Employment Litigation

Gould & Ratner has litigated and negotiated nearly every type of employment law issue on behalf of employers. Our representation has included issues involving sex, age and race discrimination; wrongful discharge; non-competition agreements; and employment law and regulatory obligations. Examples of our work in this area include:

• Race Discrimination/Wrongful Discharge Litigation. Gould & Ratner represented a tobacco company in a race discrimination/discharge case filed by a former employee from the company’s sales department who was accused of stealing. In the plaintiff’s deposition, we were able to secure admissions that the plaintiff was unaware of any other employees who had been unable to account for shortfalls in their “bank” of cash and product. As a result, the court granted summary judgment in favor of our client.
• Battery/Emotional Distress Litigation. The firm represented a local bar owner accused of battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress to a former waitress. Based upon admissions in the plaintiff’s deposition, the court granted summary judgment on the emotional distress claim. We tried the battery case before a jury. The verdict was returned in favor of our client.  
• Race Discrimination/Wrongful Discharge Litigation. Gould & Ratner represented a publishing distributor in a race discrimination/discharge case. The case was won on a motion to dismiss, which argued that the plaintiff had failed to file his claim in the time permitted by law.
• Retaliatory Discharge Litigation. Gould & Ratner represented an aggregate construction material producer in a retaliatory discharge case. We successfully argued to the Illinois Appellate Court that the plaintiff failed to establish that the company terminated him for any other reason than his failure to return to work after he had recovered from a workers’ compensation injury.
• Defamation Litigation. In a slight departure from its normal position as defense counsel, Gould & Ratner successfully represented a stock broker in an arbitration case alleging defamation. After winning $333,000 in the arbitration, we successfully defended that judgment from attack at the trial court, appellate court and supreme court levels.
• Wrongful Discharge Litigation. The firm was retained by a graduate school in a wrongful discharge case where the plaintiff alleged that he had been granted a two-year employment contract and was wrongfully terminated only 11 months after it began. The court dismissed the case after agreeing with our argument that the alleged employment contract was not in writing and was unenforceable under the Statute of Frauds.
• Retaliatory Discharge Litigation. Gould & Ratner represented a truck trailer manufacturer in a retaliatory discharge case brought by a former employee who suffered numerous work-related injuries. At the plaintiff’s deposition, we were able to secure an admission that the plaintiff was simply speculating that the company terminated her employment in retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim. As a result, the court granted summary judgment in favor of our client.
• Age Discrimination/Wrongful Discharge Litigation. The firm represented a truck trailer manufacturer in an age discrimination/discharge case brought by the company’s former quality control manager. During depositions, we were able to secure admissions from the plaintiff that he was unaware of any other employees who had had similar performance problems and were not terminated and that he was simply speculating that his termination was discriminatory. In addition, the "star witness" for the plaintiff's case testified that the plaintiff regularly drank alcohol during work hours and at lunch. After threatening a motion for sanctions for filing a frivolous lawsuit, the suit was voluntarily dismissed.
• Disability Accommodation/Harassment Litigation. The firm represented a coal mining company in a case where a current employee alleged that she was being unlawfully harassed because of her age and disability, and that the company was failing to accommodate her disability. Due to ongoing discovery disputes, we filed a motion to compel which the court granted and in which the court ordered sanctions against the plaintiff’s counsel in an amount equal to the company’s costs in preparing that motion. The case settled shortly thereafter for a release of the company’s right to collect the sanctions.
• Unemployment Compensation Appeal. Gould & Ratner successfully argued that an appeal of an unemployment compensation denial should be dismissed for untimely filing. The appeal was dismissed, favoring our client, the employer.
• Employment Agreement Litigation. The firm represented a “turn-around” specialist after several high-ranking former employees sued for compensation and benefits under their employment agreements. We successfully convinced both the U.S. and Illinois Departments of Labor to dismiss their cases.
• Disability Discrimination Litigation. Gould & Ratner represented a coal mining company in a disability discrimination case filed by a current employee. After securing evidence that the employee had been moonlighting while on a claimed medical leave of absence, we were successful in having the case dismissed and in defeating the employee’s request for review (appeal).