Labor & Employment

Andrew J. Adams and Kevin P. Gildea of DarrowEverett LLP’s Labor & Employment Practice Group secured a significant victory for and employer at the New Jersey Appellate Division, which affirmed a summary judgment ruling from late 2023. The case was originally brought by a former employee alleging discrimination under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and as a common law Pierce action based upon alleged public policy violations arising during the early days of COVID-19.  The appeal, argued in December of 2024 and decided on January 21, 2025, affirmed summary judgment in favor of the employer on all counts. The Appellate Division upheld the dismissal of all four counts of the Plaintiff’s amended complaint, stating that “Based upon our de novo review, we conclude that plaintiff failed to meet her burden of identifying the existence of any clearly mandated public policy, which was violated by [the employer]” and rejecting plaintiff’s contention that future regulatory mandates should be considered in determining the existence of public policy. The Appellate Division also determined that the plaintiff had produced no evidence to support the claim that her termination was pretextual or motivated by discriminatory intent.

Represented executives in a $21 million Series B round.

Represented artificial intelligence and machine learning company in an acquihire transaction.

Represented executives in the $43 million sale of a data analytics platform company.

Managed post-acquisition wind down of employment matters for international web-space company spanning across Canada, China, India, Oman and the Philippines.

Obtained summary judgment on all counts for employer in New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD)/discrimination action in New Jersey Superior Court.

Obtained complete dismissal of Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) action against employer in United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

As part of an international business transaction, we successfully negotiated for the payment of nearly $500,000 of previously withheld funds owed to the client.

Represented a sell side artificial intelligence integration company in an acquihire transaction.

Successfully managed Administrative Agency investigations and achieved full dismissal of multiple complaints before the Indiana Department of Labor and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

Successfully defended and achieved dismissal in multiple discrimination complaints before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (nationwide), the Florida Commission on Human Relations, the Fort Wayne Metropolitan Human Relations Commission, and the Texas Workforce Commission.

Successfully achieved dismissal of a complaint in Federal Court attempting to assert ERISA coverage over a single employee agreement.

Achieved complete dismissal of a religious accommodation claim in North Carolina.

Achieved complete dismissal of reverse discrimination claim in Ohio.

Achieved complete dismissal of claims regarding unpaid commissions in a full hearing before the Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules.

Negotiated settlement for ten percent of plaintiff’s original demand in recent litigation involving age and disability discrimination litigation.

Successfully managed Administrative Agency investigations and achieved full dismissal of complaints before the Michigan and North Carolina Departments of Labor saving clients tens of thousands of dollars.

Successfully defended and achieved dismissal in multiple discrimination complaints in 2021 before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, North Carolina Retaliatory Discrimination Bureau, Ohio Civil Rights Commission, and Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights, saving clients hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential damages.