Retail & Hospitality

Employers in the retail and hospitality industry face legal challenges both old and new.  From wage and family medical leave laws, to data breach and equal pay audits, our team of retail and hospitality attorneys has the experience and expertise to help you navigate those laws.          

What Sets Us Apart

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete has the diversity to service the diverse workforces of the retail and hospitality industries—from chain restaurants and retail clothing stores, to hotels and golf resorts.  While we are proud to have the first African American named partner in the NLJ350, our commitment to diversity does not stop there.  About 45 percent of Constangy’s executive committee, office heads, and practice leads are women or minorities.  Vault has ranked Constangy as the #1 law firm for minority attorneys, and also  the #1 firm for women attorneys. Our legal team understands your service employees.

Constangy also has the geographic diversity to service retail and hospitality clients, with offices spread across the country. Although our firm has a large footprint, the size of each office is deliberately kept small enough to foster a real sense of camaraderie, but large enough to meet the needs of the marketplace.  We recognize the importance of the human element in the attorney-client relationship, so we make sure that each client has an attorney they can reach at any time to address any FLSA, OSHA, or Title VII issue that may arise.  For our national clients we develop dedicated teams consisting of Partner/Associates/ Paralegal in each office so our clients receive a consistent level of service across the country.

We have worked with retail and hospitality clients for decades and understand not only the legal issues they face, but also their evolving business needs.  Whether it is litigating a class action case or understanding the business impact of a new state employee privacy law, an attorney at Constangy is just a phone call away.

What We Do

Assisting a retailer, restaurant, or resort involves more than analyzing a case or writing a brief.  Attorneys at Constangy work with you to achieve your strategic, financial, and operational goals, as well as to resolve the underlying legal issues. 

Here are some current legal issues facing employers in the retail and hospitality industry and ways we can help:

• Although the 2016 efforts of the U.S. Department of Labor to more than double the minimum salary level necessary for an employee to qualify as exempt from the FLSA’s overtime requirements were thwarted by a federal court ruling, the same agency, now under the leadership of the Trump Administration, continues to indicate that it will pursue salary level increases, although not as drastic as those attempted in 2016.  Moreover, many states continue to aggressively increase their own minimum wage requirements and enact other employee-friendly wage and hour laws.  Constangy can help you comply with these new wage and hour laws and navigate the wage and hour minefield that makes mufti-state retail operations so difficult. 

• There has been an increase in lawsuits brought under Title III of the ADA relating to the accessibility of everything from buildings to websites. Constangy can help you defend against these lawsuits and explain in plain English complicated Title III ADA regulations.  
• A new OSHA rule requires certain employers to electronically report injury and illness data. Constangy can help you comply with this new rule.
• San Francisco, Seattle, and New York City have passed predictive scheduling laws restricting employers’ scheduling practices. With more cities (and states) expected to pass similar laws, Constangy can make sure your scheduling policies and procedures are compliant.
• Many courts are beginning to hold that Title VII prohibits sexual orientation and sexual identity discrimination. Constangy can help you avoid these cases in the first place through workplace training of supervisors and HR personnel.
• There is a patchwork of federal and state employee date privacy and data breach laws. In addition to HIPAA, the majority of states have laws requiring employers to issue notices when there is a breach of an employee’s “personal information.”  Many states also have laws including limiting the disclosure of social security numbers.  Constangy can you help you understand in simple terms when these employee date privacy and data breach laws apply.

Representative Matters

• Obtained summary judgment in favor of national plumbing wholesaler, in a suit alleging race discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights

• Obtained summary judgment in favor of the national retail chain in a suit alleging race discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

• Obtained dismissal of an ADA accessibility claim for the national restaurant chain.

• Obtained favorable resolution of an ADA accessibility claim for a Nashville restaurant ownership group.

• Obtained favorable resolution of a retaliatory discharge claim for the global hotel management company.

• Obtained summary judgment in favor of the automotive retail group in a suit alleging sexual harassment and retaliation.

• Obtained summary judgment in favor of global hotel chain in a suit alleging sexual harassment and retaliation.

• Obtained favorable resolution of a retaliation claim for a large real estate owner/manager/developer group.

• Obtained defense verdict in favor of the national auto parts retailer in a suit alleging retaliatory discharge.

• Obtained summary judgment in favor of the national restaurant chain in a suit alleging pregnancy discrimination.

Multimedia

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