Don has extensive experience providing counsel to and handling litigation for corporations in both union and non-union settings on a broad range of issues, including terminations, internal investigations, employment policies and reductions-in-force.
He is a frequent lecturer and author on a variety of employment law issues involving the Americans with Disabilities Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and workplace privacy issues. Don has also been interviewed and asked to comment on labor and employment issues by WCVB-TV Channel 5 Boston, New England Cable News, WBZ Radio, WBIX Radio, the Boston Globe, the New York Times, and Bloomberg Financial.
His trial experience includes a number of federal and state court jury trials involving claims under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Massachusetts antidiscrimination statute (M.G.L. ch. 151B). He handles administrative charges before federal and state agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, and conducts employment arbitrations throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic.
Don advises clients on a daily basis on a wide variety of day-to-day personnel matters, including terminations, employment contracts and policies, internal investigations, and reductions-in-force, and has substantial experience in trade secrets litigation, including temporary and permanent injunctions.
In his labor practice, Don routinely advises clients on a wide range of collective bargaining issues, and regularly represents clients before the National Labor Relations Board with respect to unfair labor practice charges and union election proceedings. He has handled over 25 labor arbitrations (both discharge and contract interpretation cases) and has litigated state and federal court injunction proceedings in the context of mass picketing activities and strike-related conduct.
During law school, he was a member of the Catholic University Law Review.
Representative Matters
- Acted as an in-house labor and employment attorney for a client's assistant general counsel for approximately four months and, in that capacity, provided personnel advice on a daily basis for a national union/non-union workforce of approximately 10,000 employees
- Defeated a six-figure wage claim filed against a national mental health system by its former chief financial officer
- Obtained dismissal for a publicly traded venture capital firm in a high-profile sex discrimination litigation by demonstrating absence of "single employer" status, despite firm's substantial monetary investment in co-defendant subsidiary (reported at 17 F. Supp. 2d 357)
- Secured a favorable compliance ruling on behalf of a national coffee and bar establishment in federal Department of Labor wage and hour investigation
- Successfully represented employers in numerous summary judgment proceedings, including, but not limited to, a favorable ruling on behalf of a national insurance company in a sexual harassment suit (reported at 1997 WL 634501)
- Achieved dismissal of numerous unfair labor practice charges (Regions 4, 5, 6, and 22) filed against a national client during a union organizing campaign
- Provided advice regarding a client's implementation of initial collective bargaining agreements in 21 bargaining units located in the Mid-Atlantic and New York regions
- Conducted injunction proceedings before a three-judge panel in Suffolk County Superior Court during a 2000 strike involving over 12,000 employees in Massachusetts
- Represented a national building maintenance company in recent work stoppage involving 10,000 employees in downtown Boston
- Successfully defeated an election petition brought in an isolated facility for a national tire manufacturer with over 30 non-union facilities throughout the United States
- Assisted in obtaining dismissal of an election petition where a union had already initiated the process under the parties' card check and neutrality agreement (reported at 335 NLRB 558)
- Successfully ended illegal picketing activities waged against a national non-union roofing company
Recognitions & Awards
- Chambers USA: Massachusetts (Up and Coming) – Labor and Employment (2012 – 2013)
Don has extensive experience providing counsel to and handling litigation for corporations in both union and non-union settings on a broad range of issues, including terminations, internal investigations, employment policies and reductions-in-force.
He is a frequent lecturer and author on a variety of employment law issues involving the Americans with Disabilities Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and workplace privacy issues. Don has also been interviewed and asked to comment on labor and employment issues by WCVB-TV Channel 5 Boston, New England Cable News, WBZ Radio, WBIX Radio, the Boston Globe, the New York Times, and Bloomberg Financial.
His trial experience includes a number of federal and state court jury trials involving claims under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Massachusetts antidiscrimination statute (M.G.L. ch. 151B). He handles administrative charges before federal and state agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, and conducts employment arbitrations throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic.
Don advises clients on a daily basis on a wide variety of day-to-day personnel matters, including terminations, employment contracts and policies, internal investigations, and reductions-in-force, and has substantial experience in trade secrets litigation, including temporary and permanent injunctions.
In his labor practice, Don routinely advises clients on a wide range of collective bargaining issues, and regularly represents clients before the National Labor Relations Board with respect to unfair labor practice charges and union election proceedings. He has handled over 25 labor arbitrations (both discharge and contract interpretation cases) and has litigated state and federal court injunction proceedings in the context of mass picketing activities and strike-related conduct.
During law school, he was a member of the Catholic University Law Review.
Representative Matters
- Acted as an in-house labor and employment attorney for a client's assistant general counsel for approximately four months and, in that capacity, provided personnel advice on a daily basis for a national union/non-union workforce of approximately 10,000 employees
- Defeated a six-figure wage claim filed against a national mental health system by its former chief financial officer
- Obtained dismissal for a publicly traded venture capital firm in a high-profile sex discrimination litigation by demonstrating absence of "single employer" status, despite firm's substantial monetary investment in co-defendant subsidiary (reported at 17 F. Supp. 2d 357)
- Secured a favorable compliance ruling on behalf of a national coffee and bar establishment in federal Department of Labor wage and hour investigation
- Successfully represented employers in numerous summary judgment proceedings, including, but not limited to, a favorable ruling on behalf of a national insurance company in a sexual harassment suit (reported at 1997 WL 634501)
- Achieved dismissal of numerous unfair labor practice charges (Regions 4, 5, 6, and 22) filed against a national client during a union organizing campaign
- Provided advice regarding a client's implementation of initial collective bargaining agreements in 21 bargaining units located in the Mid-Atlantic and New York regions
- Conducted injunction proceedings before a three-judge panel in Suffolk County Superior Court during a 2000 strike involving over 12,000 employees in Massachusetts
- Represented a national building maintenance company in recent work stoppage involving 10,000 employees in downtown Boston
- Successfully defeated an election petition brought in an isolated facility for a national tire manufacturer with over 30 non-union facilities throughout the United States
- Assisted in obtaining dismissal of an election petition where a union had already initiated the process under the parties' card check and neutrality agreement (reported at 335 NLRB 558)
- Successfully ended illegal picketing activities waged against a national non-union roofing company
Recognitions & Awards
- Chambers USA: Massachusetts (Up and Coming) – Labor and Employment (2012 – 2013)
Speaking Engagements
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Speaker,
The Puck Stops Here: The Obama Administration’s Impact on the Workforce - One Year Later,
Mintz Levin, Boston, MA
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Speaker,
Essential Employment Practices,
Mintz Levin and Pinnacle Financial Group, Waltham, MA
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Speaker,
Microsoft, FedEx and Beyond: Are You Safe from Generation 2.0 Big Ticket Litigation?,
2009 Contingent Workforce Strategies Co-Employment and Risk Forum,
Washington, DC
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Speaker,
How to Avoid Liability When Laying Off Personnel,
Business and Legal Challenges in a Down Market,
Mintz Levin and the German-American Business Council of Boston, Boston, MA
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Speaker,
Tough Decisions in Tough Economic Times: How to Conduct Reductions in Force while Minimizing the Ris,
Mintz Levin, Boston, MA
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Speaker,
Closely-Held Business Seminar: Pitfalls, Strategies, and Opportunities Relating to the Sale or Acquisition of Privately Held Businesses,
Closely-Held Business Seminar: Pitfalls, Strategies, and Opportunities Relating to the Sale or Acqui,
Mintz Levin, Boston, MA
Newsroom
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NJ Gov. Vetoes Employer Facebook Password Request Ban, Lawyers.com ()
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Employers May Not ‘Like’ Getting In To Worker’s Facebook, Law360 ()
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NJ Social Media Bill Could Prompt Flurry of Employee Suits, Law360 ()
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Cost-Conscious Employers Open Wallets to Incentivize Healthier Workers, but Legal Hurdles Abound, Boston Business Journal ()
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HR’s Social Networking Troubles, Human Resource Executive ()
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Your Employer Can Share Your Medical Information, Lawyers.com ()
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Supreme Court to Define Supervisors in Discrimination Case, Lawyers.com ()
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Quoted in
Walkouts Signal Increased Labor Tensions for Wal-Mart, Supermarket News ()
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Black Friday Walkout: Why Wal-Mart is Focus of Labor’s Struggle, Christian Science Monitor ()
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Quoted in
What Can GCs Learn from Wal-Mart’s Black Friday?, Corporate Counsel ()
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'Supervisor' Case to Shape Title VII Outlook for Employers, Law360 ()
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Follower Fight: Courts May Be Forced to Decide Who Owns Social Media Audiences, Boston Business Journal ()
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Employers Should Handle Social Media Discipline with Care, Law360 ()
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Mintz Levin Wins Jury Trial in Employment Litigation on Behalf of Adecco, ()
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NLRB May Clear a Path for Union Activity on Employer Email, Law360 ()
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Quoted in
Allegis Accuses Former Workers of Poaching Clients, Company Secrets, Baltimore Business Journal ()
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Quoted in
Varied Facebook Password Laws Could Plague Employers, Law360 ()
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Mintz Levin Represents Lowell General Hospital in Merger with Saints Medical Center, ()
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Mintz Levin Attorney Donald W. Schroeder Featured in Chambers USA 2012 Guide, ()
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Forty-One Mintz Levin Attorneys Featured in Chambers USA 2012 Guide, ()
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Quoted in
Calif. Advances Bill Guarding Workers’ Social Media Logins, Law360 ()
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Facebook Wants Employers Out of Workers’ Profiles, Law360 ()
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Target to Temporarily Close Store in Union Fight, Crain’s New York Business ()
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1st Circ. Mulls Big Dig Realtor's Retaliation Suit, Law360 ()
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Whistleblower in 'Big Dig' False Claims Act Case Claims Firing Was Retaliatory, The National Law Journal ()
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Congress Goes Too Far With Bill to Curb NLRB, Attnys Say, Law360 ()
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Target's Honeymoon Could Be Over, Associated Press ()
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Target Faces Much-Watched Union Vote in New York, Associated Press ()