Wesley E. Stockard
Wesley Stockard advises, represents and trains management clients on a variety of labor and employment matters, with an emphasis on litigation and counseling in the areas of public and private employer benefit plan litigation and design, including claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA); wage and hour compliance and litigation, including claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); employment discrimination and harassment matters; Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) compliance; non-compete and non-solicitation covenants; and unfair labor practice charges.
Wesley litigates in federal and state courts throughout the country, and defends employers under investigation by the Department of Labor (including the Employee Benefits Security Administration), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and state civil rights agencies. Wesley has particular experience with class action and complex litigation matters, including litigation of class and collective ERISA and FLSA claims. His successes in class action litigation include several denials of motions for class certification and conditional class certification, as well as dismissals at the motion to dismiss, judgment on the pleadings and summary judgment stages.
Additionally, Wesley trains supervisors and human resources personnel on preventive practices to avoid litigation, including proper strategies for identifying litigation risks and documenting workplace issues. He also has presented training programs on topics such as proper management and processing of employee benefit claims; employee benefit plan fiduciary complaint and best practices; remedial steps to take to avoid off-the-clock and misclassification of FLSA and state law wage and hour claims; and avoiding litigation stemming from employee benefit plan administration, discipline and termination decisions. Wesley’s advice and counseling work also includes drafting, designing, operating and regulatory compliance for employer benefit plans, as well as developing employer policies and handbooks.
In law school, Wesley was Managing Articles Editor for the Michigan Journal of Law Reform.