How They Won It: Crowell Beats FLSA Suit At Trial

Washington, D.C.-based Labor & Employment Group partner, Thomas P. Gies, is featured in Law360’s “How They Won It” column for his victory in an employee misclassification suit on behalf of firm client DeWolff Boberg & Associates (DB&A). Crowell & Moring counsel Christopher Calsyn and firm associate Arash Jahanian were also on the winning team that defended DB&A against a collective action in Texas federal court, which returned a favorable jury verdict in less than an hour of deliberation.

According to Gies, “Very, very early on the client determined that this was the place to fight the fight. The settlement demand was unrealistic, and their business model depends on these folks being classified as salaried exempt employees, so they needed to be vindicated. The case was filed in May 2010, and I told everybody on my team within the first month that we were either going to win on summary judgment or go to trial.”