Labor & Employment

Employment Agreements & Consulting Contracts

The best way to prevent employment disputes is to ensure that employment and consulting relationships are well conceived, clear and defensible. Cordatis works regularly with clients to structure successful workplace relationships by negotiating, drafting and enforcing contracts for services, whether rendered through a typical employer-employee relationship or an independent consulting arrangement. Our objective is to bring clarity to the terms of the relationship, resulting in certainty and predictability in the rights and obligations of each party.

Human Resource Policies

Cordatis’s Employment Law practice helps clients identify and implement effective human resource policies, consistent with the size and nature of their workforce. We counsel clients regarding their obligations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and other equal employment opportunity laws, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) and other laws affecting the employment relationship.

We also regularly draft and review “best practices” employee policy manuals, and assist employers to develop programs to implement their legal obligations to employees.

Safeguarding Business Information

Establishing properly structured relationships is particularly important when an employer will disclose its trade secrets or important proprietary business information. Whether establishing executive incentives, drafting employment or consulting agreements, structuring collaborative partnerships, or teaming agreements or terminating employees, Cordatis helps clients to protect their business assets by:

• Protecting trade secrets and preserving the confidentiality of competition-sensitive business and financial data
• Preventing unlawful or unfair competition by current or former employees, contractors and business partners
• Identifying and preventing conflicts of interest and breaches of fiduciary duty
• Safeguarding competitive and financial data

Employment Litigation

Litigation relating to the employment relationship is a significant part of Cordatis’s employment practice. The firm has represented both employers and employees in a range of employment-related cases, including:

• Wrongful discharge claims
• Disputes over compensation and benefits
• Actions for injunctions and damages relating to the misappropriation of trade secrets and the improper use or disclosure of confidential business information
• Violations of the employee’s duty of loyalty and covenants not to compete (non-compete clauses or non-solicitation agreements)

Employment Discrimination Litigation

Understanding and complying with the federal laws prohibiting discrimination in employment — Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) — are major concerns for all employers, but can be especially difficult for growing companies. Cordatis LLP helps clients understand their obligations, with a special emphasis on implementing well-defined human resources policies and practices that help assure a workplace free of unlawful discrimination. Preventing discriminatory practices — and claims of discrimination — is our primary objective.

When employment discrimination claims do arise, Cordatis’s experienced litigation team can represent clients in a full range of judicial and administrative forums, including investigations conducted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), state human rights or equal opportunity commissions, and federal and state court litigation. The firm has helped clients defend or prosecute litigation involving:

• Claims of discrimination based on race, age, sex and national origin
• Sexual and racial harassment
• Disability-related discrimination and reasonable accommodation issues
• Claims of retaliation for “whistle-blowing”