For Employees
Having observed the challenges employees face as well as the legal tactics used by some employers, the Hersh Law Firm has dedicated a division of its practice exclusively to representing employees. We offer legal services to employees and other workers in connection with virtually all employment law disputes:
Wages, Compensation, and Benefits
- Unpaid overtime
- Unpaid commissions and bonuses
Employees in the Retail, Securities, Real Estate, Private Equity, Manufacturing, Sales, Marketing and other industries often receive commissions and/or bonuses as a substitute for other forms of compensation. These types of incentive compensation are governed by written or oral agreements. Despite their importance as a part of employees' overall compensation, the terms of payment often are described in vague language or not at all, often resulting in employees unwittingly forfeiting substantial amounts of compensation. These commission and bonus disputes generally take three main forms: disputes relating to the amounts of payment due an employee based on his or her alleged failure to achieve specific sales targets; disputes regarding the form of payment (cash versus equity, etc.); and disputes relating to forfeitures arising from an employee's termination before the date the commission or bonus is paid. Significantly, an employee's words and/or conduct, including the decision to continue the employment relationship after an employer refuses to make payment, may result in the employee's complete forfeiture of his or her right to payment. Our firm handles all kinds of commission and bonus disputes and has extensive experience drafting, negotiating, and litigating incentive compensation agreements.
- Breach of employee stock option agreements
- Employee misclassification as an independent contractor
- Breach of employment agreement
In general, most employees are "at will," which means that an employer may terminate the employment relationship with or without notice for any reason or no reason, except for an illegal reason. An exception to this rule arises when a worker has a contract for a definite employment term (e.g. a one-year employment term, etc.) or is provided "for cause" protection from termination. An employer's definite expression that an employee will not be terminated except under specifically-described "for cause" circumstances, or will be employed for a specific duration, generally creates a binding employment agreement taking the employment relationship outside the "at-will" rule. The Hersh Law Firm handles disputes relating to employment agreements, non-solicitation covenants, non-compete agreements, and virtually every other kind of litigation concerning employment agreements.
- Denial of long-term disability benefits (ERISA)
- Equal Pay Act claims
Wrongful Termination/Failure to Promote/Refusal to Hire
- Wrongful termination
- Age discrimination (ADEA)
- Sex discrimination
- Pregnancy discrimination
- Race discrimination
- Reverse discrimination
- Religious discrimination
- National origin discrimination
- Discrimination based on membership or service in the U.S. Armed Forces or Reserves (USERRA)
Harassment/Unwelcome Workplace Conduct
- Sexual harassment
- Racial harassment
- Religious harassment
- Supervisor harassment
- Co-worker harassment
- Harassment by vendors, customers, and contractors
- Hostile work environment harassment
- Quid Pro Quo harassment
Retaliation/Retaliatory Discharge
- Refusing to perform an illegal act
- Opposing discriminatory or illegal employment practices
- Filing an EEOC charge of discrimination
- Reporting accounting abuses or fraud (Sarbanes Oxley Act)
- Suffering or reporting a workplace injury
- Requesting or taking Workers' Compensation leave
- Requesting or taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Complaining about unpaid, underpaid, or denied overtime pay (FLSA)
- Whistleblower claims
Employment-related Torts
- Defamation, slander, libel
- Tortious interference with contractual relations
- fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation
- Intentional infliction of emotional distress
- Breach of employment contract
- Invasion of privacy
The Hersh Law Firm also offers legal services to executives, managers, salespersons, professionals, supervisors and other employees on a flat rate basis:
Severance Negotiation/Counseling and Advice
- Reviewing and negotiating employment contracts
- Reviewing and negotiating non competition covenants
- Reviewing and negotiating severance agreements
- Reviewing and negotiating general releases/settlement agreements
For more information for employees, see our Employees' Frequently Asked Questions section.