• Admitted to the Indiana Bar and U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Northern Districts of Indiana
• Admitted to the Wisconsin Bar and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin

• American, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Indianapolis Bar Associations
• Society for Human Resource Management
• American and Indiana Societies for Healthcare Human Resources Administration
• Indiana Medical Group Management Association

Results:

• After more than a year of litigation in which health care system was represented by another law firm, called in to take lead in multi-plaintiff retaliation case against system’s long term care facility.  In less than 45 days, got up to speed on facts and law; re-interviewed witnesses; and filed affidavits, amended answer/defenses, motions and briefs, resulting in court’s entry of judgment for employer.
• Negotiated with U.S. Department of Labor to limit scope of proposed hospital-wide wage and hour audit and successfully argued employer’s case such that question of liability ultimately was limited to only one employee.
• By using creative pleading/counterclaims, promptly resolved claims of national origin, race/ethnicity, and disability discrimination—and various constitutional claims—by anesthesiologist at the earliest stages of federal court litigation, thereby saving hospital the substantial costs, time, and inconvenience associated with litigation involving a former physician.
• In class action wage case involving more than 100 potential plaintiffs, successfully argued for court order to have matter decided by arbitration rather than a jury trial.
• Assisted lead counsel in case that resulted in a hospital successfully defending extremely short response time for on-call EMTs without having all on call time considered compensable hours worked.

Creative Solutions:

1. Trained managers and helped create and implement a system of more thorough pre-employment screening; ADA-compliant applicant and employee medical examinations; FMLA-compliant policy provisions concerning notice, required documentation, and meeting deadlines; and temporary work assignment program, all geared toward reducing the substantial expenses hospital was facing in connection with absenteeism by injured employees.
2. With very little law as guidance at the time, successfully assisted hospital in steering through Title VII, ADA, and other legal issues associated with physician who had gender identity order and was in process of multiple surgeries and lifestyle changes commonly associated with changing one’s gender while at the same time attempting to gain the confidence of members of the community and develop a practice.
3. In a matter made more complex by attorney’s allegations of race discrimination and promises of continued monitoring, helped medical practice establish parameters for remainder of physician’s contractual term of employment, and ultimate involuntary transition from employment, in a manner geared toward protecting patient care while at the same time reducing the risk of retaliation claims during the ongoing relationship.

Managing Change:

1. Provided training and guidance to hospital managers and supervisors to address challenges of moving to new, much larger hospital facility, including preparing new job descriptions to reflect new expectations and physical demands; modifying performance evaluations to address new expectations; re-evaluating the effectiveness of current accommodations to workers with impairments; and adding, reducing and changing staff in various areas.
2. Provided counsel in executive team meetings, helped supervise the review and analysis of workforce data for potential discrimination/retaliation claims, and assisted in the preparation of separation agreements as part of a major workforce reduction at a large health care system.  Trained mangers and supervisors on communication to employees and the public about the business reasons for the reductions, a particular challenge considering, during the same time period, rumors were flourishing about the health care system’s purchase of another large health care entity.
3. Provided counsel throughout process of reclassifying exempt status of substantial segment of large employer’s workforce to help comply with federal and state wage and hour laws, including training of executive and management teams and preparation of communications to employees, thereby reducing risk of class action and financially devastating award of up to three times back pay over a multi-year period, plus employees’ attorneys fees.

• Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Lives in Indianapolis with wife and child

• Enjoys baseball, football, travel, and attempting to master the art of outdoor grilling.