About Our Practice
As our economy becomes more service-oriented and more labor-intensive, it becomes ever more crucial for enterprises to manage their human resources effectively and to respond not only to claims of collective rights, but to claims of individual rights that are augmenting and replacing those collective claims.
The Hunton & Williams LLP labor and employment law practice covers the entire spectrum of labor and employment litigation; arbitration; administrative practice before the NLRB, EEOC, and the Labor Department; federal contract compliance; wage-hour standards; Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards; workers’ compensation; and client counseling under federal and state labor and employment laws.
Labor and Management Relations
We have an extensive practice in the labor relations area. Our lawyers handle union representation cases from the pre-petition stage through post-election procedures, including representation in unfair labor practice trials and in the appellate courts. For example, we represented a large publicly owned electric utility in a decisive election victory over the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in the union’s effort to organize white collar employees. The election involved a unit of 5,200 employees and 63 voting locations throughout Virginia, North Carolina, and West Virginia. It was the largest election among white collar employees in the utility industry since 1940 and the largest white collar election won by an employer in any industry in the United States in the preceding 18 years.
Other illustrative elections include the world’s largest retailer’s victory over the United Food and Commercial Workers in a 200-employee voting unit in Maryland and a Virginia year-round, full-service 15,000-acre resort’s victory over the Hotel Restaurant and Bartender’s Union in a 500-employee voting unit.
We have a long track record of successfully handling organizational campaigns for a large number of clients in many industries, including the transportation, natural gas distribution, electronics, paper, coal, construction, and wholesale food distribution industries, as well as a number of hospitals and health care facilities. These election victories have involved the Teamsters Union, the United Mine Workers, the Carpenters, the IBEW, the United Food and Commercial Workers, the Paperworkers, the OPEIU, the CWA, and others.
For clients whose employees are organized, we represent management in collective bargaining negotiations and advise company representatives on their rights under their union contracts. We also represent management clients in a large number of labor arbitrations each year in a wide range of industries, including package delivery, publishing, electric and nuclear power, steel fabrication, hotel and restaurant, chemical, telephone, and paper manufacturing.
NLRA Litigation
We have a substantial NLRA litigation practice. Our attorneys have represented management in contract, conspiracy, and related actions in the federal courts under Sections 301 and 303, including actions arising from wildcat strikes, discharges, and challenges to the provisions of collective bargaining agreements. For example, in a Section 303 action brought against the Boilermakers Union in federal district court in West Virginia, our lawyers obtained and collected a judgment of more than $1 million for our client for unlawful secondary activity.
EEO and Civil Rights Litigation
Hunton & Williams has developed proficiency in equal employment opportunity litigation and customarily handles discrimination complaints from the initial charge through the trial and appellate stages. In addition to representing employers in many individual EEOC charges and lawsuits brought under Title VII, we have extensive experience in representing clients against whom the EEOC has brought “systemic” charges or initiated Commission suits.
We have a reputation for handling large-scale litigation under the various equal employment opportunity laws. We have handled a large number of class actions and pattern and practice suits for clients in the chemical, power, paper, banking, tobacco, electronics, and transportation industries in federal courts in various mid-Atlantic, Southeastern, and mid-Western states. Many of the class-action suits have involved sophisticated statistical analysis. Among the reported class action decisions are Jarrell v. Eastern Air Lines, 577 F.2d 869; Burwell v. Eastern Air Lines, 633 F.2d 361; EEOC v. United Virginia Bank (Seaboard), 615 F.2d. 147; EEOC v. Western Electric Co., 713 F.2d 1011; Gantlin v. Westvaco Corp., 734 F.2d 980; Moody v. Albemarle Paper Co., 422 U.S. 405; Adkins v. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, 1996 U.S. Dist. Lexis 10944.
Our skill in civil rights litigation extends to the related field of voting rights. Lawyers from our Washington, Raleigh, and Richmond offices have successfully defended local governments in challenges brought under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, to both at-large and districted election systems. Labor attorneys with voting rights knowledge are experienced in statistical regression analysis, census data banks, and other demographic aspects of redistricting, and computer-assisted mapping. An example of our representation is Smith, et al. v. Board of Supervisors of Brunswick County, et al., 984 F.2d 1393.
Federal Contracts Compliance
Many of our clients are federal contractors subject to periodic audits for compliance with federal EEO regulations, disability laws, and wage-hour standards. We have extensive experience in assisting clients responding to OFCCP and Labor Department investigations and in developing affirmative action plans. In recent years, we have handled significant compliance audits for clients in the financial services, electric utility, tobacco, paper, railroad, and construction industries. These audits include seven corporate headquarters (glass ceiling) audits.
Common Law Wrongful Discharge and Breach of Employment Contract Litigation
Hunton & Williams has been retained to handle a substantial and growing number of wrongful discharge and breach of employment agreement cases, including suits to enforce noncompetition obligations in the state and federal courts. Plaintiffs in these cases frequently are salaried employees in sales or managerial positions. Claims raised in such cases often include, in addition to breach of contract allegations, various tort claims and allegations of public policy violations.
Benefit Plan Litigation
In our substantial ERISA litigation practice, many of the benefit cases have arisen from the sale and purchase of plant facilities. Our labor attorneys with the assistance of our employee benefit lawyers handle such litigation at the district court and appellate levels. Illustrative of this area of our practice is Rowe and Duncan v. Allied Chemical Hourly Employees Pension Plan, 915 F.2d 266.
Advice Practice
We provide our clients labor and employment relations advice on an on-going basis, covering all aspects of employer-employee relations. We frequently are called upon to advise clients in connection with federal and state drug testing regulations, the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the WARN Act, COBRA and many other employment statutes. The labor effects of mergers, sales, and acquisitions, particularly as they affect successor clauses and bargaining obligations, have become an increasing part of the practice. Reductions in force, downsizing, and restructuring also have been a frequent source of requests for advice.
In addition, we are experienced in advising clients on the development and application of hiring, discipline, and termination procedures; formulating personnel policies, grievance, and arbitration procedures; alternative dispute resolution policies; and writing employee handbooks. We regularly conduct conferences, workshops, and seminars for management and supervisory employees on a variety of topics that include administration of discipline, sexual harassment, and other aspects of EEO compliance.
Other Areas of Statutory and Administrative Regulation
Our labor practice traditionally has included advice and defense work under the Fair Labor Standards Act, OSHA, and Workers’ Compensation laws. In addition to the defense of work-related claims, we frequently are engaged to provide advice regarding occupational injuries, safety policies, ergonomic studies, and effective claims management. We also represent clients in unemployment compensation proceedings and have developed skill under the Railway Labor Act.
Labor & Employment Practice Areas
Advice, Training and Litigation Concerning all Federal Employment-Related Statutes
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act
- Americans with Disabilities Act
- Civil Rights Act of 1866 (§ 1981)
- ERISA
- Family and Medical Leave Act
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Veterans Reemployment Rights (USERRA)
- Business Immigration (U.S. and abroad)
- I-9 and H-1B Compliance
- Corporate Reorganization, Downsizing and the WARN Act
- Federal Contract Compliance
- Affirmative Action Plans
- OFCCP Compliance Reviews
- Glass Ceiling Audits
- Key Employee Agreements, Disputes and Litigation
- Executive Employment Agreements
- Separation and Severance Agreements
- Noncompete Agreements
- Trade Secrets Litigation
- Labor-Management Relations
- Union Organizing Campaigns and Elections
- Unfair Labor Practice Charges, Investigations and Trials before the NLRB
- Collective Bargaining Negotiations
- Labor Arbitrations and NLRA Litigation (Sections 301, 302 and 303)
- Railway Labor Act
- Management, Supervisory and Employee Training
- Sexual Harassment and Fair Employment Practices
- Union Avoidance
- Occupational Safety and Health Act
- Public Accommodations Litigation and Advice
- Americans with Disabilities Act
- Title II of Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Voting Rights and Redistricting Litigation
- Wage Payment Statutes
- Fair Labor Standards Act
- Davis-Bacon Act
- Service Contract Act
- Workers Compensation
- Wrongful Discharge and Workplace Torts
- Defamation
- Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
