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Michael Kabat is a Founding Partner of Wargo & French and leads the firm's Labor and Employment Practice. Practice Areas: Mr. Kabat practices in the following areas: Employment litigation, including trade secret and non-competition litigation, Title VII, ADA and wage and hour litigation and representation of clients before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and state Fair Employment Practices agencies Class Action litigation including expertise in defending clients against State and Federal wage and hour class/collective actions Labor litigation, including defending clients before the National Labor Relations Board, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and other state and federal agencies Traditional labor, including defending clients against union organizing efforts and representing clients at collective bargaining negotiations and labor arbitrations Counseling and advising clients on all aspects of labor and employment law, including ADA, FMLA, wage and hour, harassment, workplace violence, hiring, discipline and discharge issues Presenting seminars and providing training in all areas of labor and employment law

• Employment:
  • Defended national cable telecommunications company in numerous class actions brought under various state and federal wage and hour laws
    
    
  • Represented international consulting company in class action brought by former consultant under Americans with Disabilities Act and ERISA. Prevailed on motion to dismiss prior to discovery or class certification. Craig v. BearingPoint, Inc., Civ. Act. No 1 08-CV-2476 (N.D. Ga. Dec. 10, 2008).
    
    
  • Defended a Fortune 50 company in a multimillion dollar Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") class action. Obtained summary judgment prior to class certification in a matter of first impression in the Sixth Circuit regarding the applicability of the outside salesperson exemption under the FLSA. See Fields v. AOL Time Warner, Inc., 261 F. Supp. 2d 971 (W.D. Tenn. 2003).
    
    
  • Represented an international web hosting company in a class action brought under the FLSA. Obtained dismissal with prejudice of all class action claims prior to class certification process in a matter of first impression in Eleventh Circuit. Prior to dismissal of class claims, obtained emergency relief prohibiting named plaintiff from contact with putative class members and other company employees. See Thomas v. Interland, Inc., Civil Action No. 1:02-CV-3175-CC, 2003 WL 24065651 (N.D. Ga. Aug. 25, 2003)
    
    
  • Represented Fortune 600 company in ERISA/age discrimination /wrongful discharge litigation pending in federal district court in West Virginia. The company’s motion to dismiss all claims is pending.
    
    
  • Obtained summary judgment on after-acquired evidence claim and on counterclaims for breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract against former in-house attorney of one of the nation's largest power companies where company learned that attorney had removed, without authorization, privileged and confidential documents prior to termination.
    
    
  • Represented national insurance company in a race discrimination/retaliation claim in the Northern District of Georgia. Obtained dismissal of the race claim on a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings and settled the retaliation claim for nuisance value.
    
    
  • Retained by major personal computer sales company after a class action was conditionally certified against the company pursuant to the FLSA. Our team took the lead role in briefing and oral argument against the plaintiffs’ motion for final certification, winning that motion and decertifying the class in a matter of first impression in the District of Idaho. See Smith v. Micron Electronics, Inc., Case No. CV-01-244-S-BLW (D. Idaho Feb. 4, 2005).
    
    
  • Represented distribution company and individual defendants in dispute alleging tortious interference and breach of restrictive covenants. Successfully defended clients against threatened enforcement of non-competition agreement.
    
    
  • Retained to represent international consulting company in class action wage and hour litigation in the District of Massachusetts. Successfully bifurcated case to initially argue applicability of FLSA exemption to individual plaintiff and negotiated favorable settlement of individual claims, terminating all class issues.
    
    
  • Represented international office equipment company in a Lanham Act false advertising and restrictive covenant case filed against a former employee in federal district court in West Virginia. Case settled with offending parties agreeing to pay attorneys’ fees and abide by the terms of the restrictive covenant.
    
    
  • Defended distribution company and individual defendants against multi-state lawsuits alleging non-compete, computer theft, trade secret and civil RICO violations. Negotiated de minimis settlement of all claims and preserving clients’ right to compete in industry.
    
    
  • Represented leading data storage company in trade secret/non-competition litigation in federal district court in Georgia. Defeated effort to obtain injunctive relief against client and negotiated a favorable settlement.
    
    
  • Represented various employers in affirmative action audits instituted by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. Reviewed affirmative action documentation and ensured compliance with all affirmative action/EO11246 obligations.
    
    
  • Defended numerous clients before Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and state Fair Employment Practices agencies against charges of discrimination, harassment and retaliation.
    
    
• Labor:
  
  • Assisted national hospitality industry clients in responding to union picketing activity at client properties.
    
    
  • Assisted numerous employers in wide variety of industries in defeating organizing campaigns mounted by various unions including the Communications Workers, Machinists, Teamsters, Steelworkers, Electrical Workers, and Paperworkers unions.
    
    
  • Represented clients in collective bargaining negotiations with unions including the Steelworkers, the Autoworkers, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and the Graphic Communications International Union.
    
    
  • Successfully defended employers against unfair labor practice charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board.
    
    
  • Successfully represented employers in numerous labor arbitrations.
    
    
  • Performed supervisor training on “keeping your workforce union free” and “how to manage in a union-environment.”
    
    
• General:
  • Conducted workplace violence seminars for Georgia public employers and state agency officials.
    
    
  • Conducted manager/supervisor training on harassment in the workplace, proper hiring, discipline and discharge, FMLA and ADA compliance and all other facets of labor and employment law.
    
    
  • Conducted policy and handbook reviews for employers in all industries.
    
    
  • Routinely conducted employment practices audits, including audits of wage and hour compliance, best employment practices, hiring practices, etc.
    

Education:

• Duke Law School, Durham, North Carolina
  Juris Doctor, 1990
  
  
• State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York
  B.A., 1987
  Major: Political Science; Business Management Adjunct
  

Professional Activities:

• Member of the State Bars of Georgia and the District of Columbia
  
  
• Admitted to practice in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Georgia and the Western District of Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court of Georgia and the Georgia Court of Appeals
  
  
• Member of the Labor and Employment Law sections of the American, Georgia and Atlanta Bar Associations

Publications and Presentations:

• Program Co-Chair, The Seminar Group, ADA, FMLA, & Workers' Compensation: Navigating the Devil's Triangle
  
  
• Faculty, The Seminar Group, Managing Attendance Issues: Navigating Workman's Compensation, FMLA & ADA
  
  
• Presenter: The Fair Labor Standards Act - Understanding and Applying the New Wage and Hour Overtime Exemptions
  
  
• Presenter: Workplace Threats and Acts of Violence in Georgia Government

Published Decisions:

• Heilman v. Allegheny Energy Svc. Corp., No. 02:07cv1034, 2008 WL 4591640 (W.D. Pa. Oct. 14, 2008), aff’d, No. 08-4523, 2009 WL 3792419 (3rd Cir. Nov. 12, 2009)
  
  
• Gladysiewski v. Allegheny Energy Service Corp., 282 Fed.Appx. 979, 2008 WL 2531201 (3rd Cir. June 26, 2008)
  
  
• Deleon v. Time Warner Cable LLC, No. CV 09-2438 AG (RNBx), 2010 WL 669116 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 22, 2010)
  
  
• arding v. Time Warner, Inc., No. 09CV1212-WQH-WMC, 2010 WL 457690 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 26, 2010)
  
  
• Gladysiewski v. Allegheny Energy, No. 2:07CV1339, 2009 WL 4403382 (W.D. Pa. Dec. 2, 2009)
  
  
• Harding v. Time Warner, Inc., No. 09CV1212-WQH-WMC, 2009 WL 341574 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 18, 2009)
  
  
• Speer v. Mountaineer Gas Co., No. 5:06CV41, 2009 WL 2255512 (N.D.W.V., July 28, 2009)
  
  
• Nesselrotte v. Allegheny Energy, Inc., et. al., 615 F. Supp. 2d 397 (W.D. Pa. 2009)
  
  
• Holloway v. Select Hotels Group, L.L.C., No. 8:08CV1208-T-33TBM, 2008 WL 4534135, (M.D. Fla Oct. 7, 2008)
  
  
• Nesselrotte v. Allegheny Energy, Inc., et. al., No. 06-1390, 2007 WL 1411817 (W.D. Pa. May 10, 2007)
  
  
• Smith, et. al. v. Micron Electronics, Inc., No. CV-01-244-S-BLW, 2005 WL 5336571 (D. Idaho February 04, 2005)
  
  
• Thomas v. Interland, Inc., No. 1:02-CV-3175CC, 2003 WL 24065651 (N.D. Ga. August 25, 2003)
  
  
• Fields v. AOL Time Warner, Inc., 261 F. Supp. 2d 971 (W.D. Tenn. 2003)
  
  
• Perry Judd's, Inc. and GCIU Local 309C, 117 Lab. Arb. (BNA) 1134 (2002)(Kenis, Arb.)
  
  
• Johnstown America Corporation and USWA Local 2635, 1994 WL 854709, FMCS File No. 94-08208 (1994)(Tharp, Arb.)
  
  
• Johnstown America Corporation and USWA Local 2635, 1994 WL 838177, FMCS File No. 94-04167 (1994)(Franckiewicz, Arb.)
  
  
• Johnstown America Corporation and USWA Local 2635, 1994 WL 838178, FMCS File No. 94-041676 (1994)(Franckiewicz, Arb.)