Labor & Employment

Working Through Employment-Related Litigations

Secretariat’s experts in the field of labor and employment have a distinguished record of providing clients with statistical and economic assistance in litigation-related matters. We pride ourselves on providing our clients with creative solutions to complex economic problems. Secretariat professionals have testified in both class action and individual cases, in arbitration hearings, and at “Teamsters Hearings.” We also have prepared damages estimates for use in settlement negotiations and routinely participates in mediation proceedings.

Many labor and employment matters involve allegations of discrimination due to applicants’ or employees’ gender, race/ethnicity, age or other protected status. The specific employment practices at issue may include compensation, promotion, termination, hiring or performance assessment. Our experts use the available data to study the claims of adverse treatment or impact as well as to address issues related to class certification, such typicality or common proof of impact.

In recent years, there has been a surge in litigation related to violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as well as similar wage and hour laws at the state level. The economists at Secretariat have extensive experience analyzing allegations related to off-the-clock work, misclassification of exempt status, missed meal or rest periods and miscalculation of the regular rate of pay.

Secretariat professionals also estimate damages claims in employment-related litigation. Damages estimation in employment-related litigation often requires addressing topics such as the appropriate risk factor for discounting future earnings, the economically valid rate of prejudgment interest, the methodology for valuating fringes benefits, and mitigation earnings. Analysis of life expectancy and employment expectancy may also be embedded in the analysis.