2021 Labor and Employment Law Update

Mary Smigielski is a partner in the Chicago office of Lewis Brisbois, a member of the Labor & Employment Practice, and co-chair of the firm’s Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) practice group. Ms. Smigielski handles class/collective actions and single-plaintiff employment litigation, administrative charges, nationwide counseling, training, and sensitive workplace investigations, including at the C-Suite level. Having spent nearly a decade as in-house employment counsel for a multi-national, Fortune 50 company with responsibility for over 100,000 employees, Ms. Smigielski is in a unique position to recognize the challenges faced by our clients and is committed to achieving creative and cost-effective solutions.

Ms. Smigielski partners with all levels of leadership to achieve complex business objectives, define, assess and control legal risk, and implement workplace policies and best practices. She routinely represents employers in State and Federal Courts, and she has appeared in courts across the United States in individual, class, collective and multi-district litigation as well as mediations and arbitrations. She has extensive experience with administrative agencies, including the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Department of Labor, Illinois Department of Human Rights, Chicago Commission on Human Relations and various other agencies nationwide.

Ms. Smigielski has been on the cutting-edge of the defense of class action litigation brought against employers and others under the Illinois Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA).  She works closely with national insurance carriers and private clients for defense, compliance and mitigation of risk related to BIPA.

Ms. Smigielski’s counseling practice involves partnering with clients on all aspects of the employee life cycle, including pre-employment screening, the application process, restrictive covenants, orientation, handbooks, policies, compensation programs, exemption analysis, leaves of absence, accommodations, crisis response/threat management, training, wage/hour audits, reductions-in-force, facility closures, termination counseling, separation agreements and responding to inquires from the media and regulatory officials.

Her practice also involves unfair competition law, business-to-business disputes, gig-economy initiatives, executive agreements, non-disclosure agreements, non-competition agreements, non-solicitation agreements, professional services and independent contractor arrangements, mergers and acquisitions, asset purchase/sale agreements, and intellectual property matters such as the defense of trademarks.

Steve Sitley is a partner in the Chicago office of Lewis Brisbois. Steve has been a labor and employment attorney and commercial litigator for over three decades. Prior to joining Lewis Brisbois, Steve served as SVP, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of a $22B Fortune 100 corporation with international scope and 27 separate business divisions, overseeing all legal affairs, including Retail, Auto, Online Marketplace, Financial Services, Home Services, Transportation and Supply Chain. Steve is highly skilled in delivering practical, business-focused advice and advising C-Suite leaders and Board of Directors on all company legal aspects, including governance, financing transactions, procurement, mergers and acquisitions, contracts, litigation, employment, IP, marketing, privacy matters, and information security. Steve also oversaw Sears’ corporate communications and loss prevention functions. Earlier in his Sears career, Steve served as Vice President of Compensation, Benefits and HR Operations. 

Steve’s practice is primarily dedicated to representing and counseling employers in employment-related matters, including:

• Crisis Management
• Disability Accommodation/ Leaves of Absence
• EEOC Administrative Charges and Class Actions
• Employment Class/ Collective Action Defense
• Employment Litigation and Avoidance
• Employment Single Plaintiff Litigation
• Equal Opportunity/ Discrimination Law
• Executive and Severance Agreements
• Human Resources
• International Employment
• Labor Relations
• Mergers and Acquisitions/ Due Diligence
• NLRB Investigations and ULPs
• Reductions in Force
• Restrictive Covenants
• Union Avoidance
• Wage and Hour Audits
• Wage and Hour Class Action Defense
• WARN/ Unit Closings

Related News, Publications & Events

• Legal Alerts

  |January 06, 2021
  DOL Announces Final Rule on Standard for Employees vs. Independent Contractors Under FLSA

• Legal Alerts

  |October 22, 2020
  Long Overdue: EEOC Bolstering the Conciliation Process

• Legal Alerts

  |August 07, 2020
  The EEOC Is Back: Lawsuits Expected, Plus New ADA Guidance on Opioids

• Blogs

  |February 13, 2020
  Coronavirus – Employers, Be Smart! Be Prepared!

• Legal Alerts

  |December 26, 2019
  2019 Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin Employment Year in Review

• News

  |November 25, 2019
  Stephen Sitley Speaks with Law360 About Move to Lewis Brisbois

• News

  |November 18, 2019
  Lewis Brisbois Chicago Office Boosts Labor & Employment Practice With Former Sears GC

Additional Experience

• Wage & Hour Class Actions
• Complex Business & Commercial Litigation