Cases
Experience: Representative Matters
Mike has recently successfully negotiated collective bargaining agreements with various unions, including the American Federation of State County
Municipal Employees, the Michigan Association of Fire Fighters, the International Union of Operating Engineers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen
Helpers of American, the Police Officers Association of Michigan, the Comm
Officers of Michigan,
the Michigan Nurses Association. By way of example, negotiations for a public sector employer completed in 2015 resulted in an almost 50% reduction in Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) liability
significant reduction in retiree health insurance costs.
Mike has successfully defended class action litigation under the Fair Labor St
ards Act (FLSA)
related state wage
hour laws in Michigan, Illinois, New York
Ohio. He is currently defending class action litigation involving the employment status of cosmetology students in Michigan, Illinois
Tennessee.
In 2014, Mike was part of a trial team that won a 10-day jury trial in federal court. Mike represented one of the world's leading manufacturers of custom sporting equipment, claiming its former production manager
a retail sales agent unlawfully opened a competing business. A unanimous jury awarded damages on claims of unfair competition, breach of duty of loyalty, breach of fiduciary duty, civil conspiracy
false designation or origin.
In December 2009, Mike won a precedent-setting case of first impression in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. It reversed a federal district court's denial of costs
attorneys' fees under the Norris-LaGuardia Act, which were incurred in obtaining dissolution of an ex parte temporary restraining order that a union had improvidently obtained ex parte from a state circuit court judge.
Mike assisted in closing a client's business operations, which included issuance of notices under the Worker Adjustment
Retraining Notification Act
negotiation of a plant closing agreement with the union. This matter also involved COBRA continuation notification
compliance issues.
In June 2008, Mike successfully defended a client in a lawsuit filed by an ex-employee alleging sex
age discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act
age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Elliott-Larsen. Summary judgment was granted by District Judge Bernard A. Friedman.
Mike successfully defended clients in a lawsuit filed by an ex-employee alleging sex discrimination, sexual harassment
sexual stereotyping under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. Summary judgment was granted in February 2002 by Macomb County Circuit Court Judge James Biernat
upheld by the Michigan Court of Appeals.
