Employment Discrimination Litigation

Miles & Stockbridge represented a Baltimore-based manufacturer accused of breach of contract and discrimination in a federal lawsuit brought by a former vendor. The firm obtained summary judgment for all claims, most of which were upheld on appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The firm also has provided day-to-day employment law counseling and advice and successfully defended the manufacturer in EEOC charges filed by employees, including a charge of disability discrimination in which the firm obtained a very favorable early settlement for the client.

Miles & Stockbridge served as lead defense counsel in a nationwide FLSA class action claim directed at staffing agencies providing engineers for nuclear power plants. We developed a multi-prong strategy focused on dismissing the parent corporation and a significant reduction of Plaintiffs’ claims for damages. We were able to craft a confidential nationwide settlement. 

Miles & Stockbridge successfully represented a university research center in two cases, one for race discrimination and retaliation, and the second for gender discrimination and retaliation. These cases are of significant importance to the client because they were both brought by the same lawyer, who filed three prior lawsuits against our client and threatened several more. This attorney became a favored attorney for individuals at the center, and was very aggressive in pursuing claims and making very high settlement demands. It was very important to the client to defend against these claims aggressively, because the client did not want to be seen as an easy target for this attorney. 

Miles & Stockbridge represents a large medical system on a variety of labor and employment litigation matters. Among them, we successfully obtained a summary judgment in federal court for hospital client in suit by former research pharmacist alleging claims under federal and D.C. law, including race and national origin discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination under public policy. 

Miles & Stockbridge successfully settled joint EEOC/OFCCP prosecution of class claims alleging retaliation. OFCCP began in 2011 with a five-member class. In 2013, the EEOC joined and tried to further expand the class and engaged in systemic discovery. We fought back and resisted attempts to expand the class or re-open closed charges. We ultimately settled for far less than demanded, and for only two class members. We are not aware of any other situation in the country where OFCCP and EEOC have gone after the same target, and in fact, it was in violation of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two agencies to so do.

Miles & Stockbridge secured a trial victory in Virginia state court on a claim of defamation following the employee’s termination for allegedly engaging in sexual harassment. 

Miles & Stockbridge secured a trial victory in Pennsylvania state court representing a medical provider against a claim for defamation by employee terminated after refusing to take a drug test. 

Miles & Stockbridge represents a food manufacturer in a variety of employment issues, including a wage and hour class action case. The case was highly complex involving the Fair Labor Standards Act and motor carrier exemptions to that law. We also represented the company in a disability discrimination case at the EEOC. 

Miles & Stockbridge represents a large medical system on a variety of labor and employment litigation matters. In this work, we successfully defended one of its hospitals in a case of first impression in Maryland in which the plaintiff claimed she was denied interpreter services, in violation of the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act and the Affordable Care Act, as a companion of a patient. We also successfully defended the medical system in a federal lawsuit in which a plaintiff alleged intersectional claim of discrimination based on race and gender under Title VII and state discrimination law. 

We defended a major manufacturer against claims of race discrimination where EEOC had issued notice of probable cause of discrimination. After extensive discovery, we were successful in obtaining summary judgment on all claims.

Miles & Stockbridge represented a municipality in a case involving an ADA claim in which the plaintiff accused our client of race discrimination. We successfully resolved this case for our client and obtained dismissal. 

Represented client who was sued by a former executive for defamation and invasion of privacy, although the complaint also contained extensive allegations of race discrimination, which were not brought in court, but were pending before the EEOC. The matter garnered significant press coverage locally and in the industry. We obtained dismissal of the state court complaint in its entirety, which required three motions to dismiss after two amended complaints were filed, and also defeated a motion for reconsideration. 

Secured a favorable settlement for a financial services company in an age discrimination case, brought by a former salesperson alleging leads were not distributed equally, before the EEOC. 

Miles & Stockbridge represented a well-regarded non-profit that was sued by a former, high-level IT employee for discrimination and harassment. 

Steve represented an employer in the defense of discrimination and other claims by a physician who had failed to meet the employer’s requirement of becoming board certified in his area of specialty within the requisite time period. After failing the board certification examination, the physician claimed that he had a disability that the employer had failed to adequately accommodate. Despite being provided with various accommodations, the physician was again unsuccessful on the examination and his contract expired. Steve represented the employer in an intensive investigation by a government agency of the physician’s complaints of discrimination and retaliation. The agency ruled against the physician on each of his claims.  When the physician then filed suit in state court, Steve led the defense of the litigation and was able to accomplish a resolution on terms favorable to the employer.