Labor & Employment

Trusted counsel for the demands of today’s workplace

Many of our client relationships begin long before a claim arises. We work closely with business leaders and human resources teams to make sound employment decisions, strengthen workplace practices, and respond to new challenges involving AI-driven workforce changes, employee data privacy, and disability accommodation and leave requirements. Our employer counseling work includes:

• Hiring practices, background checks, and drug testing policies and procedures
• Performance evaluations, employee discipline, and internal investigations
• Employment terminations, severance agreements, reductions-in-force, and furloughs
• Employment agreements, personnel files, employee handbooks, and other policies and procedures
• FLSA employee classification, FMLA leave administration, and the ADA disability accommodation process
• Anti-discrimination and harassment training, employer best practices HR audits, and compliance reviews
• State and federal wage and hour compliance, including auditing and reviewing current practices, and designing pay structures to meet business needs.
• Employee benefits, including ERISA considerations

Ready for the investigation and proven at trial

When an EEOC charge arrives, OSHA is at the door, or a lawsuit is filed, employers need counsel who can step in quickly and see the matter all the way through. Our lawyers handle administrative proceedings, investigations, and federal and state litigation from start to finish, with the substantial trial experience needed to pursue the right resolution and take the matter to trial and verdict when necessary.

• Defense of wage and hour claims and lawsuits
• Representation of employers in wage and hour investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the Oklahoma Department of Labor (ODOL), and other equivalent state administrative agencies
• Defense of individual and collective action wage and hour lawsuits under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state law equivalents
• Defense of discrimination charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and equivalent state and local agencies, including the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office of Civil Rights Enforcement
• Defense of lawsuits alleging discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful discharge, including claims involving alleged discrimination on the basis of race, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, color, and genetic information
• Defense of public policy torts, whistleblower, and unequal pay claims, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) discrimination, interference and retaliation claims, workers’ compensation retaliation, alleged drug testing law violations, alleged Open Meetings and Open Records violations, and First Amendment claims involving public employers

Protecting competitive advantage in a mobile workforce

We help employers draft, review, and enforce non-solicitation, nondisclosure, and other post-employment restrictive covenants, including through cease and desist demands and requests for injunctive relief. Our business immigration lawyers also guide employers through I-9 compliance, temporary work status, and employment-based permanent residency.

• Non-solicitation, nondisclosure, and other restrictive covenant agreements
• Trade secret and employee mobility disputes
• Employer-sponsored visas (e.g., H-1B, TN, L, O)
• EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, and EB-4 employment-based permanent residency
• Immigration advice and I-9 compliance

The experience, perspective and connections to open doors and get results

Our team is made up of seasoned trial lawyers with experience trying cases to verdict, as well as professionals with experience in corporate human resources, and as an administrative law judge, collectively giving us a practical understanding of the pressures employers face. We have been active in Oklahoma’s human resources community for more than 30 years, regularly hosting training sessions throughout the state. And, as the exclusive Oklahoma member of the Employment Law Alliance, we are connected with trusted employment counsel in every U.S. jurisdiction and more than 100 countries, providing our clients with access to a national network of skilled management-side employment counsel.