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Employment Litigation

  • OVERVIEW
  • PROFESSIONALS
Thompson Coburn represents employers in employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, wage and hour, and breach of contract cases, ranging from individual lawsuits to class and collective actions. While we are typically on the defense side of cases, we have also successfully prosecuted numerous suits against former employees who leave to compete, utilizing a number of strategies and techniques to enforce restrictive covenants and breaches of fiduciary duties.

Our emphasis is on winning cases efficiently. To do this, we immediately marshal the facts of all new matters and prepare a preliminary analysis for the client. We collaborate with the client to develop a strategy for winning the case, either by motion or at trial. We are mindful of our clients’ need to contain legal costs, so at all times, we staff each matter appropriately, with the attorney best suited to the particular task.

We handle employment cases in many jurisdictions. In fact, we have defended companies in the District of Columbia and more than 35 states. Our attorneys are ranked in Chambers USA, and several attorneys have been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® for Labor and Employment Litigation.

Charles M. Poplstein

314.552.6095
email

Clifford A. Godiner

314.552.6433
email

Partners
Abramov, Hope K.
Bonacorsi, Mary M.
Godiner, Clifford A.
Jordan, Laura M.
Lorenc, Susan M.
Lubben, Krissa P.
Meanes, Pamela J.
Pautler, Richard J.
Poplstein, Charles M.
Sarsfield, Timothy J.
Sternberg, Arthur B.
Associates
Davisson, Tabitha G.
Pratt, Joyce M.
  • A.G. Edwards (now Wells Fargo Securities)
  • AT&T
  • Baldor Electric Company
  • Bunge North America
  • Bunzl Distribution USA, Inc.
  • Charter Communications, Inc.
  • Union Pacific
  • Xerox

Representative Matters
A major chemical company chose Thompson Coburn to defend it in a suit brought by a 15-year employee who was dismissed for willfully violating a life-critical safety policy. The employee accused the company of discrimination and harassment based on race, national origin and color. The jury, seated in a plaintiff-friendly venue, deliberated for only 40 minutes before returning a verdict in favor of our client on all counts.
Won judgment as a matter of law in a federal age discrimination lawsuit at the close of plaintiff’s evidence in federal court in East St. Louis, Illinois, for a major U.S. banking company.
Obtained summary judgment in a race discrimination lawsuit on the grounds that the plaintiff had failed to disclose the existence of her claim when she filed for bankruptcy protection.
Obtained replevin order in favor of our client allowing U.S. Marshals to seize confidential information taken by former employees.
On behalf of a Fortune 500 manufacturer, obtained summary judgment on grounds that the ERISA plan participant had failed to exhaust her administrative remedies and the time for filing a further administrative appeal was now time-barred.
On behalf of an nationwide retailer, obtained summary judgment on grounds that the plaintiff failed to prove his ERISA 510 claim because he did not show that he had lost an entitlement to plan benefits and did not show that the company's stated reason for terminating his employment was pretextual.
Obtained dismissal of sexual harassment case and received award of sanctions against the plaintiff when it was discovered that the plaintiff had worked as an exotic dancer at a time during which she testified at deposition that she was unemployed.
Class and Collective Action Employment Litigation
By succeeding in limiting discovery, we prevented an Americans With Disabilities Case from becoming a class action over the requirement of providing a “full release with no restrictions” in order to return to work.
Successfully defended the world’s largest publishing company against a sex discrimination/hostile environment class action, resulting in a favorable settlement on the eve of trial.
Successfully defended a sex discrimination class action against the hiring practices of a major manufacturer. In the face of a compelling dispositive motion, EEOC settled for truly nuisance value.
FLSA collective action challenging policy of not paying employees for time spent at home uploading and downloading work information over the Internet. Almost 1,000 current and former employees opted in, and a collective action was preliminarily certified. Following discovery, our motion to decertify the class led to realistic settlement demands that resulted in a confidential resolution.
Several FLSA collective actions across the country were consolidated in California and challenged flat fixed-rate pay for over 300 nurse staffing coordinators working on-call during evening and weekend hours. We were able to greatly reduce the number of plaintiffs and then, with an expert, show that the number of hours plaintiffs claimed they worked was grossly exaggerated.
Putative class action brought to challenge the subjective decision making for promotions by a major financial services company. We succeeded in persuading the Court to deny class certification, with the case later dismissed as to the remaining plaintiffs. The dismissal was affirmed by the Eighth Circuit.
In a class action challenging the exempt classification of software code writers and testers (approximately 150 employees in a variety of job classifications were involved), the Circuit Court tentatively granted class certification. We were able to convince class counsel that about one-half of the job classifications were most likely correct. As a result, the case settled for a low amount.
A major telecommunications company retained Thompson Coburn in a putative class action retaliation claim brought by a terminated employee on behalf of a class of employees who were offered a “last chance agreement,” whereby they would avoid termination only by agreeing, among other things, to a plenary release of claims to date against the company. After some discovery, we successfully moved to dismiss the class claims, and then were able to litigate the case as a single plaintiff case.
For a major insurance company we obtained summary judgment in an unlawful retaliation and race case claiming violation of Title VII and state law.