James P. Walsh, Jr.

Jim litigates class action and individual claims arising under state and federal laws including the ADA, ADEA, and FLSA, and ERISA, Title VII, and WARN. He is lead counsel in FLSA collective actions and state law class actions involving claims of worker misclassification, off-the-clock work, and improper wage deductions. Jim also handles class and single-plaintiff cases brought under various antidiscrimination statutes. His ERISA work includes defending employers against retiree medical benefit class action claims, including a defense verdict at trial, challenges to plan amendments, claims of denied benefits by health and welfare plan participants, and claims of breach of fiduciary duty. Jim has successfully argued for and against preliminary injunctive relief in cases involving misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of restrictive covenants, and violations of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Jim conducts sensitive workplace investigations regarding complaints of harassment as well as other alleged misconduct, including reports prepared for boards of directors. Clients also rely on Jim for his advice on the legal and practical issues associated with human resources and benefit-related decisions, such as employee discipline, accommodations and leaves under the ADA and FMLA, reductions-in-force, and implementation of social media and bring your own device (BYOD) policies.

Jim conducts training on topics such as sexual harassment prevention, managing leaves of absence, workplace investigations, social media, and BYOD.

Jim’s diverse litigation experience includes:

• Obtained defense verdict in federal court bench trial on ERISA retiree medical class action claims.
• Advised and represented retailer with regard to State Attorney General payroll card inquiry.
• Served as lead counsel in wage and hour class and collective actions.
• Defended pharmaceutical, automotive, and financial services companies against whistleblower claims.
• Argued TRO/preliminary injunction motions in state and federal courts in cases involving misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of non-solicit/non-compete agreements.
• Defeated age discrimination claim and succeeded on financial services company’s promissory note counterclaim in FINRA arbitration.
• Obtained AAA arbitration award on breach of contract claim against a transportation company.
• Litigated EEOC pattern or practice case challenging food retailer’s return to work policy under the ADA.
• Obtained summary judgment on independent contractor misclassification claim against financial services company.