Employment Liability

NZA’s employment law group is multi-faceted, covering a wide range of services in an increasingly complex and ever-changing regulatory environment. With NZA’s combined experience of managing hundreds of employment-related lawsuits and pre-suit investigations on behalf of a wide range of employers, our attorneys have the expertise to assess risk and evaluate settlement early in litigation, even before such litigation arises in many cases. Our employment practices group understands that employment litigation can be costly, time consuming, and often sensitive. As such, we collaborate with our clients at the outset and develop a strategy that is both efficient and thorough.

NZA represents clients in state and federal courts, before state and federal administrative agencies, and in investigations, mediations, and arbitrations. NZA attorneys have extensive experience managing:

• administrative agency investigations including:
  • sexual harassment
  • systemic initiative
  • pattern-and-practice
• disparate impact claims involving:
  • unequal pay
  • hiring and pre-employment screening practices
  • reasonable accommodation processes

NZA’s broad experience includes cases brought under various statutes, for example:

• National Labor Relations Act
• Americans with Disabilities Act
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Age Discrimination and Employment Act
• Family and Medical Leave Act
• Equal Pay Act
• Fair Labor Standards Act
• Employee Free Choice Act
• Genetic Information and Non-Discrimination Act

Our attorneys have proven success at getting cases dismissed through creative and aggressive dispositive motion practice. When trial is the only alternative, NZA brings the trial experience necessary for an excellent result.

NZA has litigated employment cases that include individual and class actions brought for:

• discrimination
• retaliation
• whistleblower violations
• defamation
• employee privacy issues
• qui tam actions
• wage and hour violations

NZA’s employment liability litigators also defend employers and corporate entities in business torts, breach of contract, vicarious liability, trade secrets and proprietary information, collective bargaining, and covenants not to compete. NZA’s employment law group advises its clients on compliance with equal employment opportunity laws, including precautionary measures to deter litigation. We assist clients in the development of legally compliant policies and procedures and counsel employers on employment-related decisions.

With experienced attorneys and cost effective case handling, NZA gets results. Below is a list of some representative matters:

• Obtained a defense verdict for a national restaurant chain when an employee brought a pregnancy discrimination claim in the Northern District of Illinois.
• Won summary judgment for a major regional emergency medical transport carrier for a claim stemming from sex discrimination in hiring.
• Prevailed on summary judgment in a case where a restaurant owner and head chef were accused of national origin discrimination.
• Successfully defended an employer in a purchasing dispute arising out of a distribution agreement and alleged commercial disparagement, prevailing on a dispositive motion.
• Tried a complex case to a successful verdict involving allegations of age discrimination and a violation of the ADA. The case was tried for two weeks before a jury in federal court in Chicago (Northern District of Illinois).