Hermes Sargent Bates’ Employment & Labor attorneys are called upon to listen to each client’s unique concerns pertaining to its workplace and to address them effectively and efficiently. If litigation proves necessary, we utilize our vast knowledge, experience and creativity in planning and executing aggressive, cost-effective strategies that will succeed in court, arbitration, or mediation. We provide management with preventive counseling that minimizes legal risk, create effective and enforceable employment agreements and personnel policies, conduct or guide internal investigations of harassment complaints and other employee misconduct, defend lawsuits raising such claims as discrimination, retaliation and failure to provide overtime pay and other benefits, and protect employers against employee misappropriation of trade secrets and violations of non-competition agreements. Our clients range in size from Fortune 500 companies to small start-up businesses, and include employers in transportation, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, finance, technology, entertainment, publishing, distribution, food service, and not-for-profit.

We represent employers before federal and state judges, juries, and agencies throughout Texas and the Southwest in every type of labor and employment litigation, including the following:

• Lawsuits alleging wrongful termination, retaliatory discharge, defamation, breach of contract and violations of plant closing laws

• Investigations before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and
state and local EEO agencies

• Wage and hour litigation and agency investigations.

We also represent employers in prosecuting and defending attempts to obtain temporary restraining orders and injunctions to enforce confidentiality agreements and non-competition agreements.

We regularly advise clients how to minimize legal risks in supervising, evaluating, investigating and terminating employees, implementing reductions in force, and creating and applying personnel policies, and drafting and enforcing separation agreements and non-competition agreements. We counsel management on how to achieve business goals while complying with federal, state, and local labor laws and regulations such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, wage and hour laws, and affirmative action obligations. We also provide practical management training on issues such as sexual harassment, documenting employee performance, and accommodating disabled workers.

We investigate suspected employee misconduct or guide management in conducting its own investigation to maximize efficiency and minimize legal risk. We have extensive experience investigating or guiding investigations of sexual harassment complaints and other claims of workplace discrimination or retaliation; conducting full-scale investigation or discrete inquiries into suspected wrongdoing by corporate officers and their subordinates concerning fraud or breach of fiduciary duties. We also prepare effective compliance programs that require employees to acknowledge and adhere to their legal and ethical obligations.