Lisa Lupion

Partner

New York

llupion@orrick.com

Read full biography at www.orrick.com

In today’s complex world of employment law, the legislative landscape is changing faster than ever before. Companies can easily veer out of compliance, and into financial and reputational dangers. To guide employers through this maze, Lisa Lupion offers a precise path forward. 

She begins by gathering an in-depth understanding of her client’s business and goals, and then evaluating the specific issue at hand, so that whether navigating a counseling issue or a complex litigation, she can understand every possible angle and design the best possible solution.

Lisa regularly litigates a broad range of employment issues in court, administrative agencies, and arbitration. Lisa also helps companies at all stages of development avoid litigation, or prevent a single-plaintiff matter from escalating to a class action. She has successfully handled a number of high-stakes arbitrations and internal investigations. In addition, she offers counseling on discrimination, harassment, equal pay, wage and hour issues, disability accommodations, termination and compensation.  Lisa regularly advises clients on a variety of employment-related issues, including human resources policies and procedures, offer letters, severance agreements and employee termination. 

Prior to joining Orrick, Lisa served as a law clerk to the Hon. Peter Leisure in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. 

Posts by: Lisa Lupion

It Might be Mechanical, But It’s Exempt: Court Dismisses Temp Document Reviewing Attorneys’ Overtime Collective Action

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A district court in New York dismissed the putative collective action filed by a contract attorney who performed document review for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP (“Skadden”) for fifteen months. See Lola v. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.  Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), an employee is exempt from overtime as a professional employee if he or she is “the holder of a valid license . . . permitting the practice of law” and “who is actually engaged in the practice thereof.” 29 C.F.R. § 541.3.  The named plaintiff and proposed class representative, David Lola, was a licensed attorney, and, therefore, the dispositive question was whether he was practicing law such that he qualified for the exemption.

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Check This [Box] Out: Ban the Box Legislation Continues to Gain Momentum

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An increasing number of cities, counties and states have passed laws restricting employers from inquiring about a job applicant’s criminal background, giving momentum to the “ban the box” movement.  The term “ban the box” refers to questions on an employment application that ask a job applicant about past convictions.  Proponents of the movement say that such legislation will help remove unfair employment barriers to job applicants with criminal histories.

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The Joint-Employer Standard: Like All Good Things, Is It About To Meet Its End?

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On May 12, the National Labor Relations Board issued a notice and call for amicus briefs to address whether the Board should maintain its existing joint-employer standard or adopt a new one. Notice and Invitation to File Briefs, Browning-Ferris Indus. of California, Inc., Case 32-RC-109684 (May 12, 2014). READ MORE →

Did the EEOC Try Hard Enough to Resolve Your Case Before Filing Suit?

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March, 2014, three powerful business groups urged the U.S. Supreme Court to consider an important issue at stake for employers in Mach Mining LLC v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission—can courts review the adequacy of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC’s”) conciliation efforts prior to filing suit? In Mach Mining, the Seventh Circuit held “no,” although six other circuits to address this issue have acknowledged an employer’s ability to raise failure to conciliate as an affirmative defense. If the Supreme Court grants Mach Mining’s February 25, 2014 petition for review, the ruling could have significant impact for employers facing potential litigation with the EEOC. READ MORE →

Compelling Individual Arbitration Violates National Labor Relations Act? It Does According to ALJ

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People at a Table

Joining the ever growing list of opinions on the arbitrability of class claims, an NLRB Administrative Law Judge recently ruled that an arbitration agreement that did not expressly bar workers from bringing class or collective actions still violated federal labor law because the employer’s steps taken to enforce the agreement in court had the practical effect of doing so. READ MORE →

Company E-mail Use Policies: The Next Battleground for the NLRB?

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Email

As reported in prior blogs, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has become increasingly active in attacking employer policies on the grounds that those policies chill employees’ rights to engage in concerted activity. In particular, the NLRB has been scrutinizing social media policies. READ MORE →

A Welcome ‘Waive’ of Second Circuit Cases: Class Action Waivers Deemed Enforceable

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Coins and Hourglass

For the better part of the last decade, the Second Circuit routinely and consistently struck down class action waivers in arbitration provisions. As recently as March 2011, the Second Circuit appeared to have brought down the hammer even further, by stating in In Re: American Express Merchants’ Litigation (“AmEx”) that a mandatory arbitration provision—even one that includes an express “class action waiver”—is unenforceable to the extent it “effectively precludes any action seeking to vindicate [plaintiff’s] statutory rights.”  READ MORE →

Don’t “friend me”: More State Law Limitations on Accessing Employee Social Media Sites

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Effective July 28, 2013, Washington became the eleventh state to have a law prohibiting employers from, among other things, asking its personnel for the user names and passwords to employee social media accounts. The law does have some limited exceptions, including allowing employers to retrieve content from an employee’s personal social media account in the context of an investigation into an employee’s misconduct, or if an employee is accused of making unauthorized transfers of proprietary information. Even then, however, employers can only access the information if it’s provided by the employee voluntarily.  READ MORE →

Tenth Circuit Issues its First Decision Interpreting SOX: Offers Broad Reading of the Act

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Whistle

On Tuesday, June 4th, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its first decision interpreting the Sarbanes Oxley Act’s whistleblower protection provision, affirming a decision by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (“ARB”), which held that Lockheed Martin violated SOX by constructively discharging employee Andrea Brown after she had engaged in protected activity. The court applied Chevron deference to the ARB’s employee-friendly interpretations of SOX’s requirements. READ MORE →

New York City Passes Bill Treating the Unemployed as a Protected Class

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New York City has amended its Administrative Code to create a new protected class of workers. Beginning in June 2013, the New York City Administrative Code will prohibit discrimination based on an individual’s unemployment status. READ MORE →