Employment Litigation

Hall Render’s employment litigation team understands the issues that affect hospitals, health systems and other employers. They are uniquely capable of representing organizations in large class and collective action lawsuits as well as the entire range of single plaintiff claims, including whistleblower, harassment, retaliation, FLSA, FMLA, ADA and non-compete claims. They know how staffing levels...Read More

Hall Render's employment litigation team understands the issues that affect hospitals, health systems and other employers. They are uniquely capable of representing organizations in large class and collective action lawsuits as well as the entire range of single plaintiff claims, including whistleblower, harassment, retaliation, FLSA, FMLA, ADA and non-compete claims. They know how staffing levels can impact the defense of a wage and hour collective action or the duty to accommodate disabled employees. They know how smoke-free campus initiatives create tricky wage and hour issues that need to be carefully navigated. And, they know what informs the business judgment in decisions that affect classes of employees, non-compete agreements and whistleblower claims. This background knowledge gives our employment litigators unique and immediate insight into the strengths and weaknesses of a case.

Our goals are to ensure a successful resolution of the immediate issue and to provide appropriate support and guidance to avoid larger issues in the future. Our attorneys are successful in helping clients manage risk, avoid litigation and reduce litigation costs through education and one-on-one opportunities.

CRITICAL POINTS OF DIFFERENTIATION

While other firms also have some experienced litigators, our critical points of differentiation include the following:

Health Care Is Our Business.

Hall Render is the largest health care-focused law firm in the country, arming us with unique insight into the legal and operational issues facing health care organizations today. Knowing the highly regulated health care business, and having access to the many knowledgeable health care attorney specialists within our law firm on the nuanced issues affecting hospitals and health systems, gives us a significant advantage.

The ever-evolving health care regulatory landscape can produce unique legal issues for employment litigation and administrative agency proceedings. Examples of these issues include highly sensitive issues surrounding the reimbursement "whistleblowers" and potential qui tam relators, sexual harassment allegations against a residency program director whose conduct could impact accreditation and an employment class action arising from the discharge of one nurse who raised safety and quality concerns. Because of our experience and the in-depth health care knowledge of our colleagues at Hall Render, we are skilled in assessing the value of the litigation our clients face and can vigorously and more efficiently defend against those claims. Understanding these issues, and being able to coordinate a successful defense to those claims, places our clients in the best possible position. Nobody has to pay us to learn about the industry or research medical staff issues—it's our business.

Proven Abilities.

Combined, our labor and employment attorneys have more than 300 years of experience in litigating employment issues. Yet, no significant jury verdicts have been awarded against any client we have represented in employment litigation. Our proven abilities have given us the opportunity to successfully defend clients in multi-million dollar collective and class action lawsuits, take over the defense or oversee the defense of collective and class action lawsuits filed throughout the country and defend against the growing number of whistleblower/retaliation, ADA and FMLA claims and lawsuits being filed against employers.

Timely and Thorough Communication.

We recognize the importance of timely and informative reporting. We report regularly under insurance and client litigation guidelines and understand that important decisions cannot be made unless we bring you substantive evaluations with sound budgets, regular reports on case status and timely updates on significant case developments. We also place value on keeping appropriate personnel up to date and involved in settlement discussions and seeking settlement authority when needed.

VALUE-ADDED CLIENT SERVICES

As a value-add for our clients, we regularly present seminars and speeches on health law topics, including employment law topics. Our employment attorneys provide on-site trainings and offer legal updates and webinars to clients on topics such as: discipline and discharge; successful investigations; handling EEOC charges; managing employed physicians and medical staff issues; employment law developments; FLSA collective action litigation; wage and hour compliance issues; ADA and FMLA compliance; and H-1B physicians/employing a foreign physician. We also present third party speakers (such as public officials) as learning enrichment opportunities for our clients.

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Resources

Court Allows Leeway to Employers Under Fair Credit Reporting Act
[05/27/22 ]
A Patchwork of Injunctions and Other Rulings on the CMS Vaccine Mandate: Where Do We Stand?
[12/16/21 ]
Does the False Claims Act Prohibit Retaliation After Employment Ends?
[04/02/21 ]

Representative Cases

Decertification of a conditionally certified class of thousands of registered nurses who claimed that a health system forced them to work through meal breaks without pay and deprived them of millions of dollars in overtime. Summary judgment also granted.
Class certification denied and summary judgment granted in a class action case in which employees alleged that the health system, through its third party administrator, failed to provide timely COBRA notification, putting the health system at risk of incurring statutory penalties in excess of $5.5 million.
Summary judgment granted in a class action lawsuit defeating claims from a class of employees who claimed that their health system employer unlawfully terminated their vested long-term sick banks.
Successful defense of a class/collective action filed by former employees against the hospital alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act as well as state wage and hour laws. The class/collective action was composed of approximately 2,500 current and former employees and the claims related to the hospital’s rounding practices and treatment of mid-shift breaks.
Motion to Dismiss granted on behalf of a physician group on claims by a professional researcher that the employer committed fraud, and conspired to commit fraud, in connection with Medicare billings and federal research grants and that the employer terminated him in retaliation for complaining to the government about those alleged practices. The plaintiff alleged more than $169,000,000 in fraud.
Summary judgment in favor of a health system in a two-plaintiff lawsuit alleging a pattern of retaliation toward employees who use Family and Medical Leave.
Forcing the withdrawal of an executive’s sexual harassment arbitration claim after Hall Render’s investigation demonstrated the plaintiff’s personal improprieties.
Summary judgment in favor of a health system dismissing the plaintiff’s claims that the employer breached her employment contract, negligently administered its health insurance plan and negligently failed to provide a safe work environment.
Forcing the withdrawal of an executive’s sexual harassment arbitration claim after Hall Render’s investigation demonstrated the plaintiff’s personal improprieties.
Summary judgment in favor of a health system dismissing the plaintiff’s claims that the employer breached her employment contract, negligently administered its health insurance plan and negligently failed to provide a safe work environment.
Summary judgment in favor of a health system where a physician assistant, who was discharged for sleeping or the appearance of sleeping during surgery, claimed that the hospital fired him because of his prior complaints of discrimination.
Summary judgment on a former employed physician’s False Claims Act case, where we were able to demonstrate that there was no causal connection between the physician’s alleged protected activity and any adverse employment action.
Summary judgment against a former Vice President of Nursing’s claim that she had been terminated in violation of her employment contract and that the hospital had committed fraud in the inducement with respect to her termination.
Resolving, for $7,500, the claims by an OB/GYN physician program director that a health system terminated his employment contract and refused to lease space to him because he raised quality and safety concerns with administration.
Successful representation of a hospital and physician group in defending against claims of discrimination and breach of contract. The case was dismissed.
Prevailed at the trial and appellate levels in several matters alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family Medical Leave Act.
Success at the trial court and the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals, defending against a discrimination claim by a former employee who alleged she was fired based upon her spouse’s national origin.
Successful defense of an ERISA claim and dismissal of the allegation dismissed for failure to state a claim.
Effective defense of a physician group in age discrimination and Americans with Disabilities Act claims brought by a group of shareholder physicians. The oft-cited case was dismissed by summary judgment.
Victorious defense of a § 1981 action brought by a surgeon who alleged the suspension of her privileges constituted a violation of her rights. The case was dismissed by summary judgment. Successful representation of a teacher in a state and federal civil rights action. The trial court granted the teacher’s motion to dismiss and it was affirmed on appeal before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Summary judgment granted in arbitration of various discrimination and retaliation claims brought against a physician practice group by a discharged physician.
Summary judgment on behalf of a hospital in defending against a discharged nurse’s claim that standards published by the nurses’ association created private employment rights.
Victory at the trial level and before the 10^th Circuit Court of Appeals, defeating a hospital employee’s claim that she was discharged in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Prevailed on claims of retaliation under the False Claims Act. The case was dismissed by summary judgment and affirmed on appeal.
Summary judgment in a defamation and wrongful discharge case stemming from a nurse drug diversion matter.
Summary judgment on claims of tortious interference with a contract brought by a hospitalist who alleged her schedule was purposefully set to interfere with her hospital duties.
Summary judgment for a health system accused of race discrimination, hostile work environment, and constructive discharge.
Denial of a physician’s request for an injunction against the implementation of new medical staff bylaw rules governing hospitalists.
Summary judgment against an osteopathic resident who alleged discrimination based upon national origin. The decision was affirmed on appeal.
Successful appeal reversing a trial court ruling that had granted a preliminary injunction to bar a hospital’s suspension of a physician’s privileges.
Summary judgment for a medical clinic against an employee doctor who alleged defamation and tortious interference caused by his termination.
Summary judgment granted on behalf of a hospital against a nurse who alleged she was discharged in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
Dismissal of a False Claims Act retaliation case against a medical school and the schools physician practice group.
Cronkhite v. Unity Physician Group, P.C.
Defended a physician group in an age discrimination and Americans with Disabilities Act claim brought by a group shareholder physician. The oft-cited case was dismissed by summary judgment.
Herawi v. University Physician Group.
Won summary judgment in arbitration of various discrimination and retaliation claims brought against a physician practice group by a discharged physician.
London v. St. Vincent Carmel.
Won summary judgment in a defamation and wrongful discharge case stemming from a nurse drug diversion matter.
Owhor v. Providence Hospital & Medical Centers, Inc.
Won summary judgment in favor of a health system where a physician assistant, who was discharged for the appearance of sleeping during surgery, claimed that the hospital fired him because of his prior complaints of discrimination and harassment.