S&C’s labor and employment practice, established over 50 years ago, is recognized globally as a leader among our peer firms. S&C’s labor and employment practice is well known for providing comprehensive services both to the Firm’s regular corporate and banking clients and to other clients who seek our specialized expertise.

According to the 2009 Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, S&C “ranks highly in terms of quality: ‘Its lawyers work in really challenging stuff.’ This, along with the Sullivan & Cromwell brand, attracts a host of high-profile clients.” Ted Rogers, coordinator of the Labor and Employment Group, possesses “an outstanding reputation” and “continues to drive the practice forward.” In 2009, he was named for the second year in a row by Human Resource Executive on its list of “the nation's most powerful employment attorneys.” The publication noted his specialty in employment and labor litigation and counseling, including class-action, whistleblower, labor, discrimination and raiding cases. Mr. Rogers has also been recognized once again by the 2009 edition of Practical Law Company’s PLC Which Lawyer? as one of the four leading lawyers in New York in the Labor and Employee Benefits category. Rick Fessel and John Fullerton, the other leaders of the group, are also highly experienced and recognized for their expertise, including by The Best Lawyers in America and New York Super Lawyers.

S&C’s labor and employment litigators work closely with members of our Executive Compensation and Benefits practice to assist clients in connection with the full spectrum of employment issues that confront today’s businesses. 

S&C’s labor and employment lawyers have extensive experience:

• Advising clients with respect to routine and complex discrimination and other employment-related issues and, when necessary, defending employers in single and multi-plaintiff and class action litigation in state and federal courts and before arbitration panels.
• Advising and litigating restrictive covenant cases involving non-compete, non-solicit and trade secret claims, cases involving forfeiture of stock awards for breaching such agreements, and all manner of other employment-related claims.
• Providing expert advice on a broad spectrum of employment matters, including compliance with complex domestic and foreign statutes, independent contractor and FLSA classification and related wage and hour issues, workforce restructuring, investigations of employee complaints, resolution of particular employee situations, creation of employment agreements and severance arrangements and international issues.
• The Firm also has deep experience in traditional labor law, providing specialized labor counsel in connection with mergers and acquisitions, assisting non-unionized clients in addressing issues under the National Labor Relations Act, responding to labor disputes that may or may not directly involve clients, and providing representation to employers with unionized workforces, including negotiation and administration of labor contracts and representation of clients in labor arbitrations.

Recent Labor and Employment Litigation Highlights

• Defense of claims brought in U.S. Bankruptcy Court by former executives of a bankrupt company, seeking to compel the purchaser of the bankrupt company’s assets to pay compensation.
• Representing a major financial institution in defense of claims by executives of a recently purchased subsidiary to millions of dollars in severance. The matter settled on favorable terms on the eve of trial.
• Winning a FINRA arbitration on behalf of a United Kingdom-based banking firm commenced by a salesperson who claimed that she had been orally promised that the firm would match the compensation offers she received from other firms when she was transferred internally between departments. S&C continues to represent the firm in a related federal gender discrimination lawsuit filed by the same employee.
• Representing Microsoft in the damages phase of the landmark “permatemp” class action concerning the entitlement of temporary workers and independent counsel to participate in employee benefit plans. S&C acted as lead counsel in mediation of the settlement terms and resolution of the matter.
• Representing former partners of a national accounting firm who left to form a significant forensic investigation business, in a suit brought by their former employer to enjoin them from proceeding with their business. We defended expedited proceedings in state court, and brought the case to a successful and swift resolution for the client. 
• Succeeding in procuring on behalf of a major professional sports league the dismissal of age discrimination and retaliation charges filed with the EEOC by a former employee.
• Representing a New York based private equity firm in a significant trade secret, unfair competition and employee raiding lawsuit against the private equity firm and one of its portfolio companies, a Midwest-based crop insurance firm, filed in Wisconsin state court by a competing company. After years of active litigation, the suit was settled to the satisfaction of all parties.
• Achieving the dismissal of a shareholder derivative action brought against a technology company client following extensive briefing on required disclosures regarding executive compensation, directors’ compensation, and tax consequences of incentive compensation. Plaintiffs had alleged, among other claims, violation of federal securities laws.
• Winning an appellate decision on behalf of a prominent financial firm affirming the dismissal of an action raising claims under New York’s wage law that challenged the structure of the firm’s compensation system. The decision established an important precedent applicable generally to equity awards issued by financial firms and other corporations as part of compensation.
• Overturning the district court’s grant of class certification in In re Initial Public Offering Securities Litigation. In a decision obtained by the Firm’s Litigation department that also represents a big win for the employment defense bar, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected a lenient standard for class-action certification that had been established as a result of the employment discrimination class action Caridad v. Metro-North Commuter Railroad.
• Successfully defending American International Group against breach of contract, fraud and fraudulent inducement claims brought by a former executive.
• Successfully defending a prominent financial firm in a series of NASD arbitrations in connection with claims by former employees concerning a stock award plan and compensation.
• Obtaining a significant arbitration victory dismissing race discrimination claims against a major national sports league after a three-day arbitration hearing. In his decision, the arbitrator rejected the claimants’ discrimination claims in their entirety and categorically rejected the claim that the client engaged in a pattern and practice of discrimination.
• Winning an appellate decision on behalf of a prominent financial firm overturning an arbitration decision that had awarded defamation damages to a former employee related to an NASD Form U-5 filing. The decision established an important precedent in affirming the holding in Rosenberg v. MetLife, Inc., namely, that Forms U-5 enjoy an “absolute privilege” against claims for defamation damages, and holding that arbitration panels are bound by Rosenberg’s holding.