Employment Law

L & E Overview
Labor Law

Sullivan Weinstein & McQuay's Employment Law services range from the counseling and training of management-side clients on minimizing and eliminating potential liability, to counseling on discrete employment situations, to aggressively litigating and trying matters in the state and federal agencies and courts. Areas in which we have extensive expertise include:

Advice and Counseling. We advise and counsel on all matters of employment law including severance negotiations, wage and hour matters, executive compensation, and employee discipline and discharge. We often enter into a monthly retainer arrangement whereby clients are allowed and encouraged to call us with employment issues.

Risk Management and Development of Personnel Policies. Sullivan Weinstein & McQuay drafts and reviews personnel policies, employment applications, offer letters, intellectual property agreements, employee review forms and guides, exit interview packages, employee manuals and handbooks, termination agreements, and other employment related documents.

Training and Prevention. Our lawyers conduct training programs, which we tailor to the client's needs, providing separate and distinct sessions for various categories of personnel, such as medical management, faculty management, their staff, and human resources professionals. Topics run the gamut of labor & employment issues such as sexual harassment, discrimination, litigation prevention, disability, medical leave, union prevention, performance management for human resources professionals and termination.

Investigations. Sullivan Weinstein & McQuay conducts internal investigations for various complaints including sexual harassment, employee violence, theft, discrimination and other matters involving employee relations and the workplace.

Discrimination matters. We handle all manner of employment discrimination claims including claims of discrimination for harassment, age, gender and disability as well as claims of wrongful termination based on discrimination.

Leave and Accommodation. Sullivan Weinstein & McQuay provides advice on the parameters and circumstances of appropriate leave. We also counsel on requests for accommodation by employees with disabilities.

Reductions in force. We provide advice to ensure that downsizing is done in accordance with the law and in a manner that avoids and reduces legal risk.

Trade Secrets and Unfair Competition. Sullivan Weinstein & McQuay counsels its clients on and we draft enforceable agreements regarding non-competition, non-disclosure, non-solicitation, and protection of trade secrets and confidential business information. In the event of a violation of these agreements, we aggressively and successfully pursue the offenders on our clients' behalf.

Litigation. We provide litigation services in all matters of labor and employment in state and federal agencies and courts.

Representative Matters:

We have successfully defended many businesses, hospitals and academic institutions in a wide variety of employment matters, including claims for discrimination on the basis of gender, age, race, disability, and national origin.

Health Care Environment
College & University Environment

EMPLOYMENT DISPUTES AND DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS - In the Business Environment:

Wrongful Termination - FMLA Violations: Defended Scudder Investor Services against discharged employee’s claim that he had been wrongfully terminated after having brain surgery; secured dismissal of nearly all of plaintiff’s claims (including claims for violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act). Settled favorably on the eve of trial.

Violation of Employment Agreement: Obtained defense verdict in suit by portfolio manager who claimed he had been terminated in violation of his employment agreement.

Retaliation: Defended EMC against former sales representative’s claims of sex discrimination and retaliation under Michigan civil rights law; obtained favorable resolution at court-sponsored mediation.

Sex Discrimination: Defended a national provider of dialysis products and services against sex discrimination claim.

National Origin: Defended publisher against claim by employee for discrimination based upon national origin; obtained dismissal of claim after hearing at the MCAD.

Sex- Pregnancy Discrimination: Won dismissal of claims of pregnancy and sex discrimination lodged against a national non-profit agency.

Race Discrimination: Won dismissal of claims against national supply-chain corporation where employees asserted pattern and practice of discrimination.

Sexual Harassment – Same Sex: Won dismissal of sexual harassment case involving same-sex harassment for corporate client.

Business Environment
College & University Environment

EMPLOYMENT DISPUTES AND DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS - In the Health Care Environment:

Gender/National Origin Discrimination: Defending Tufts-New England Medical Center and several physicians against terminated resident’s claims for discrimination based on gender and national origin.

Age Discrimination: Successfully resolved a lawsuit brought against a hospital by six nursing leaders claiming that their jobs were eliminated for age bias, and not for legitimate business reasons.

Disability Discrimination: Successfully defended a hospital client against claims asserted by employee alleging disability discrimination and a failure to provide reasonable accommodation.

Accommodation and Disability Discrimination: Won summary judgment for Faulkner Hospital in disability discrimination suit.

Sex and Race Discrimination: Successfully defended national health care system and local nursing home against multiple claims that nursing directors were terminated for race and gender bias.

Disability Discrimination and Workers’ Compensation: Successfully defended Cooley Dickinson Hospital in a case of first impression involving the interaction of claims for workers’ compensation with a request for reasonable accommodation for disabilities. The Supreme Judicial Court upheld the lower court’s award of summary judgment in hospital’s favor.

Sexual Harassment and Protection of Witnesses: Successfully defended employer who had terminated plaintiff for repeatedly harassing female coworkers. Successfully thwarted attempts by plaintiff to identify witnesses upon whom employer had relied in deciding to terminate him.

Business Environment
Health Care Environment

EMPLOYMENT DISPUTES AND DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS - In the University Environment:

Wrongful Termination: Defeated a request for preliminary injunction and successfully defended Boston College in a suit by a long-time tenured faculty member who sought to exclude men from her women's studies class.

Wrongful Termination, Age and Disability Discrimination: Won summary judgment for individual defendant in a claim by employee who alleged he was forced to teach a course that caused him emotional distress. Created an alternative process to hear individual’s claims against university, resulting in successful resolution of all claims.

Age Discrimination: Successfully defended Boston College in a suit by a tenured faculty member claiming that university was discriminating against him because of his age and seeking to force him into retirement.

Reverse Discrimination: Won dismissal for university in a “failure to hire” claim brought by Caucasian candidate who had applied for a faculty position.

Race Discrimination: Obtained summary judgment for institution in claim that employee’s termination for disciplinary issues was motivated by race.

Title IX - Sex Harassment Settlement: Defended Northeastern University against claim by former graduate student alleging violation of Title IX based upon breach of a settlement agreement in a sexual harassment action; obtained rulings disqualifying plaintiff's counsel and dismissing matter with prejudice.

Sexual Harassment, Gender Discrimination, Scientific Misconduct: Successfully resolved lawsuit in which discrimination charges were joined with scientific misconduct charges in research regulated by the National Institutes of Health

Sexual Harassment: Prevailed on summary judgment in suit filed against university client by former employee who claimed she was constructively discharged due to supervisor's alleged harassment. Obtained judgment in favor of the university on its counterclaim seeking unpaid tuition from the plaintiff.