Neil B. Pioch is a seasoned employment law attorney with a strong background in litigating wage and hour cases. He has successfully defended large class and collective actions in federal courts nationwide. Neil often advises in-house attorneys, insurers, and human resource professionals on various aspects of the employment relationship, including pre-employment inquiries, background checks, hiring practices, employee discipline, termination decisions, severance agreements, and compliance with minimum wage and overtime laws.
Neil's experience extends to counseling multistate employers on best practices across a range of industries, ensuring compliance with employee benefit laws and state and federal antidiscrimination statutes such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Equal Pay Act, and Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.
In addition to his employment law practice, Neil handles civil litigation on behalf of employers, municipalities, and large corporations. He has served as deputy general counsel for municipalities, regularly attending city council meetings and closed sessions to provide legal advice, strategic recommendations, and ensure compliance with Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act requirements. Neil has a strong track record of defending municipalities against claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, including lawsuits alleging excessive force, constitutional torts, zoning, ordinance and nuisance disputes, requests for injunctive and declaratory relief, and marijuana-related matters.
Neil routinely handles agency charges of discrimination, including the preparation of position statements, on-site inspections, administrative hearings and appeals with the EEOC, MDCR, and DOL for multistate employers. He has effectively litigated, arbitrated, and mediated employment lawsuits in state and federal courts, JAMS, and AAA forums involving wrongful termination, discrimination, disability, sexual harassment, whistleblowing, and breaches of noncompete and nondisclosure agreements for a diverse clientele.
He manages all aspects of civil litigation in state and federal courts throughout the country with minimal oversight on behalf of employers, including defending multiple FLSA collective actions and wage disputes. He was an integral member of ULP trial and Section 10(j) injunction teams defending a multinational coffee company involved in an unprecedented labor organizing campaign, including the examination of witnesses in a two-week-long trial and dissolving a nationwide injunction.
Neil is frequently called upon to draft state and federal appeals due to his exceptional legal research and writing abilities, including appeals based on the denial of qualified immunity.
