, gender discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful discharge brought by the former employee.
- IBM in actual and threatened litigations concerning enforcement of employee restrictive covenants, non-competition agreements and equity clawback contracts, including in:
- winning an injunction at trial, affirmed on appeal by the Second Circuit, prohibiting a former senior executive from accepting a competing leadership position at Microsoft in breach of his non-competition agreement. Paul, Weiss previously secured a TRO to prevent the executive from accepting the offer and at trial proved that the former executive was privy to some of IBM’s most competitively sensitive trade secrets, and, absent an injunction, IBM would suffer irreparable injury; and
- a successful non-competition suit brought against the company’s former CIO who sought to take a competing position at a major technology firm alleging that the employee had leaked trade secrets about IBM’s next-generation cloud computing system. Paul, Weiss secured a TRO and following a trial, the parties agreed to a settlement whereby the CIO no longer works in the tech industry.
- A Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm in a trade secrets dispute with its former general counsel who, following her termination from the company, brought allegations to the SEC alleging that the VC firm had defrauded investors. On behalf of the VC firm, Paul, Weiss made a criminal referral to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California based on evidence that the former employee had misappropriated trade secrets and had made false statements to the FBI.
