Richard Scharlat is a partner in Locke Lord’s New York office and is the Chair of the firm’s national Long-Term Care Section of the Labor and Employment Group. Mr. Scharlat’s practice concentrates on labor and employment law with particular experience in the healthcare field and with skilled nursing facilities. Mr. Scharlat regularly handles complex commercial and employment-related disputes in Federal and State Courts with substantial experience defending against class action claims in New York, New Jersey and California, as well as matters before American Arbitration Association panels, FINRA, the New Jersey Department of Labor, and the New York Division of Human Rights. Mr. Scharlat also has extensive experience in advising companies and executives on various aspects of employment law, including hiring and termination practices, employment agreements, and discrimination issues.
Mr. Scharlat’s practice is concentrated on: disparate treatment litigation, breach of employment contract litigation, age and gender discrimination, whistleblower litigation (“CEPA”), Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), as well as litigation avoidance counseling and executive compensation. Additionally, Mr. Scharlat’s focus includes complex commercial litigation issues regarding misappropriation of trade secrets, restrictive covenants, breach of fiduciary duty, civil RICO, breach of consulting agreements, trade secret litigation, unfair competition litigation, employee raiding litigation, restrictive covenant drafting and litigation, and sexual harassment investigations and litigation.
Education
- J.D., Rutgers University School of Law - Newark, 1994
Managing Notes and Comments Editor, Computer and Technology Law Journal
Order of the Barristers – Excellence in Oral Advocacy
Moot Court Board
Legal Research and Writing Instructor - B.A., cum laude, Yeshiva University, 1990
Belkin Scholar
Dean's List
Bar Admissions
- New York, 2001
- New Jersey, 1994
- Pennsylvania (inactive), 1995
- U.S. Supreme Court, 2002
Admitted To Practice
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 2009
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 2002
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 2011
- U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, 1994
- U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, 2002
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, 2011
Representative Experience
- Obtained a denial of motion for class certification in the Superior Court of New Jersey on behalf of a Bergen County, New Jersey continuum care facility and individual defendants facing claims for various federal and state wage and hour violations in June 2012.
- Obtained a complete defense verdict and award of attorney's fees for a Southern California skilled nursing facility in a two-day arbitration of claims brought by a former ADON for gender and pregnancy discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress in 2010.
- W.R. Huff Asset Management Co., L.L.C. v. William Soroka 1989 Trust, No. CIV.A. 04-3093KSH (D.N.J. March 2009) (Secured multi-million dollar verdict on behalf of a trust seeking distributions from a limited investment partnership).
- Managed team which defeated organizing effort by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) at a major healthcare facility in Southern California in 2008.
- Wilson v. Paradise Village Resort and Spa, et al., 395 N.J. Super 520 (App. Div. 2007) (Represented client in motion to dismiss, before and after jurisdictional discovery, negligence complaint against foreign resort on jurisdictional grounds.)
- Secured dismissal with prejudice of all wrongful termination and discrimination claims for Fortune 200 company after three-day New York AAA arbitration before Employment Arbitration Tribunal.
- Tried three-month jury trial to conclusion defending against claims of breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of trade secrets, and fraud.
- Obtained summary judgment for international Fortune 300 company on all claims in New York AAA arbitration.
- Forced withdrawal of whistleblower lawsuit under New Jersey "CEPA" statute after proving fraud and spoliation of evidence by plaintiff.
- Secured permanent injunction against, and denial of monetary claims by, former employee of FINRA broker dealer.
Publications & Presentations
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Co-Author,
"
Locke Lord QuickStudy: Third Circuit Affirms District Court’s Decision in Favor of Wal-Mart to Decertify Collective Action
,"
Locke Lord
(September 12, 2012)
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Co-Author,
"
Locke Lord QuickStudy: Long-Awaited California Supreme Court Brinker Rest & Meal Period Class Action Decision Released
,"
Locke Lord
(April 12, 2012)
-
Co-Author,
"Locke Lord QuickStudy: Class Dismissed? — Not So Fast,"
Locke Lord
(August 8, 2011)
-
Co-Author,
"Locke Lord QuickStudy: U.S. Supreme Court Addresses Commonality and “Injunction Class”,"
Locke Lord
(June 23, 2011)
-
Co-Author,
"Locke Lord QuickStudy: New Jersey Prohibits Employers from Discriminating Against the Unemployed in Job Advertisements,"
Locke Lord
(May 11, 2011)
-
Co-Author,
"Locke Lord's QuickStudy: The New York Wage Theft Prevention Act,"
Locke Lord
(March 16, 2011)
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"Labor and Employment Considerations in Business Acquisitions,"
Business Law Symposium, New Jersey
(2006)
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"Effective Strategies for Protecting Your Company from Problems with Prospective, Current, and Former Employees in the Current Job Market"
(2003)
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"Ethics Considerations in Internal Employment Investigations,"
Business Law Symposium, New Jersey
(2001)
Professional Affiliations & Achievements
- Board of Directors, American Friends of Am Yisrael Echad
- Executive Board of Directors, Yeshivat Sha'alvim, an international educational institution based in Israel
- Former Secretary, District Ethics Committee VC of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, Essex County
- Member, New Jersey Bar Association
- Member, Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey
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