The employment class action unfortunately has become an increasingly popular vehicle for the plaintiffs' bar to pursue workplace claims that can be extraordinarily time consuming and expensive for employers. Regardless of the merits, class action, collective action, or multiple-plaintiff lawsuits exponentially disrupt business operations, drain employee morale, generate negative publicity, and may even threaten the viability of an organization.

In defending against class claims, KOHP attorneys work closely with our clients to develop aggressive, creative, and cost-effective litigation strategies. Proactive strategic planning from the outset has proven to be an efficient and effective approach to employment class action defense, where there is no standard playbook to be found.

Our attorneys have successfully defended class actions spanning the legal spectrum in federal and state courts and in administrative proceedings. We have unparalleled expertise regionally in litigating class actions alleging age, race, gender, and other forms of employment discrimination. For three decades, our attorneys have successfully defended employers in some of the largest and most ground-breaking discrimination class actions in Michigan history.

Beginning in the 1980's, our attorneys defended Chrysler Corporation and Blue Cross and Blue Shield in class actions, bringing these cases to favorable conclusions. Then, in the 1990's, at a time when New York-based class action firms were trying to expand their practice to Michigan, we defeated class certification in a race discrimination case against ANR Pipeline, persuading the trial and appellate courts of critical distinctions under Michigan class certification rules that are incompatible with most employment discrimination claims. Other trial courts followed the lead, and the ANR Pipeline case and its progeny remain influential today. More recently we utilized this case law to defeat class certification in several age and race discrimination cases against Ford Motor Company.

We have also helped our clients successfully navigate the torrent of overtime compensation claims brought as collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and related state laws. In 2001, we defeated class certification in companion Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) cases against Ford Motor Company. In 2005, we defeated class certification against Wal-Mart in a wage and hour case with a proposed class of over 70,000 Michigan employees. We recently defeated class certification in a similarly complex wage and hour case brought against Behr Dayton Thermal Products LLC in Ohio.

Our experience in ERISA benefits litigation includes representing large manufacturers in high-stakes retiree health care litigation. We have also successfully defended employers in class and pattern-and-practice cases brought by the federal government, including the EEOC and OFCCP