I. Introduction

At Thompson, Sizemore, Gonzalez & Hearing we limit our practice to management-side labor and employment law. We are dedicated to providing high-quality legal services in a cost-effective manner to the owners and managers of businesses and to governmental entities. We assist our clients in managing their employees, help our clients deal with labor organizations, and represent them before courts and agencies that regulate any aspect of the employment relationship. We believe in helping our clients prevent legal problems by having sound personnel policies and practices, including effective training programs for their managers. When our clients are faced with litigation, we defend their interests vigorously with the goal of extricating them from the court system at the earliest opportunity with the best possible result and at the lowest cost.

Our practice is built on our belief in hard work, quality, loyalty, and attention to detail. From Fortune 500 companies to local governments to sole proprietors, our clients count on us to provide them with clear answers, to help them make good decisions, and to provide the strongest possible defense of their interests. Because our practice is limited to labor and employment law, we have been trusted by many attorneys in other areas of the profession to represent their clients on an as-needed basis when those clients face problems requiring the expertise offered by our firm.

II. Areas of Practice

The firm is equipped to provide legal advice on all matters affecting the relationship between an employer and its employees. Our firm's practice is aimed at assisting management in retaining as much freedom as the law permits in a variety of areas, including:

1. Defense of Employment Discrimination Charges/Suits. The firm represents employers charged with violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992, the Equal Pay Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and various other civil rights statutes and ordinances. The representation includes dealing directly with agents of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), the Florida Commission on Human Relations ("FCHR"), and the Department of Labor. In any matter not resolved at the administrative level, the firm handles the litigation and trial of the case before the state Circuit Courts and the federal District Courts, including appellate review.
2. Employment Torts. The firm defends employers against a broad range of employment torts, including negligent hiring and/or retention, wrongful discharge, defamation, fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation, promissory estoppel, whistleblower retaliation, workers' compensation retaliation, malicious prosecution, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
3. Defeating Union Organizational Campaigns. With the growth of our region, labor organizations have turned their attention and resources to Florida. Under both federal laws applicable to private companies and state laws applicable to governmental entities, an employer has the right to resist a union's attempt to achieve representation status so the employer may conduct affairs in a more productive and wholesome environment than the traditional adversarial relationship between "management" and "labor." The right to resist, however, has severe restrictions and, at times, devastating penalties for violators of the rules regulating employer conduct. Our firm assists employers in complying with those rules while effectively delivering the message to employees that alternatives to the system of unionization are superior for both the employees and the employer.
4. Collective Bargaining; Contract Administration; Labor Arbitration. For an employer whose employees are already organized into bargaining units, our firm directly negotiates contracts on behalf of the employer. Alternatively, the firm will provide more limited assistance in drafting or reviewing provisions for collective bargaining contracts for employers who have a labor negotiator on their staff. In this area our firm also represents private sector employers in dealing with strikes, picketing, and other interruptions in production caused by labor organizations. In the public sector, the firm represents governmental units through the impasse resolution process. Furthermore, the firm counsels employers on their rights and obligations under contracts with a union. This area includes handling grievance cases through various steps, including the trial of an arbitration case before a labor arbitrator.
5. Problems Under The Wage and Hour Laws. The firm assists employers in complying with the variety of federal and state wage and hour laws that govern the employment relationship. The firm serves as the attorney for employers under investigation by the United States Department of Labor and also defends employers against suits involving the wage and hour laws.
6. Family and Medical Leave. The firm is available to provide advice regarding employers' rights and obligations under the Family and Medical Leave Act, along with the interplay between the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act and Florida's workers' compensation statute.
7. Occupational Safety and Health. The firm provides counseling and representation to employers charged with failing to follow the Safety and Health Standards set out by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1972 and the Florida laws dealing with worker safety.
8. Drug Testing and Employee Screening. The firm is available to help employers establish and implement employee drug testing and screening policies and procedures. Additionally, the firm can provide assistance to employers subject to the federal Drug Free Workplace Act and the state and federal Department of Transportation drug testing regulations, or those employers who want to comply with the workers' compensation drug free workplace statute.
9. General Employment Problems. Our firm prefers to establish a relationship with an employer prior to the time any union organizational drive or other labor or civil rights problem arises. In this setting, the firm can assist top management in arriving at practices that forestall expensive and time-consuming matters. We can negotiate releases with discharged employees with an eye toward avoiding future claims. Additionally, the firm represents employers in a variety of other employee/employer related disputes such as disputes over contracts, commissions, severance agreements, and covenants-not-to-compete and non-solicitation agreements. Finally, we are available to represent employers faced with unemployment compensation claims.
10. Human Resource and Personnel Policy Development. The firm's members have broad experience in training a company's supervisory staff - whose acts may legally bind the company - to be sensitive to the legal requirements surrounding the employment relationship. In addition, the firm is capable of providing a full range of management and supervisory development programs designed to improve the overall effectiveness of a company and to reduce intervention by external agencies in the decision-making process. These services can encompass advice and consultation on a wide range of issues such as developing and implementing personnel programs, policies, and procedures in areas including recruiting, performance evaluation and salary administration. The firm's efforts in this area also include the drafting or editing of employment handbooks or management personnel policies and procedure manuals.