Labor & Employment

The ScottHulse Law Firm’s Labor & Employment attorneys in El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces, New Mexico, provide a full spectrum of labor and employment legal and advisory services to local, regional and national clientele.

Key areas of representation and service provided by our labor and employment lawyers include:

• Preventive advice and training;
• Government regulation and compliance;
• Employment practices liability (EPL) claim defense;
• Litigation;
• Alternative dispute resolution, including arbitration;
• Traditional organized labor matters;
• Changes in ownership and reductions in workforce; and
• Restrictive covenants, trade secrets and non-competition agreements.

Representing management, our attorneys handle employment litigation and regulatory issues (Title VII, Wage/Hour/I-9 Compliance , ADEA, ADA, FMLA, OSHA), labor union matters (NLRB, NLRA). They also provide legal and practical advice on implementing business decisions that affect companies, executives, managers, and other employees. Under the leadership of Rosemary Marin, a shareholder and member of the ScottHulse board of directors, the Firm’s labor and employment practice group focuses on helping clients manage and limit risk through preventive measures and strong advocacy. Our labor and employment attorneys within this practice group provide training and consultation to help businesses take proactive steps to avoid employment disputes. Should unavoidable lawsuits arise, our Labor & Employment team includes experienced litigators and trial lawyers who are well prepared to aggressively defend clients. Our trial lawyers have a high success rate in successfully resolving claims and administrative charges, investigations arising from those charges, and lawsuits involving various types of claims and allegations. More detailed descriptions of the key areas of our Labor & Employment practice are provided below.

Preventive Advice and Training

The escalating number of statutes and regulations governing the employment relationship creates increasingly diverse and complex issues in the workplace. To help clients avoid employment litigation altogether, a substantial portion of our Labor & Employment practice is devoted to helping our clients proactively approach employee issues in ways that minimize legal risks and maximize business effectiveness. Our proactive approach to employee relations focuses on developing legally sound policies and practices which minimize clients’ exposure to potential employee complaints, government agency actions, and union-related problems. Our labor and employment attorneys also assist clients in implementing and enforcing those policies fairly and consistently. Such services include review and development of clients’ employee handbooks and supervisory policy manuals. Additionally, we provide practical, day-to-day advice to clients and review disciplinary decisions and documents before they are issued, in order to establish a strong defense in the event a claim is filed. Because most lawsuits result from inadequate management communication or poor handling of employee issues, our labor attorneys often provide management training in a variety of topics, including:

• Drug and alcohol policies
• Discrimination and retaliation laws
• Compliance and complaint procedures
• Electronic communications policies
• Effective discipline and termination
• Proactive management practices
• Restrictive covenants
• Documentation
• Five big wage & hour mistakes
• Immigration compliance: new I-9 documentation
• Managing effectively in today’s society: bring down bullies
• Dealing with difficult employees
• Hiring and recruiting in the new millennium
• Workers’ compensation claims and retaliation lawsuits
• Surviving the Bermuda Triangle: workers’ compensation, ADA, FMLA
• Thriving with an aging workforce and avoiding ADEA discrimination claims
• Preventing and dealing with workplace violence
• The Manager’s and Supervisor’s role in Maintaining Union Free Status
• Combating union campaigns
• Defending against Claims of Unfair Labor Practices

Litigation

For various reasons, El Paso and the surrounding region are responsible for some of the highest jury verdicts against employers in the U.S. Therefore, every employer who has been sued in this area needs to understand that fact and face every trial with an effective trial team that is ready for battle. Our juries reflect the local community, in ethnic, educational and socio-economic backgrounds. Experienced trial lawyers and judges know that our juries listen and respond to well-prepared local attorneys in this region. Consequently, local and non-local businesses (and the law firms who represent them) who face the potential of an uphill battle of a jury trial on an employment case in this region are best served by hiring top local lawyers with whom our juries and judges can identify. We are those lawyers. Our Labor & Employment team includes experienced litigators, who are prepared to aggressively defend clients against unavoidable lawsuits. Our trial lawyers have successfully resolved hundreds of claims and administrative charges, investigations arising from those charges, and lawsuits involving varying types of claims. Representative matters have included workers compensation; racial, sex, age, and religious discrimination; wage and hour protections; harassment; family and medical leave rights; state tort and contract laws; whistleblower protections; retaliation; disability; and veterans’ rights. We also have successfully represented clients against hundreds of charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Texas and New Mexico Commissions on Human Rights.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Including Arbitration

With the potential risks associated with jury trials, particularly in a border region with a history of high employment-related verdicts in favor of Plaintiffs, an increasing number of companies use alternative dispute resolution techniques to resolve employment disputes. Our Labor & Employment attorneys are experienced in all forms of ADR and routinely use arbitration, mediation, and other settlement procedures to obtain favorable results in matters ranging from individual EEOC charges to lawsuits. We also routinely advise clients on the legal and practical issues surrounding pre-dispute arbitration agreements and employer-promulgated ADR programs. We advise clients on the advantages and disadvantages of such programs and, where appropriate, assist in the development and implementation of arbitration agreements and programs tailored to the client’s needs.

Changes in Ownership and Reductions in Workforce

Clients often turn to ScottHulse for counsel related to the array of labor and personnel issues which arise in the event of changes in corporate ownership, plant closings, and reductions in workforce, including compliance with the Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification Act (WARN). We also advise employers on the various aspects of their efforts to reorganize, downsize, and implement lay-offs or reductions in force in today’s ever-changing economy.

Traditional Labor Practice

Our Labor & Employment practice group represents employers in the full spectrum of traditional labor law issues. Our attorneys counsel non-union clients and their managers on how to remain union free, and represent clients in unionized campaigns and unfair labor practice cases. They also represent clients in collective bargaining, contract interpretation and employee grievance issues, and represent clients in arbitration proceedings pursuant to collective bargaining agreements. Some of our attorneys have appeared before the National Labor Relations Board and successfully defended various claims in that arena.

Restrictive Covenants, Trade Secrets and Non-Competition Agreements

Our attorneys regularly prepare agreements to prevent employees and potential employees from revealing confidential, proprietary information or competing with the employer during or after employment. They also guide management on how to present these agreements to employees to minimize risk of disruption to the business, and routinely assist employers in implementing these agreements to ensure enforceability.