Diane M. Saunders

Diane Saunders is a Shareholder in the Boston office. Ms. Saunders is the Co-Chair of the firm’s Retail Practice Group, and a member of the firm’s Steering Committees for the Class Action Practice Group and Professional Development. Ms. Saunders has been helping employers with their labor and employment issues and business disputes for over 20 years.

Her clients include businesses of all sizes and in a variety of industries, as well as non-profit organizations. Ms. Saunders is a skilled and aggressive litigator and possesses significant expertise in class and collective action matters and complex cases.

Whether she is handling litigation or simply providing advice and counsel, Ms. Saunders employs a strategic approach to solving her clients’ legal and business problems. She always strives to achieve cost-effective results that are consistent with her clients’ overall business objectives.

Ms. Saunders has tried over a dozen matters in federal and state courts, as well as before administrative agencies and in arbitration proceedings. Ms. Saunders regularly handles appeals in state and federal courts.

She also defends employers in investigations and enforcement actions conducted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

Representative matters include wage and hour, confidential information, trade secret and non-competition issues, discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge, whistleblower, and workplace torts and contract disputes.

Ms. Saunders defends class and collective action suits alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Equal Pay Act, and Massachusetts wage and hour laws, including the Massachusetts Tips Law and the Massachusetts Independent Contractor Law. She also defends pattern and practice discrimination class actions, including allegations of class-wide discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation.

In addition to her litigation practice, Ms. Saunders regularly advises employers on employment law and wage and hour compliance and best practices. She reviews employee handbooks and employment policies, drafts employment agreements and non-competition agreements, conducts wage and hour audits, designs employment arbitration programs, and advises clients on best practices during workplace investigations.

Education:

• J.D., with honors, American University’s Washington College of Law, 1992
• B.A., with high honors, University of Vermont, 1987

Admitted to Practice:

• Massachusetts
• New York
• New Hampshire
• U.S. District Court, District of New Hampshire
• U.S. District Court, Eastern and Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan

Experience:

Ms. Saunders handles wage and hour class and collective actions brought in both state and federal courts under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Equal Pay Act, Massachusetts Tips Law, Massachusetts Payment of Wages Law, Massachusetts Independent Contractor Law and other state laws.

Representative claims include those alleging claims of failure to pay overtime, denial of meal and rest periods, violations of the minimum wage laws, failure to pay overtime at the proper rate, improper rounding and docking, and employee misclassification unjust enrichment, and tortious interference.

Ms. Saunders also handles pattern and practice discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation claims brought under federal and state law on a class-wide basis, including putative class claims brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Professional Activities:

• National Retail Federation (Committee on Employment Law, Chair of EEOC and Supreme Court Subcommittee)
• American Bar Association (Labor and Employment and Litigation Sections)
• Massachusetts Bar Association (Labor and Employment Section, former Section Council Member and Committee Chair)
• Boston Bar Association (Labor and Employment Section)
• Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association (Chair of Senior Practice Committee and former Board Member)