People: Robert C Stevens, Partner

Robert C Stevens

Partner

Atlanta
Direct: (404) 885-6727

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Biography

Mr. Stevens is a partner in the Labor and Employment and Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud and Non-Competes Groups of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. He has over 15 years of experience representing public and privately held companies throughout the United States in employment related litigation. He concentrates his practice on litigation and counseling matters involving employment discrimination, restrictive covenant, trade secret, and wage and hour issues. He also has extensive litigation experience having represented clients in bench and jury trials in state and federal tribunals and before administrative agencies. Outside the courtroom, Bob regularly counsels clients in complying with federal and state employment laws and in litigation avoidance.

Mr. Stevens is counsel to numerous companies on a regional and national basis in employment discrimination litigation involving individual and class, and collective actions for wage and hour, sex, race, age and disability discrimination, and state law tort claims before state and federal tribunals, and administrative agencies, as well as counsel on corporate policies and practices.

Mr. Stevens has successfully represented clients in restrictive covenant, trade secret theft and employee raiding cases throughout the United States, including obtaining multiple seven figure settlements in actions on behalf of clients against former employees who left to join competitors. Mr. Stevens has also represented employers in numerous wage and hour matters, including all phases of wage and hour collective actions in state and federal court in Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and California. Such representation included representation at the conditional and final certification stage, discovery, trial and appellate process.

Mr. Stevens clerked for the Honorable William N. Acker, Jr., United States District Court of the Northern District of Alabama from 1996-1997.

Education

J.D., University of Alabama School of Law (1996)
magna cum laude
Order of the Coif
Member, Jessup International Moot Court Team
Moot Court Board
Alabama Law Review
B.S., University of Alabama (1993)

Admissions

Georgia

Courts

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Eighth and Eleventh Circuits
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
All Georgia State Courts
Georgia Court of Appeals
Georgia Supreme Court

Affiliations

American Bar Association (Labor and Employment Law Section)
American Heart Association (Past Board Chair, Current Board Member)
Atlanta Bar (Labor and Employment Law Section)
State Bar of Georgia (Labor and Employment Law Section)

Representative Engagements

Wage & Hour Collective Action Cases

Ruiz, et al. v. Unisource Worldwide, Inc., Case No. CV 09-5848 (C.D. Cal. 2010) Successfully settled wage and hour class action alleging off-the-clock violations on behalf of a class of over 300 Plaintiffs;
Torres, et al. v. AGL Resources, et al., Case No. 09-cv-01884-ACC-GJK (M.D. Fla. 2010) Obtained dismissal of state law claims and successfully resolved remaining FLSA claims.
Ferrell, et al. v. Gwinnett County Board of Education, et al., 481 F. Supp. 1338 (N.D. Ga. 2007) Won summary judgment in FLSA collective action case alleging misclassification of School Resource Officers on behalf of Gwinnett County Board of Education.
Archer, et al. v. Crawford & Co., Case No. 2:98-cv-01350-FXC (W.D. Pa. 2005) Defended Crawford & Company in a nationwide collective action through all phases of litigation, involving a putative class of hundreds of Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs dismissed their case after Plaintiffs rested their case in chief after losing a companion bench trial.
Hann, et al. v. Crawford & Co., 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21233 (W.D. Pa. 2005) Won Bench trial in six (6) plaintiff FLSA case alleging misclassification of insurance adjusters on behalf of Crawford and Company.
Fields, et al. v. Gwinnett County, Georgia, Civil Action No. 1:98-CV-00076-JOF (N.D. Ga. 2001) aff’d, 273 F.3d 398 (11th Cir. 2001) Won summary judgment in FLSA collective action case alleging misclassification of Firefighters on behalf of Gwinnett County Georgia).

Trade Secret & Restrictive Covenant Cases

Unisource Worldwide, Inc. v. Carl Bovermann and International Paper Company, Cause No. 10-DCV-184592 (Dist. Ct. of Fort Bend County, Texas 240 Judicial District 2011) Obtained Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction prohibiting former sales representative from soliciting former customers and competing with Unisource in a specified geographic location.
Unisource Worldwide, Inc. v. Dale Latimer and Empire Paper Company, Civil Action No. 1:10-cv-00023-C (N.D. Tex May 17, 2010) Obtained Permanent Injunction prohibiting former sales representative and competitor from soliciting or selling to customers whom sales representative solicited and sold to while at Unisource and entered in global settlement.
Fulton Paper Co. v. Joseph Parr, et al., Civil Action File No. 09-1-2269-28 (Cobb County Superior Court March 30, 2009) Successfully represented individual sales representatives in defeating Motion for Temporary Restraining Order seeking to enjoin sales representatives from soliciting former customers and competing with former employer.
Asheboro Paper & Packaging, Inc. v. Mark Dickinson, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12766 (M.D.N.C. February 19, 2009) Successfully represented individual sales representative in defeating Motion for Preliminary Injunction seeking to enjoin sales representative from competing.
Buckeye Int’l, Inc. v. Unisource Worldwide, Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 1:07-CV-02910-JTC & 1:07-cv-02578-JTC (N.D. Ga. 2008) Successfully transferred restrictive covenant and non-competition case from federal court in Missouri to Georgia and entered into settlement dismissing matter.
Unisource Worldwide, Inc. v. Janpak, et al., Civil Action File No. 16-2006-CA-008765-XXXX-MA (Duval County Florida Circuit Court Feb. 1, 2007) Won Motion for Temporary Injunction against former sales representatives on behalf of Unisource Worldwide, Inc. and subsequently settled the matter with all Defendants.
Unisource Worldwide, Inc. v. Christy Alex, Civil Action File No. 16-2004-006989-XXXX-MA (Duval County Florida Circuit Court Nov. 4, 2004) Won Motion for Temporary Injunction against former sales representative enjoining him for working for a competitor.

Employment Discrimination Cases

Smiley v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55616 (S.D. Miss. May 23, 2011) Won summary judgment in race discrimination and retaliation case on behalf of Georgia-Pacific Corporation
Anderson v. Family Dollar Stores of Arkansas, Inc., USCA No. 08-3061, 579 F.3d 858 (8th Cir. Sept. 1, 2009) Won Eighth Circuit Appeal in sexual harassment hostile work environment and quid pro quo and tort of outrage case on behalf of Family Dollar Stores of Arkansas.
Brady v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67725 (N.D. Miss. Aug. 4, 2009) Won summary judgment in race discrimination case on behalf of Georgia-Pacific Corporation.
White, et al. v. Georgia-Pacific Wood Products, LLC, et al., Case No. CV-2008-900041.00 (Circuit Court of Monroe County Alabama July 6, 2009) Won summary judgment in multi-plaintiff case alleging invasion of privacy and tort of outrage on behalf of Georgia-Pacific Wood Products, LLC. and individual defendants.
Hatcher v. Georgia-Pacific, LLC, et. al., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107158 (N.D. Ga. Dec. 15, 2008) Won summary judgment in challenge to release under the Older Worker Benefit Protection Act on behalf of Georgia-Pacific, LLC and related entities.
Taylor v. Georgia-Pacific, LLC, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25766 (W.D. Ark. March 31, 2008) Won summary judgment in race discrimination, retaliation, and FMLA complaint on behalf of Georgia-Pacific, LLC and related entities.
Ferguson v. Georgia-Pacific, LLC, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8277 (W.D. Va. Feb. 5, 2008) Won summary judgment in a race discrimination and retaliation case under Title VII for Georgia-Pacific LLC.
Wise v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3027 (D.S.C. April 27, 2007) Won summary judgment in race and age discrimination on behalf of Georgia-Pacific Corp.
Daugherty v. Mikart, Inc., 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24357 (N.D. Ga. 2006) aff’d, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 31472 (11th Cir. Dec. 19, 2006) Won summary judgment in FMLA retaliation complaint on behalf of Mikart, Inc.
Wiggins v. Waffle House, Inc., 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27416 (N.D. Ga. 2004), aff’d, USCA # 04-12473-FF (11th Cir. 2005) Won directed verdict in sexual harassment hostile work environment and constructive discharge case on behalf of Waffle House, Inc.

Presentations

“Employment Law Update” American Forest and Paper Association General Counsel’s Meeting (April 2011)
“Georgia’s New Non-Compete Law,” (December 2010)
"Employee issues for Associations and Managers (Exempt and Non-Exempt Issues)," Community Association Institute, Annual Community Association Law Seminar
"Dealing with the Problem Employee: Practical Strategies to Avoid Legal Issues for Employers of All Sizes," National Association of Bar Executives, Annual Conference
"Wage and Hour Regulations and Their Effect on Employers"