Overview

Drawing upon his knowledge of employment and health care law and his experience as a counselor, advocate, and business owner, Greg helps health care and other businesses resolve workforce challenges.

Greg’s approach: When possible, keep it simple. Greg understands that complicated legal documents cannot always be avoided, especially in heavily regulated industries. However, he also understands that personnel policies, counseling documents, and written agreements with employees do not always require heavy doses of “legalese” to be effective and hold up in court.

Greg enjoys helping employers navigate the complex maze of ever-changing laws that impact their workforce. He has a depth of experience with laws relating to discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblowing, reasonable accommodation, leave rights, compensation, reductions in force, substance abuse, non-compete agreements, severance agreements, employee health, and other matters that arise in connection with employment or independent contractor relationships. When it comes to concerns about job performance, Greg builds off that experience to help businesses address their concerns with the goal of either salvaging the relationship or structuring a defensible separation.

As a business owner, Greg has personally been involved with hiring, training, evaluating, counseling, and terminating employees. Whether he is providing day-to-day counsel, training management teams, negotiating contracts, resolving disputes, or preparing documents, Greg focuses on the practical as well as the legal in an effort to address challenges without disrupting business operations and profitability.

Greg also enjoys teaching. He trains leadership teams, managers, and supervisors; presents at seminars that provide attorneys and human resources professionals with professional education credits; and mentors attorneys within the Firm.

Experience

Counsel Relating to Employees and Contractors

Greg advises businesses about:

• COVID-19 (Re-Opening, FFCRA Paid Leave, Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loans, OSHA, CDC)
• Civil Rights and Discrimination (Title VII, ADEA, ADA, GINA, State and Local Laws)
• Workplace Harassment
• Retaliation
• Reasonable Accommodation of Disabilities and Religious Practices
• Wage and Hour (FLSA, State and Local Laws)
• Leaves of Absence (FMLA, USERRA, State Leave Laws)
• Hiring, Evaluation, Discipline, and Discharge
• Reductions in Force and other Workplace Reorganizations
• Substance Abuse
• Separation and Severance Agreements
• Protection of Proprietary Information
• Covenants Regarding Competition
• Proper Classification of Workers as Employees or Independent Contractors
• Workplace Violence
• Workplace Privacy
• Personnel Policy Development

Representative Engagements:

Trained managers and helped create and implement a system of pre-employment screening; applicant and employee medical examinations; leave of absence policy provisions; and a temporary work assignment program to help reduce expenses associated with absenteeism by injured or ill employees.

Trained managers and supervisors to address challenges of moving to new, significantly larger facility, including preparing new job descriptions to reflect new expectations and physical demands; modifying performance evaluations; re-evaluating the effectiveness of accommodations to workers with impairments; and adding, reducing and changing staff in various areas.

Counseled executive team, reviewed and analyzed workforce data for potential discrimination/retaliation claims, and prepared separation agreements as part of a major workforce reduction.

Provided counsel about reclassification of exempt status of substantial segment of workforce to help comply with federal and state wage and hour laws, including training of executive and management teams and preparation of communications to employees to help reduce risk of litigation.

Employment Litigation

Greg has represented employers before federal and state courts, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, and various other federal, state and local government agencies.

Representative Cases/Claims:

• Class action wage and hour case (Home Builder)
• ADA (Health Network)
• Title VII (Security Company)
• Multi-plaintiff retaliation case (Long Term Care Facility)
• FMLA (Hospital)
• Multi-plaintiff wage and hour case (Rehabilitation Facility)
• Breach of contract (Aviation Company)
• Claims of national origin, race/ethnicity, and disability discrimination, and violations of the U.S. and State Constitutions (Health Network)
• U.S. Department of Labor wage and hour audit (Hospital)

Counsel Relating to Healthcare Regulatory Matters

Greg advises health care providers about:

• Physician employment and termination of employment
• Provider arrangements with non-employed physicians
• Medical staff operations
• Peer review
• Ethics and Patient Referrals Act (Stark Law)
• Anti-Kickback Statute
• False Claims Act
• Licensure for individual healthcare providers
• HIPAA
• National Practitioner Data Bank Reporting
• The impact of regulatory issues on various contemplated business arrangements

Professional Activities

• American (Health Law and Labor & Employment Law Groups), Indiana, Wisconsin, and Indianapolis Bar Associations
• American Health Law Association (Employment Law Practice Group)

Articles & Presentations

• November 13, 2019, Indiana Metal Building Association, Marijuana and Construction (Navigating the Maze of Federal and State Laws)
• July 17, 2019, (National Business Institute – CLE for Attorneys): Advanced Employment Law (“LGBT/Sexual Orientation Discrimination” and “Handling Employee Discrimination and Harassment Claims”)
• May 6, 2019, American Culinary Federation, Indianapolis Chapter, Workplace Harassment
• February 2019, Insites – the Magazine of the Indiana Apartment Association, Lawsuit: Landlord Maybe Liable for Tenant-on-Tenant Harassment https://iaaonline.net/from-insites-tenant-on-tenant-harassment/
• November 12, 2018 (National Business Institute – CLE for Attorneys): Human Resources Law Boot Camp (“HIPAA Best Practices for HR: Ensuring Confidentiality of Medical Information”)
• August 7, 2017 (National Business Institute – CLE for Attorneys): Advanced Employment Law (“Creating FLSA Compliance Strategies That Work” and “NLRA Decisions Affecting Unionized and Non-Unionized Workplaces”)
• June 14, 2017 (National Business Institute – CLE for Attorneys): Avoiding HR Legal Landmines (“FMLA Leave Errors That Cause Lawsuits” and “Discrimination and Harassment Pitfalls”)
• May 20, 2016 (National Business Institute – CLE for Attorneys): Human Resource Law: What You Need to Know Now (“Workplace Behavior and Privacy Issues”)
• August 11, 2015 (National Business Institute – CLE for Attorneys):  Advanced Employment Law (“Conducting an Effective Internal Investigation”)
• July 28, 2015 (Indiana Rural Health Association):  Department of Labor’s Proposed Changes to Overtime Rules (Webinar)
• February 19, 2014 (National Business Institute – CLE for Attorneys): Human Resource Law from A-Z (“Discrimination and Harassment” and “Workplace Behavioral Issues: Appropriately Handling Thorny Situations”)
• May 8, 2013 (National Business Institute – CLE for Attorneys): Human Resource Law: What You Need to Know Now (“Discrimination and Harassment” and “Employee Discipline and Termination”)
• December 11, 2012 (Lorman Education Services):  Employment Law Update in Indiana (“Employee Medical Conditions: ADA and FMLA Considerations”)
• April 19, 2012:  Indiana State Bar Association, Health Law Symposium (Continuing Legal Education for Attorneys (Including Ethics))—“Why Can’t We Be Friends? (And Other Questions Concerning Employee Use of Social Media)”
• March 14, 2012 (Lorman Education Services): Unemployment Insurance 101: Assessing and Responding to Claims for U.I. Benefits (“Strategies to Implement Now to Increase Your Chances of Success in Defending Unemployment Claims”)
• December 14, 2011:  Jackson County HR Group – “Why Can’t We Be Friends? (And Other Questions About Employee Use of Social Media)”
• June 8, 2011:  Indiana Rural Health Association – “Dealing with the Injured/Ill Employee”
• September 14, 2010:  Indiana Mortgage Bankers Association (South Central Indiana Chapter)—“Mortgage Loan Officers and Federal Wage Hour Law”
• July 20, 2010:  Indiana Mortgage Bankers Association (Michiana Chapter)—“Mortgage Loan Officers and Federal Wage Hour Law”
• July 20, 2010: Indiana Mortgage Bankers Association (Northeast Indiana Chapter)—“Mortgage Loan Officers and Federal Wage Hour Law”
• July 13, 2010: Indiana Mortgage Bankers Association (Greater Indianapolis Chapter)—“Mortgage Loan Officers and Federal Wage Hour Law”
• June 9, 2010:  Logansport Area Personnel Association–“Federal Health Care Reform: A Reference Guide for Employers”
• March 4, 2010: Indiana Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration—“Employee Use of Social Media”
• February 25, 2010:  Indiana State Bar Association, Health Law Symposium (Continuing Legal Education for Attorneys)–“Drafting Covenants Not to Compete for Indiana Physicians”
• February 17, 2010:  Indianapolis Bar Association (Continuing Legal Education for Attorneys)–“Drafting Covenants Not to Compete”
• January 5, 2010:  Logansport Area Personnel Association–“Documenting Employment Concerns: Counseling and Discharge”

Awards & Honors

Indiana Super Lawyer, 2018-2021 Employment & Labor

The Best Lawyers in America, 2019-2021 Health Care Law