Employment Law & Litigation

Genova Burns has one of the foremost and cutting-edge Employment Litigation groups of any midsize law firm in New Jersey. The firm was founded 30 years ago as an employment and labor boutique law firm by Angelo J. Genova and James M. Burns. Even as the firm has grown to become one of the preeminent full service firms in New Jersey, employment litigation remains one of its most recognized, successful and prestigious practices. 

Chaired by Partner John C. Petrella, the department handles an extraordinary array of complex employment litigation matters on behalf of management in both the private and public sectors in the trial and appellate courts.

The employment litigation team has tried numerous state and federal high-stakes, multi-plaintiff cases. Cases we have handled involve Fair Labor Standard Acts matters; claims of age, race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identification and expression and race discrimination; wage and hour; personnel policies; hostile work environment; restrictive covenants; trade secrets; noncompetition and nondisclosure agreements; breach of employment contracts; whistleblower; partnership disputes; wrongful termination; retaliation and other forms of workplace statutory and tort litigation.

Along with the trial and appellate courts, our firm handles virtually all types of employment-related litigation before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, New York Division of Human Rights, and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, among others. We also manage administrative agency proceedings as well as arbitrations and mediations involving employment law matters, which include the oversight of discovery, depositions, hearings, trials and case resolutions.

We represent private sector employers in such industries as financial services; healthcare and hospitals; construction and engineering; technology and telecommunications; insurance; automotive; hospitality, hotels and restaurants; nonprofits, trade associations and tax-exempt organizations; retail and eCommerce, and alcohol, food and beverage, just to name a few. Additionally, we represent municipal, county and state agencies and politically appointed and elected officials. 

Our core employment litigation team has long been recognized for their achievements on behalf of our clients. For example, members of our group have been consistently ranked as New Jersey Super Lawyers, Rising Stars for Employment Law Defense and New Jersey Super Lawyers Top 50 Women; ranked in Best Lawyers in America in Management for Employment and Labor Law; ranked Rated AV® Preeminent™ in Labor and Employment Law by Martindale-Hubbell, and ranked by NJBIZ Best 50 Women in Business.

We partner with clients not only through our winning record of employment litigation, but by pre-litigation counseling to help them avoid prolonged legal proceedings whenever possible. We also draw from the expertise and extensive experience of our labor and employment lawyers to advise clients on preventative measures, such as conducting training sessions for businesses and human resources organizations on matters that include anti-harassment policy compliance, best human resources practices, documentation, discipline and providing leaves of absences in accordance with federal, state and local employment laws. Instructing our clients on such preventative procedures can sometimes help avoid prolonged litigation and other employee disputes.

This wide range of experience and expertise enables us to best understand our clients’ issues and challenges, and apply the most creative, efficient and cost-effective solutions to matters they face. We understand our clients’ specific business objectives and industries, further solidifying our commitment to shaping cutting-edge strategies and setting us apart from other firms.

In addition, in every employment litigation, we work hand-in-hand with our clients on case management plans, which include timelines, scope of work and budgets. Ongoing and frequent communication with our clients is a vital key to our success, and ensures that each matter is handled on the highest professional level with the client’s concerns always in the forefront.