Representation of Individuals
ZNC’s employment lawyers guide individuals through the many challenges and opportunities they encounter in the modern workforce.
Most everyone thinks of calling a lawyer when their employment in adverse circumstances to determine if a lawsuit is viable. ZNC’s employment lawyers represent clients in all these types of disputes:
- Discriminatory dismissals from employment because of the client’s age, race, ethnicity, disability, race or gender under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act.
- Failure to reasonably accommodate disabilities in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or terminations in retaliation for requesting reasonable accommodation.
- Failure to pay compensation, including wages, commissions or overtime under Connecticut Wage and Hour Laws, or the federal Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA.
- Defending employees who are sued by a former employer’s claims for breach of a covenant not to compete, or allegations of disclosure of trade secrets or theft of electronic data, including claims under the Connecticut Uniform Trade Secrets Act and the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.
- Failure to pay proper employee benefits such as pension or severance benefits;
- Sexual harassment, or termination for reporting sexual harassment.
- Retaliatory discharge for whistleblowing.
In all these situations, ZNC’s Connecticut employment lawyers are experienced and aggressive in vindicating employee rights in the workplace through lawsuits in state and Federal court, and in administrative agencies such as the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities and the Department of Labor.
Some of the most valuable work that ZNC’s Connecticut employment attorneys do is outside the courtroom, advising client before, during and after they take a job:
- Reviewing and negotiating employment contracts to make sure the client is getting what she was promised and that the client’s interests are protected, including commission agreements, promises of equity or profit participation, non-competition agreements, and contracts for term;
- Developing strategies to respond to adverse performance reviews, performance improvement plans, or employer investigations of alleged misconduct or harassment to save the job if possible, or minimize the harm to the client’s career resulting from such events;
- Negotiating reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Negotiating severance, and developing short and long-term strategies to maximize the opportunities for severance pay;
- Protecting rights to equity, incentive compensation, stock incentive plans and bonus plans.
- Advising regarding severance and release agreements to determine if the compensation the client is receiving is worth the value of the claims being released, and the likelihood of being able to negotiate additional severance.
ZNC’s lawyers have become trusted counselors to their clients, as the clients move from employer to employer, or start their own company, or buy an interest in another company, or retire and start a consulting practice. ZNC’s employment attorneys are easy to reach, responding quickly when issues arise with cost-effective and practical advice to help their clients move past challenges, exploit opportunities, and achieve their goals for their careers and their lives.
