Lincoln O. Bisbee

Whistleblower and Discrimination Cases

• For a major aerospace and aircraft manufacturing company, first-chaired multiple trials in which the company defeated whistleblower claims before the US Department of Labor
• For an international airline, first-chaired a whistleblower trial where the plaintiff withdrew his claims with prejudice post-trial, resulting in a complete victory for the airline
• For a leading defense contractor, first-chaired a SOX whistleblower trial before the US Department of Labor and co-led an appellate team that obtained a Fourth Circuit decision dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint due to a lack of protected activity
• Represented numerous airlines, aircraft manufacturers, and other aviation companies in whistleblower litigation under AIR21, SOX, Dodd-Frank, and state law
• For a major financial services company, won motion to dismiss SOX and Dodd-Frank whistleblower claims
• For a large nuclear power provider, won summary judgment on whistleblower claims under the ERA
• Represented a major aerospace and aircraft manufacturing company in numerous cases where the company won motions to dismiss and for summary judgment on a wide assortment of whistleblower and discrimination claims
• For a leading defense contractor, tried multiple arbitrations and obtained full defense judgments on various discrimination and fraud claims
• Represented a number of national and international law firms in threatened and litigated actions involving alleged race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability discrimination
• For an international pharmaceutical company, won motions for summary judgment in numerous cases involving an array of discrimination, retaliation, and equal pay claims
• For a leading management consulting firm, led briefing and successfully argued a federal court appeal resulting in the complete dismissal of age discrimination claims
• For a large energy utility, retained for oral argument in a federal court appeal resulting in the complete dismissal of race discrimination and hostile work environment claims

Class and Collective Actions

• In a USERRA class action for a major airline, won summary judgment on named plaintiffs’ pension, profit-sharing, vacation accrual, and discrimination claims, thereby mooting class claims with billions of dollars in potential damages under plaintiffs’ theory
• For a national retailer, defeated conditional certification for approximately 10,000 putative class members in a nationwide FLSA collective action involving time-shaving and off-the-clock claims with potential damages of approximately $1 billion under the plaintiff’s theory
• For an international quick-service restaurant company, obtained complete dismissal of multiple class actions alleging a variety of wage-hour claims
• For a national staffing company, defeated class certification in an action claiming that recruiters were misclassified as overtime exempt and that trainees were not compensated for off-the-clock work
• For a leading healthcare company, defeated class and collective action certification in an action claiming that employees were improperly paid after their regularly scheduled payday
• For a major telecommunications and media company, defeated class certification in multiple class actions claiming that call center employees were not compensated for off-the-clock work
• For a leading healthcare company, obtained a precedential Tenth Circuit decision holding that a class of homecare companion employees were properly classified as exempt under Colorado law, an issue of first impression
• For a national staffing company, won summary judgment on a claim that a recruiter was misclassified as overtime exempt, thereby mooting class action claims
• For a leading healthcare company, won summary judgment on the named plaintiff’s FLSA claim in a collective action alleging failure to timely pay wages
• For a leading healthcare company, won motion to dismiss nationwide class claims covering tens of thousands of employees based on extraterritoriality and Dormant Commerce Clause arguments
• For a nationwide retailer, obtained complete dismissal of a class action claiming that commissioned employees were denied overtime and other premium pay under state law
• For a leading healthcare company, won motion to dismiss a nationwide collective action alleging failure to pay overtime to home health aides based on a novel argument concerning the FLSA’s statute of limitations
• For a leading defense contractor, persuaded plaintiff to dismiss a nationwide FCRA class action at the pleading phase
• For an AmLaw 100 law firm, successfully resolved a threatened nationwide gender discrimination and equal pay class and collective action on an individual basis

Trade Secret & Noncompete Matters

• For a large government contractor, first-chaired a contentious preliminary injunction hearing, won a preliminary injunction, and negotiated a permanent injunction in a trade secret theft case involving competing proposals for a $1.5 billion government contract
• For a national transportation company, obtained a permanent injunction in a noncompete action where a high-level executive joined a competitor and created potential damages of close to $100 million
• Successfully prosecuted a trade secret theft matter involving a C-suite executive who misappropriated thousands of confidential files following his separation of employment
• For a major defense contractor, won dismissal of tortious interference claims arising out of a noncompete dispute and had the dismissal upheld by the DC Circuit on an issue of first impression under District of Columbia law
• For a national retailer, successfully negotiated the hiring of a senior executive whose prior employer threatened to bring a non-compete action blocking the hire
• For a global music company, successfully resolved an aggressively litigated trade secret case in which the company was accused of illegally accessing highly confidential information of a key competitor
• For a technology startup, assisted with the hiring of multiple high-level sales employees subject to non-compete agreements