Cases

Corporate Defense

Parks, Chesin & Walbert successfully defended an Atlanta business in an employment discrimination lawsuit before 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The plaintiff filed a lawsuit in a federal district court against her former employer, a daycare center, for religious discrimination, hostile work environment, negligent hiring and retention and civil conspiracy, and sought the statutory maximums in compensatory and punitive damages. Parks, Chesin & Walbert represented the employer and won decisively in federal district court in Georgia and on appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. See Alhallaq v. Radha Soami Trading, LLC, 2012 WL 1994664 (11th Cir. June 5, 2012).

Collective Actions

Parks, Chesin & Walbert obtained conditional certification of a class in a collective action alleging unpaid overtime. The Court found that the maintenance technicians represented by Parks, Chesin & Walbert were similarly situated and ordered the issuance of a Court-approved notice to the collective action class members informing them of their right to join the lawsuit. See Bivings et al. v. Euramex Management Group, LLC et al., Civ. No. 1:12-cv-03591-CAP (N.D. Ga. April 5, 2013).

Ethics

In an order approving the settlement of a claim for unpaid overtime, a federal judge commended Parks, Chesin & Walbert for their rigorous adherence to ethics standards while advocating for their client during settlement negotiations. In the case, a salaried employee alleged that she was misclassified as exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and therefore, entitled to compensation for hours worked in excess of 40 per week. The Court noted that, during negotiations, Parks, Chesin & Walbert’ Georgia employment attorneys successfully “avoided the potential conflict of interest” that can occur in settlements of unpaid overtime claims. King v. Southern Neurophysiology, LLC, Civ. No. 2:12-cv-00217-WCO (N.D. Ga. April 18, 2013).