Gould + Ratner

Michael, David N.

  • Represented a Chicago-based digital healthcare agency in its sale to a global commercialization partner for the life sciences industry.
  • Making Law in the Circuit: David represented a large international employer in a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by a current employee. The employee alleged that the company failed to accommodate her medical condition that required, among other things, frequent bathroom breaks. After securing admissions at the plaintiff’s deposition that she believed her performance was far superior to the generally positive ratings she had received from her supervisors, the employer successfully convinced the court that since the plaintiff’s self-assessed performance was so overwhelmingly above expectations that she was not entitled to a reasonable accommodation as a matter of law.
  • Winning at Summary Judgment: David represented a golf course management company in an age discrimination lawsuit filed by a former employee laid off in a single employee reduction in force. After securing the plaintiff’s admission at his deposition that the golf industry was “tanking” worse than the economy, Judge Shadur granted David’s motion for summary judgment.
  • Winning at Trial: David was part of the trial team that secured a defense verdict in the jury trial of a sexual harassment case filed under state law as an assault and battery case.
  • Winning on Appeal: David represented an aggregate and stone mining company in a retaliatory discharge case. He successfully argued to the appellate court that the plaintiff falsified medical records and failed to establish the company terminated him for any other reason than his failure to return to work after he had recovered from a workers’ compensation injury.
  • Enforcing a Non-Compete: David represented a recruiting company in an action against a former employee for misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of his employment agreement and breach of his fiduciary duty of loyalty. The matter was resolved upon entry of a permanent injunction barring the former employee from utilizing any confidential or trade secret information from his former employer.
  • Defending a Wage and Hour Class Action: David represented an employer in Indiana in a class action brought pursuant to the Indiana Wage Payment law. After removing that action to federal court, David used a procedural device under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to resolve the case prior to the certification of a class.