Areas of Focus

Ms. Van Moppes assists employers in identifying legal issues, building a solid defense, meeting compliance requirements, and developing best practices – practices which preserve management rights while honoring the workplace laws. For more information, please contact us.

Click on an area to read more:

Alternative Dispute Resolution

The last decade has seen an unprecedented degree of increase in employee lawsuits. As a result, many employers are considering utilizing in-house programs for handling complaints and resolving disputes without litigation.

Ms. Van Moppes advises employers in all aspects of alternative dispute resolution:

• Designing and evaluating dispute resolution procedures

• Training management

• Coordinating implementation

• Defending the enforceability of such programs

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Disability Management

The Americans with Disabilities Act, Washington Law Against Discrimination, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act have significantly changed the landscape of employer obligations to employees who cannot work due to injuries or illnesses. She has extensive experience guiding clients through this Bermuda Triangle of laws and defending employers against legal challenges to disability management decisions before courts and administrative agencies. Ms. Van Moppes offers clients solutions to the difficult legal and operational problems involved in managing employee absences and requests for accommodations. As employers evaluate leave, accommodation, and return to work requests, Ms. Van Moppes provides guidance at every step, from communicating with employees and their health care providers to determining the appropriate response to the specific situation at hand.

She works closely with our clients to:

• Learn their business and the impact an accommodation might have on them

• Develop workplace safety programs

• Draft policies concerning leaves of absence and reasonable accommodation and related issues

• Guide managers in responding to requests for leave and accommodations, while preserving management rights

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Drug Testing and Abuse Management

To assist employers with safety and substance abuse management objectives, Ms. Van Moppes advises clients concerning the legal issues and requirements imposed by federal, state and local laws and regulations. She prepare and review management policies to ensure compliance with the myriad of applicable legal requirements and regulations covering drug testing and substance abuse programs.

Ms. Van Moppes assists clients with:

• Assessing specific situations

• Making "reasonable suspicion" determinations

• Gauging methods of "random" testing

• Determining appropriate disciplinary measures for policy violators

Ms. Van Moppes also drafts “last chance” agreements for employees who agree to enter treatment and rehabilitation programs. Finally, we advise and represent employers who oppose claims for unemployment compensation following termination for a positive drug test.

To help clients with the growing problem of workplace violence, Ms. Van Moppes guides clients through situation assessment and management as well as facility and personnel risk assessment, management training, and policy and procedure analysis.

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Litigation Avoidance

Preventative maintenance is a cost-effective, time-saving means of avoiding workplace litigation. The best approach to preventing disputes, and the best defense to charges and lawsuits, is the maintenance of lawful and up-to-date workplace policies and practices that are effectively communicated and fairly and consistently applied.

Workplace Counselor partners with our clients to understand their business, its culture and its managers. We are thus an accessible resource for the prevention of workplace issues. We draft policies and handbooks that recognize the objectives of management and the needs of employees. We counsel managers and supervisors on the application, enforcement, and documentation of these policies.

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Litigation

Every employer runs the risk of facing employment litigation based upon federal, state or local workplace laws. The majority of Ms. Van Moppes’s experience has been devoted to defending management in employment-related lawsuits, the fastest growing area of civil litigation. She has defended a vast array of employment cases in the past ten years, including:

• Discrimination

• Sexual harassment

• Wage and hour violations

• ERISA violations

• Wrongful discharge

• Defamation

• Breach of contract

• Intentional torts

• Emotional distress

• Unfair competition

• Trade secrets

Ms. Van Moppes has the expertise to assess risk and evaluate settlement early in litigation. Her ability to dispose of cases efficiently before trial through aggressive motion practice, and during trial to present cases in a manner persuasive to judges and juries, has earned her a reputation as a local leader in the field of employment litigation on behalf of management.

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Management Training

Ms. Van Moppes has built her practice and reputation by helping clients reduce employment litigation through management education on legal trends, judicial developments, and statutory and regulatory compliance. Ms. Van Moppes maintains management training programs on diversity, avoiding sexual harassment, and complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act. She regularly conducts educational conferences nationwide for in-house attorneys and human resource professionals on a wide range of issues.

As part of our management education efforts, Ms. Van Moppes offers an email update service free to clients who appreciate online delivery of substantive workplace law issues and management education opportunities.

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Trade Secrets, Non-Competition Agreements and Non-Solicitation Agreements

Ms. Van Moppes has a proven track record of helping employers protect themselves from unfair competition. In addition to working with clients to develop comprehensive trade secret protection programs, our preventive services include:

• Drafting non-competition agreements, non-disclosure agreements, assignment of invention agreements and similar documents

• Preparing executive and individual employment agreements

• Conducting audits of trade secret protection issues

• Consulting on electronic information retention and security policies

• Training employees on policies regarding confidential information, non-competes and the like

When preventive efforts fail, Ms. Van Moppes aggressively litigates claims including claims for breach of non-competition agreements, theft of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty, employee raiding and unfair trade practices.

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Wage and Hour Compliance

Recent revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act and the dramatic growth of multiple plaintiff and class action lawsuits under federal and state laws have made wage and hour law an even greater concern for employers. Ms. Van Moppes guides employers in compliance with federal and state laws governing:

• Independent contractor status

• Entitlement to overtime or other premium pay

• Calculation of overtime pay

• Recordkeeping obligations

• Payment of and withholding of vacation, personal or sick pay

We assist employers with the creation and administration of practices that comply with wage-hour and paid time off requirements, including:

• Developing, reviewing, revising, and auditing wage and compensation policies

• Assisting with proper classification of exempt, nonexempt and independent contract workers

• Structuring commissions, bonuses, incentive payments and other compensation programs

• Reviewing overtime pay calculations

Through the development of effective strategies, Ms. Van Moppes helps employers minimize the cost of legal compliance, and, when necessary, defends employers in administrative and judicial proceedings.

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Workplace Investigations

As your counsel, Ms. Van Moppes can conduct and assist with investigations into complaints of harassment, discrimination and/or other workplace misconduct. There are a variety of means by which this can be accomplished; she can either conduct the investigation on your behalf and provide guidance based on the findings, or she can work behind the scenes, guiding you in the process and helping you evaluate your findings.

Ms. Van Moppes also frequently functions as an independent workplace investigator. In this capacity, she acts as a fact finder and the employer works with its usual attorney to evaluate the evidence and decide how to respond to the complaint after the investigation is completed.

In either capacity, Ms. Van Moppes's knowledge of employment law, experience in litigating employment matters, and understanding of human resources issues ensure the best investigation possible.

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