David M. Gregory

David, Practice Leader of the Houston Litigation Group, represents employers in disputes involving claims of wrongful termination, age, sex, disability and race discrimination and retaliation, breach of employment contracts, wage and hour (FLSA) issues, non-competes, unfair competition and misappropriation of trade secrets. Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law, David serves clients litigating before federal and state trial courts and agencies.

His practice also involves counseling clients to comply with employment laws, respond to issues raised by their current employees, and remain competitive by hiring competitively and protecting company assets and information from being improperly disclosed and used by former employees and competitors.

He represented a government unit before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving an alleged violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act's provisions on the required use of compensatory time. In other cases, he has helped obtain summary judgments in the Southern District Court of Texas and in Texas District Courts in cases involving alleged violations of Title VII, ADA, the Texas Commission of Human Rights Act and retaliation. He has also sought and obtained temporary restraining orders (TROs) and Temporary Injunctions (TIs) in state and federal court on behalf of clients seeking enforcement of noncompete, nonsolicitation, and trade secrets and prevented such relief in actions defending clients against such relief.

Some of his recent achievements include the following:

Experience Defending Against Claims of Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation

• ‎Represented an oil field services ‎company by obtaining summary ‎judgment on a breach of contract and ‎fraud claims
• ‎Represented a waste services company ‎in Rhode Island state court and ‎obtained ruling that noncompete was ‎enforceable and that it had been ‎breached  ‎
• Represented a professional sports organization in defending claims of sexual harassment and FLSA violations
• Represented a waste disposal company by obtaining summary judgment for a claim of workers compensation discrimination
• Represented a manufacturer of oilfield products and obtained a summary judgment in Texas state court against a claim of age discrimination by a former employee
• Represented oilfield services company and obtained a summary judgment in the Eastern District of Texas against claims alleging violations of the American with Disabilities Act
• Represented a major manufacturer and obtained summary judgment in the Southern District of Texas regarding alleged violations of Title VII for race discrimination and retaliation and state law claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress
• Represented a premier distributor of beverages and obtained a motion to dismiss in the Southern District of Texas for alleged violations of Title VII for race and gender discrimination and retaliation

Noncompete/Nonsolicit and Trade Secret

• Represented a waste services company by enforcing a noncompete agreement and established it was breached 
• Represented health care client in the defense of a noncompete and nonsolicitation enforcement by obtaining a summary judgment in client’s favor
• Represented an oilfield services company in a trade secret lawsuit against a competitor and obtained a multimillion-dollar jury verdict
• Represented national client and obtained temporary and permanent injunctive relief from a Delaware court in a lawsuit involving claims for breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets
• Represented an oilfield services company in a misappropriation of trade secrets case and obtained jury verdict in its favor
• Represented national client to seek and obtain injunctive relief to enforce noncompete agreement
• Represented an insurance brokerage company to protect its confidential information from misuse by a former employee and competitor
• Defended telemarketing company in a temporary injunction for an alleged unlawful hiring of a senior manager due to a covenant not to compete

Wage and Hour – FLSA

• Represented a governmental unit in front of the U.S. Supreme Court regarding an alleged violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act concerning the required use of compensatory time
• Represented and defended against the certification of a class of approximately 400 former employees seeking unpaid wages and commissions
• Represented an oilfield services client in collective action regarding alleged misclassification of independent contracts as employees in both federal court and arbitration proceedings
• Represented an oilfield services client in a collective action regarding alleged misclassification of exempt employees and improper bonus payments
• Represented an oilfield services client in an arbitration concerning alleged misclassification of an independent contractor 

• Represented a waste disposal company in obtaining a summary judgment in an ERISA claim seeking the denial of benefits
• Represented an industrial client in a denial of benefits claim
• Represented an industrial manufacturing client in a denial of benefits claim by out-of-network providers

David is well versed in the numerous issues stemming from the COVID-19‎ outbreak, such as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), stay-at-home and related orders, and all of their impacts on employers, employees and independent contractors, including critical infrastructure and essential services determinations, paid and unpaid leave, layoffs, pay reductions, reduced hours, furloughs, downsizings, expanded unemployment, and their interaction with numerous local, state and federal laws and regulations. Many of these issues have significant interactions with employee benefits, tax, Small Business Administration, and other issues, where we collaborate closely with our colleagues experienced in those practice areas.