Kristin V. Hayes

Our firm has the knowledge and practical expertise to guide employees and employers in the ever-changing employment world. A cohesive workplace leads to increased profits and productivity, which results in greater customer satisfaction. We provide advice on discrete matters as well as long-term planning to allow our clients the opportunity to focus on the workplace rather than legal issues.

In order to help our clients operate a well-managed business that is proactive rather than reactive, we counsel our clients in all facets of their employment relationships. The firm advises businesses as to risk avoidance, participates in investigations of workplace claims, and gives seminars on important employment law topics.

For any size company, we can provide seminars and workshops in all areas of employment law, including family leave requirements, disability laws, sexual harassment, discrimination laws, and other employment concerns and issues specifically related to the nature of the client’s business. We encourage an interactive process where participants in training sessions can ask questions, and discuss situations and issues of concern.

We counsel employers on compliance with the various leave of absence issues that arise under the New Jersey Family Leave Act, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Laws Against Discrimination, and COBRA. We also give advice on the myriad issues that present themselves to employers on topics such as non-competition agreements, restrictive covenants, trade secrets, drug testing, and employee absenteeism.

We assist our employer clients in establishing proper procedures for handling employee complaints. We draft anti-harassment and discrimination policies or we review and update the employers’ existing policies. We conduct, assist in, or provide advice regarding investigations of harassment or discrimination complaints, and can identify the proper corrective action following the investigation.

For individuals, we can provide guidance on the full range of employment issues. We can guide individuals struggling with whether to sign a restrictive covenant or if they have already signed one, how that impacts their future employability. We provide advice on how to handle difficult employment situations. Post termination, we review and negotiate severance agreements.

When appropriate, we are fully prepared to litigate on behalf of our clients. Due to our vast experience representing both employees and employers in discrimination lawsuits, we are able to navigate effectively the often complex procedures involved in litigating the employment case. Having represented both sides, we know how both employers and employees think about and approach these cases, which helps our clients effectively evaluate whether to settle, what is the most effective strategy, and how best to litigate the case in court.

Our attorneys have handled numerous trials, arbitrations, and mediations at all levels of the state and federal court system. We also have experience in New Jersey’s various administrative law forums. We have handled appeals that have reached our New Jersey Supreme Court as well as the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. We know and recognize that litigation is often unpleasant and unpredictable, generally a last resort. Thus, we do everything we can to make the process easier for our clients, while aggressively engaging the opposing party. We have a track record of achieving successful results for our clients.

We have handled lawsuits involving practically every aspect of employment discrimination. Our litigators have also handled increasingly common whistleblower lawsuits. Our firm is familiar with and has litigated the veritable alphabet soup of state and federal employment statutes, including CEPA, LAD, Title VII, Sec. 1983, Wage and Hour, ADEA, ADA, and so on. We have represented whistleblowers who sued after being fired by their employers for complaining of environmental contamination. We litigated a case for teenage women who were sexually harassed at a local chain of a national restaurant.

On the defense side, we have successfully represented corporations in sexual harassment, disability, race, age, and gender cases. For one corporate client, we successfully tried a case in which the plaintiff alleged she was sexually assaulted by her supervisor, in his apartment, following an evening of drinking. In another defense case, involving age discrimination, the jury returned a verdict in our client’s favor where the plaintiff alleged that her female supervisor fired her because she was more than twenty years older than her supervisor.

Many of our cases have broken new legal ground and become precedent for other courts to follow. We look forward to taking on the most complex cases and the most skilled opposition. We team with our clients to achieve success. We have represented large corporate entities as well as the individual, and successfully litigated against some of the largest law firms in the world.

Wiley Malehorn Sirota & Raynes is a full-service New Jersey law firm providing a broad range of legal services to corporate, financial, and governmental institutions, as well as to individuals.

Wiley Malehorn Sirota & Raynes was founded in 1973 in Morristown, where our office remains today, with a focus on providing the best legal representation to our clients in a professional, efficient, and personal manner.

Wiley Malehorn Sirota & Raynes offers the sophistication and breadth of experience associated with large national law firms, with the personalized care and attention of a smaller firm. Wiley Malehorn Sirota & Raynes has been a trusted member of the Morris County community for the last four decades and plays an integral part in a number of local non-profit and charitable organizations.