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David Barmak

Member / Chair Emeritus, Employment, Labor & Benefits Practice

[email protected]

+1.202.585.3507

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David is an experienced trial lawyer and trusted advisor to businesses and their executives on a wide range of issues, with a focus on employment law and HR matters. He has litigated hundreds of cases in federal and state courts and arbitrations nationwide. David is devoted to helping clients accomplish their compliance, risk reduction, and employee relations objectives. 

As a trial lawyer, David has handled cases involving a broad range of disputes such as employment discrimination, whistleblower and other retaliation claims, noncompetition agreements and trade secret issues, wage and hour (FLSA) compliance, class and collective actions, and employment contract disputes. Clients have also regularly looked to David to litigate disputes involving a broad range of nonemployment issues, including contract, partnership, shareholder, technology, and outsourcing.

As a trusted advisor, David has helped clients across many industries to reduce employment practices risks and adopt best practices, relating to wage and hour laws, employee leave laws, internal investigations, dispute resolution policies and practices, noncompete and trade secret issues, employee training, personnel and other policies, and WARN Act issues and other matters. He also is frequently involved in the negotiation and drafting of executive employment, separation, and related agreements.

David's clients include publicly and privately held companies, nonprofits and trade associations, and their executives in a broad range of industries, including:

  • Health care and life sciences
  • Consulting and professional services
  • Financial-services
  • Defense and security
  • Telecom
  • Hospitality, including hotels and restaurants
  • Technology
  • Government Contracting
  • Staffing and outsourcing
  • Professional sports

David chaired the firm’s Employment Practice for more than a decade. He has been recognized as a leading lawyer by several publications including Chambers USA, in which clients interviewed had these comments about David: “A superior lawyer who is very knowledgeable and attentive” and "unbelievably responsive and timely... His advice is very, very well informed but also highly tuned to the needs of the business." In addition, he has been recognized by Best Lawyers in Labor and Employment litigation and by Super Lawyers, which in 2021 identified David as one of the District of Columbia's "Top 100" lawyers.

David also has frequently written, lectured, and been quoted on issues such as class action risk mitigation, use of arbitration agreements and class action waivers, post-employment breaches of fiduciary duties, employee versus independent contractor status, employment discrimination, alternative dispute resolution, trial practice, and budgeting for litigation.

David is an experienced trial lawyer and trusted advisor to businesses and their executives on a wide range of issues, with a focus on employment law and HR matters. He has litigated hundreds of cases in federal and state courts and arbitrations nationwide. David is devoted to helping clients accomplish their compliance, risk reduction, and employee relations objectives. 

Experience

Employment-Related Litigation & Counseling

  • Won an arbitration on behalf of a consulting firm sued by an executive claiming discrimination and termination in breach of his employment and other agreements with the firm.
  • Prevailed at trial on behalf of a federal government contractor accused of defaming an employee, adversely impacting the employee's security clearance.
  • Won an arbitration for a healthcare company executive enforcing his severance agreement and defeating claims he violated his noncompete.
  • Won an arbitration for a consulting services firm sued by a former executive for millions of dollars in severance, equity, and other payments, in which the executive’s claims were denied in full, and the firm won lost profits for his competition in violation of his noncompete obligations.
  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of "fast casual" restaurant group on retaliation claim, which was upheld in US Court of Appeals.
  • Conducted for a client's board of directors an internal investigation of an executive's alleged sexual harassment of various employees.
  • Successfully defended an FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) collective action in which, among other things, we were able to limit the number of opt-ins to only approximately 8% against typical rates of 15% – 30%.
  • Obtained an order compelling arbitration of individual wage claims and dismissing class action claims against a government contractor.
  • Represented a financial services firm in the successful resolution of trade secret claims against a former employee.
  • Represented a laboratory in pursuit of five former employees who became employed by a competitor on trade secret misappropriation, breach of fiduciary duty, use of confidential information to solicit our client's customers, and other claims.
  • Successfully defended a manufacturer against retaliation and whistleblower claims under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and the Occupational Safety and health Act (OSHA), resulting in a dismissal of the claims and a finding of no liability.
  • Developed executive employment agreements for the senior executives of a major New England hospital system and affiliated entities.

Complex Business Litigation

  • Won a defense verdict in a federal court jury trial for our client, a health care company sued for millions of dollars in claimed commission dispute.
  • Representing purchasers of interests in tobacco escrow accounts relating to the allocation of responsibility for qualified settlement fund taxes.
  • Successfully defended a title company against Freddie Mac's attempt to add them to the list of excluded providers.
  • Assisted a restaurant group (an LLC) in ousting a nonperforming member.
  • Successfully represented former shareholders in a suit to obtain disbursement to them of the balance of a contingent purchase price due under the terms of a stock purchase agreement.
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viewpoints

Thanks again for your guidance over the past several weeks. Now that we’ve tackled updating our offer letters for employees working abroad, I’d like to look at our employment agreements.
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Even though the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate is in effect and fully phased-in, it has been our experience that few employers have bothered to review their employee handbooks to reflect the ACA.  Below we discuss how employers may bolster their ACA compliance (and avoid ACA penalties) through an ACA-focused employee handbook review.
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The Supreme Court’s Tyson Foods Ruling and Employee Class Actions

March 28, 2016 | Alert | By Michael Arnold, Kevin McGinty, David Barmak

The US Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Tyson Foods employees can use representative evidence to establish liability and damages for class certification purposes. The opinion gives the plaintiffs’ class action bar a second victory in the Court’s current term, albeit a far narrower one than many commentators had feared. 
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On Mintz Levin's Employment Matters blog, my colleague David Barmak recently discussed in a blog post a notable case in which a federal court compelled the arbitration of three nurses’ False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation claims against the hospital that employed them.
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We have frequently written about the increasing likelihood that courts will enforce arbitration agreements to resolve a broad range of issues arising out of the employment relationship.
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We are pleased to report that Employment Matters was recently ranked as the No. 1 Employment Law Blog and the No. 10 overall Legal Blog in LexBlog’s AmLaw 200 Blog Benchmark Report, which you can read here.  These rankings are based on overall traffic so we absolutely could not have done this without our readers (that’s you!).
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Narges Kakalia, a member in the litigation section in our New York office, recently sat down with Mintz alumna Flora Feng, Senior Director & Legal Counsel, Asia Pacific Region for PepsiCo to discuss career transitions, the cultural differences of working in Thailand, and work-life balance.
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Paying the Price for I-9 Non-compliance

July 30, 2015 | Blog | By David Barmak

If you're an employer and not following our Immigration Law blog, you should be. On it, one of my colleagues, Lisa Redepenning, has recently reported on a case in which an employer was penalized more than $600,000 for failing to  properly examine and document its employees’ identity and immigration status.
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Employing Minors Requires Attention to Laws (SHRM)

July 27, 2015 | Blog | By David Barmak

My colleague Bret Cohen was quoted in a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Online article entitled, “Employing Minors Requires Attention to Laws” (membership required), addressing some of the constraints that apply to the hiring of minors.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission instituted cease and desist proceedings against KBR, Inc. for the purpose of entering an agreed Cease and Desist Order which is likely to affect the drafting of all confidentiality agreements entered into between a company and its employees.
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News & Press

Press Release Thumbnail Mintz

Mintz is pleased to announce that 143 attorneys were recognized in the 2027 editions of The Best Lawyers in America and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America. The firm had 104 attorneys recognized in Best Lawyers and 39 recognized in Ones to Watch. In addition, four Mintz attorneys received the prestigious “Lawyer of the Year” designation, an honor awarded to only one attorney per practice area and geographic region.

Press Release Thumbnail Mintz

187 Mintz attorneys have been recognized by Best Lawyers® in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©. Notably, three Mintz attorneys received 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” awards, and 64 firm attorneys were included in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch.

Press Release Thumbnail Mintz

BOSTON – Mintz has earned top rankings in the 2023 edition of Legal 500 United States guide. The firm is recognized in 14 practice categories, and 59 individual attorneys are also recognized in the guide, some in more than one category.

Press Release Thumbnail Mintz

BOSTON –Mintz announced today that 39 of its practices and 81 of its attorneys earned recognition in the 2023 edition of Chambers USA, a guide to the country’s leading law firms.

Firm’s National Healthcare Practice, NY Corporate/M&A and Litigation: General Commercial Among Newest Rankings
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Events & Speaking

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Apr
30
2019
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Dec
2
2015

27th Annual Nonprofit Finance & Accounting Symposium

GWSCPA

DC Convention Center 801 Mt Vernon Pl NW, Washington, DC 20001

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Apr
29
2015

Spring Membership Meeting DC's Wage Theft Prevention Act

Greater Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants

Greater Washington Society of CPAs - Conference Facilities 2000 M Street, NW, Level B Washington, DC 20036

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David is an experienced trial lawyer and trusted advisor to businesses and their executives on a wide range of issues, with a focus on employment law and HR matters. He has litigated hundreds of cases in federal and state courts and arbitrations nationwide. David is devoted to helping clients accomplish their compliance, risk reduction, and employee relations objectives. 

Recognition & Awards

  • Best Lawyers in America: Litigation – Labor and Employment (2021 – 2027); Employment Law – Individuals (2023 – 2027) 

  • Chambers USA: District of Columbia – Labor & Employment (2014 – 2025)

  • Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers: Employment & Labor, Employment Litigation – Defense, Business Litigation, Alternative Dispute Resolution List (2007, 2010 – 2024)

  • Included in the Top 100 List of the Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers (2021)

  • Legal 500 United States: Workplace and Employment Counseling (2022 – 2023)

  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent

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David is an experienced trial lawyer and trusted advisor to businesses and their executives on a wide range of issues, with a focus on employment law and HR matters. He has litigated hundreds of cases in federal and state courts and arbitrations nationwide. David is devoted to helping clients accomplish their compliance, risk reduction, and employee relations objectives. 

Involvement

  • Senior Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America, The Trial Lawyer Honorary Society
  • Past Chair, International Academy of Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Certified mediator, Institute for Conflict Management
  • Panel member, panel of arbitrators, American Health Lawyers Association
  • Pro bono mediator, Civil Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia
  • Past Master of the Bench, William B. Bryant American Inn of Court, Washington, DC
  • Past faculty member, National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Georgetown University Law Center
  • Member, American Health Lawyers Association
  • Member, American Bar Association (ABA)
  • Member, ABA Litigation Section
  • Member, ABA Labor and Employment Law Section
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David Barmak

Member / Chair Emeritus, Employment, Labor & Benefits Practice

New York Washington, DC