Labor and Employment

The laws impacting employees and employers are complex. Mr. Fish has extensive experiences representing both employees and employers in employment law matters. Examples of employment law matters Mr. Fish has handled include:

• Sexual harassment/gender discrimination
• Race discrimination
• Hour and wage violations
• Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• Commission claims
• Wage payment and Collection Act Claims
• Non-compete and non-solicitation agreements
• Severance Agreements
• Protection of Trade Secrets (i.e., when an employee takes customer lists or other property upon termination, often to compete with the employer)
• Employee relationships

The Fish Law Firm, P.C. was retained to defend a Chicago based hotel against a putative class action lawsuit that alleged violations of wage and hour laws, including the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, defamation, and discrimination. The court did not grant class certification and dismissed all claims brought by two of the class representatives for discovery sanctions. Thereafter, the remaining class representatives agreed to dismiss their claims without being paid any money. (December 2007, Judge Grady, Northern District of Illinois)

We were hired to defend a university professor against allegations of harassment and sex discrimination by his former students. The plaintiffs alleged that the professor violated Title IX, committed assault and battery, and inflicted negligent and intentional emotional distress upon them based upon conduct that occurred while they were students at a private university. Within less than 1 year of the lawsuit being filed, we convinced the plaintiffs to voluntarily dismiss their claims against our client--with prejudice (i.e., they cannot file another case on the same claims against our client) -- and without being paid any money whatsoever. (August, 2010, Chicago, Illinois)