Karin M. McGinnis
With two decades of experience as a practicing attorney, labor-and-employment lawyer Karin McGinnis is known as a true business partner when litigating and providing counsel on a host of employment law issues.
Karin provides a single source of comprehensive employment law experience, including misappropriation of trade secrets, employee raiding and breach of noncompetition agreements, wage-and-hour litigation and advice, discrimination, harassment and leave issues, mass layoffs and employee severance, and international employment advice. Her non-fragmented approach ensures that her clients’ unique situations are appropriately vetted, strategized and handled.
In the age of increasing commoditization of legal services, from off-the-shelf employee handbooks to one-size-fits-all non-competes, Karin knows that no two clients’ needs are alike, and she works to achieve results that best fit each client’s culture, resources and goals.
Her wide range of experience enables her to spot potential issues for her clients before they are raised by employees, the government or opposing counsel. Karin’s clients find that she has a strategic and practical perspective and the ability to advise on preventive measures, provide corrective solutions, and fully litigate her clients’ issues. This bespoke, forward-thinking approach saves employers time, money and grief in the long run.
Karin has had significant success in achieving favorable dispute resolutions and in securing dismissals and summary judgment for her clients in litigation, avoiding the expense and uncertainty of trial. She has argued and won numerous motions for temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions, protecting client information and goodwill from competitors.
Karin's wide-ranging experience in labor-and-employment law includes:
Restrictive Covenants
- Non-competes
- Customer and employee non-solicitation
- Trade secrets
- Nondisclosure agreements
- Unfair trade practices
- Broker/dealer arbitrations
Wage & Hour
- Department of Labor (DOL) investigations
- Immigration Nationality Act prevailing wage claims
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective actions
- Misclassification of employees as exempt
- Misclassification of employees as independent contractors
- Wage plans
- Wage-and-hour audits
- State wage payment laws
Privacy
- Background checks
- Bring your own device (BYOD) programs
- Employee monitoring and privacy issues
- Drug and alcohol testing, including DOT testing
- The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), and similar state laws
Discrimination, Harassment & Retaliation
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
- Americans with Disabilities Act as Amended (ADAAA) (Titles I and III)
- Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)
- Pregnancy Discrimination Act
- Rehabilitation Act
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) claims
- Similar state laws such as the North Carolina Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA)
- Emotional distress
- Sexual harassment investigations and claims
- Affirmative action
Employee Leave
- Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Americans with Disabilities Act as Amended (ADAAA)
- Vacation and other leave policies
Hiring, Layoffs & Terminations
- Wrongful discipline and termination
- Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act
- Employment agreements, restrictive covenants, and intellectual property assignments
- Expatriate arrangements
- Severance agreements and reductions in force
Charlotte, North Carolina 28202-4003
