Healthcare

Healthcare employers are facing major challenges, dealing with increased federal scrutiny and a surge of class actions, retaliation lawsuits and other litigation. On the labor front, hospitals across the country are contending with a wave of union activity by nurses and other healthcare workers.

Littler, as America’s largest labor and employment law firm, is in a prime position of being able to assist health care employers with all of their workplace issues. Our exclusive focus on labor and employment issues and our extensive experience representing every sector of the health care industry well-positions Littler as legal counsel for healthcare employers.

Industry Knowledge

We take pride in our depth of knowledge and experience in dealing with specific issues that arise in the healthcare workplace. Our lawyers include many of the nation’s leading authorities on employment regulations and legal matters that impact health care employers in unique ways.

Because of the breadth and depth of our experience, we use a collaborative approach, calling on lawyers within the firm with particularized knowledge who can provide advice and counsel to clients on every aspect of labor and employment law. As a result, we are able to help our clients in a cost-efficient manner, without sacrificing quality. Our goal is to help clients avoid costly litigation, but when litigation does arise we have a long history of successfully representing healthcare employers in all types of matters across the country.

Healthcare Reform

The Littler Healthcare Reform Consulting Group can help employers navigate the complex requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as well as its legal implications. Read more information and resources concerning the ACA on Littler’s Healthcare Reform page.

Our Clients

We represent employers in all areas of the health care industry, from hospitals, nursing homes and health insurers, to pharmaceutical and medical device companies. We strive to understand our clients’ business needs and provide solutions tailored to their goals. The types of clients we represent include:

• Academic medical centers
• Community hospitals
• Medical equipment suppliers
• Ambulatory care facilities
• Health systems
• Health plans
• Medical research institutes
• Physician groups
• Health maintenance organizations
• Acute and long term care providers
• Pharmaceutical companies
• Biotechnology and life sciences technology
• Home health care companies
• Specialty hospitals
• Nursing homes

Our Services

We advise and represent clients in high stakes labor and employment litigation and all other matters involving the workplace, including:

• Union activity, including organizing and corporate campaigns, collective bargaining, strikes and picketing, matters before the NLRB and maintaining a union-free workplace
• Wage and hour class and collective actions
• EEOC and federal and state discrimination and harassment claims
• Employment policies and employee relations issues unique to healthcare employers
• Wellness initiatives
• Neglect and abuse allegations
• Due diligence during mergers and acquisitions
• Issues related to the physician/hospital relationship, including physicians and other providers as independent contractors, contractual matters, credentialing, and disciplinary proceedings
• Whistleblower claims and retaliation cases under the False Claims Act, Title VII, Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank, and other statutes protecting employees who raise claims against their employer
• Compliance with HIPAA and other privacy statutes and regulations
• ADA and accommodation issues in the healthcare environment
• Defending against OFCCP’s efforts to expand its jurisdiction and, in other cases, helping healthcare employers to comply with the labyrinth of affirmative action and other requirements imposed upon federal contractors

Litigation

A signature of our firm is our ability to help clients avoid litigation through a variety of means, including our comprehensive training programs. A team of Littler lawyers recently conducted live workplace training for more than 19,000 employees of two major hospitals.

When necessary however, we vigorously defend our clients in litigation. Over the years, we have achieved success in litigation involving healthcare employers, including dismissals of wage and hour class actions and other types of litigation, defense and prosecution of non-compete agreements, and favorable outcomes in cases before the NLRB. In the process, we have used our experience and creativity to expand hospitals’ immunities and privileges.

We have also represented many healthcare employers before government agencies, including assisting them in audits and investigations by the DOL, OFCCP, and others. 

Labor Issues

In recent years, hospitals have been targeted in organizing campaigns by workers who have the backing of major unions, including national nurses unions. These challenges have become even more acute in light of recent regulations issued by the NLRB. Among other things, these regulations shorten the time between the filing of a representation petition and an election. Because of our vast geographic presence, we have been able to coordinate our efforts and anticipate how these union strategies and new regulations will affect our clients in their local markets. We have been successful in advising several major hospitals in various parts of the country involved in union campaigns and have also assisted numerous clients in avoiding strikes and negotiating favorable union contracts.