Lauren L. Tafaro

Lauren Tafaro draws on her diverse background in insurance defense, toxic tort and personal injury litigation. Her labor and employment practice focuses on both insured and uninsured employment claims, and she represents employers in administrative proceedings before state and federal agencies.

Lauren is a member of the firm’s Special Business Services Practice Group. Lauren defends employers in lawsuits alleging discrimination, harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination pursuant to federal and state anti-discrimination statutes. She also authors and argues dispositive motions.

Lauren provides guidance and counseling to employers, advising them on employment-related matters, including: employee discipline and termination, reasonable accommodations under the American with Disabilities Act as amended (ADAAA) and requests for medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

She advises clients on the enforceability of restrictive covenants and arbitration agreements, the proper classification for exempt and nonexempt employees and how to best comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) and state wage penalty statutes, as well as employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). She also drafts employment, severance and noncompetition agreements for employers.

Lauren makes herself available to her clients whenever they need her and offers training to help them steer clear of potential problems with their labor and employment policies. She truly enjoys the challenge of wage-and-hour work – which usually involves juggling a number of issues in collective action and big litigation – and understands how best to position her clients in these high-risk matters that are so crucial to their businesses.

Education:

• Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, J.D., 2004
• Louisiana State University, B.S., 2001

Professional Affiliations & Memberships:

• American Bar Association
• Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel
• Raintree Children and Family Services, Board
• The Claims and Litigation Management (CLM) Alliance