BMBB has built a well-known reputation in the area of employment law. We represent employees in negotiations, workplace disputes, arbitration and litigation. We handle legal actions on behalf of individuals and classes of employees and have a full docket of class action cases. In our work on behalf of employees, we cover all facets of employment law: from discrimination and sexual harassment actions to whistleblowing and claims for illegal denial of overtime wages; from negotiating employment contracts and severance agreements to assuring that disabled workers receive reasonable accommodations at work.
Discrimination and Retaliation
BMBB has extensive experience litigating all forms of employment discrimination and unlawful retaliation cases before the federal and state courts, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the New York City and State agencies charged with enforcing civil rights.
Our attorneys have achieved notable victories representing employees and former employees in discrimination and retaliation cases, including significant jury verdicts. These include a $3.5 million jury verdict against UBS in a sex discrimination action brought by a female stock broker, ultimately remitted to six figures by the district court. See Tse v. UBS Financial Services, Inc., 03 6234 (GEL), 2008 WL 463719 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 19, 2008), and a $1.7 million award in a race discrimination case brought by a Korean-American employee against a Japanese company (remitted to $545,000 and legal fees), Kim v. Dial Services Int'l, Inc., 96 Civ. 3327, 97 WL 458783 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 11, 1997), aff'd, 159 F.3d 1347 (2d Cir. 1998), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1140 (1999).
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Whistleblowing and "Qui Tam" Fraud
BMBB has particular expertise representing employees under whistleblower protection statutes. One of our attorneys frequently represents employees in cases under Sec. 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which prohibits retaliation for whistleblowing concerning fraud by publicly traded companies. We currently represent plaintiff-relators in several qui tam suits, brought under both the federal and New York State False Claims Acts. In one of our qui tam cases, the U.S. government intervened and the case was settled for $42.5 million. U.S. ex rel Gallagher v. InterMune, Inc., C-04-4323 (N.D. Cal.).
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Sexual Harassment
BMBB frequently represents victims of sexual and other unlawful harassment and has pursued significant litigation in this area, including Ferris v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 277 F.3d 128 (2d Cir. 2001) (holding that the hotel room where flight attendant was allegedly raped by co-worker during layover was a "work environment" under Title VII); Crisonino v. New York City Housing Auth., 985 F. Supp. 385 (S.D.N.Y. 1997) (denying summary judgment in sexual harassment action); Zastrow v. Ikegami Electronics (USA), 1997 WL 827456, 75 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 929 (D.N.J. Dec. 2, 1997) (denying motion to dismiss in sexual harassment case against corporation and its president).
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Disability Rights and Employee Leaves
A complex web of statutes and regulations govern disability rights and leave protections for employees. These include the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act), ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act), STD (Short-Term Disability benefits), LTD (Long-Term Disability benefits), and WCL (Workers Compensation Law). We help current employees obtain the leave and other benefits allowed by these statutes, and represent those employees terminated in violation of these laws.
BMBB's lawyers have achieved significant successes for disabled employees. One of our attorneys won a $750,000 verdict on behalf of an employee with Tourette's Syndrome viciously harassed by his supervisor. We won a jury verdict, affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, on behalf of a salesman fired after suffering a heart attack. See Weissman v. Dawn Joy Fashions, Inc., 1999 WL 144488, 7 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 365 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 17, 1997); 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3002, vacated and modified, 214 F.3d 224 (2d Cir. 2000). Another of our cases was the first decision within the Second Circuit holding that the New York State Human Rights Law has a more liberal definition of "disability" than the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Hazeldine v. Beverage Media, Ltd., 954 F.Supp. 697 (S.D.N.Y. 1997).
In another case of first impression within the Second Circuit, a BMBB lawyer prevailed in a case brought on behalf of a corporate employee who was fired from her job because she gave birth to a disabled child. Abdel-Khalek v. Ernst & Young LLP, 1999 WL 190790 (S.D.N.Y. 1999), 15 NDLR P 100 (S.D.N.Y 1999) (holding that discrimination based on association or relationship with disabled individuals is unlawful under the ADA).
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Wage and Hour Laws
Federal and state laws - the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York State Labor Law - protect employees' rights to be paid their full allotment of wages (regular and overtime) and prohibit employers from making unauthorized paycheck deductions. Our firm represents both individuals and classes of employees in these cases.
We successfully settled one collective action on behalf of almost 100 food service workers whose employer was pocketing customers fees that were supposed to pay for waiters' gratuities. We currently are representing a putative class of fire alarm technicians/electricians employed by SimplexGrinnell LP, the nation's largest fire, security and communications systems service provider, in a New York state-wide class action for failure to pay prevailing wages for work performed on public contracts. We are also seeking class and collective action status on behalf of current and former Omega Shipping, Co. Inc., and Benjamin Construction Company employees. We anticipate going to trial later this year in a collective action on behalf of clearance clerks working for Barclays Capital, Inc. who were denied overtime wages.
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Employment Contracts
We commonly counsel executives and professionals on the negotiation of employment contracts, and negotiate the contract terms for them. These negotiations must be done with the right combination of assertiveness and tact, since our client is entering into a new business relationship that our client hopes will be positive and long term. We also frequently represent employees in litigation or arbitrations when an employer fires an employee in violation of a contract, or otherwise breaches the agreement.
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Restrictive Covenants
These agreements, which prohibit an employee from competing in the same industry and/or geographic area as the employer, can have significant consequences for an employee's career. We advise clients on their rights under these agreements, negotiate more favorable terms and represent clients in litigation and arbitration to protect their interests. Recently, BMBB attorneys were successful in negotiating waivers of non-compete agreements for senior and mid-level executives formerly employed by major corporations.
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Severance Agreements
Our firm regularly negotiates improvements in severance agreements which can make a substantial difference to a client after a job loss. Some of the firm's more recent clients were employed by
Goldman, Sachs & Co., Clear Channel Communications, Lehman Brothers, RR Donnelly, HSBC, and JP Morgan Stanley.
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Executive Agreements
We frequently advise and represent executives concerning executive compensation issues, including claims regarding bonuses, stock, stock options, commissions and other incentive compensation. We work with our clients to ensure that their arrangements with their employers are fair and that contractual promises are kept. BMBB has successfully brought legal actions, both in court and arbitration, to recover incentive compensation to which our clients were entitled.
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