Emily Howard

Emily Howard is a labor and employment litigator with measured experience in litigation and administrative complaints arising out of complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, reasonable accommodation, FMLA and FLSA (and Texas state law counterparts). Additionally, she assists clients in responding to employee complaints to the EEOC, TWC, OSHA and NLRB, including preparation of position statements. Emily also counsels employers on a wide spectrum of employee-related issues, including personnel training and workplace investigations, performance management and discipline, and employee leave (FMLA/ADA) and separation matters (including WARN Act). Emily also works on a variety of contractual matters, including preparing employment, severance, arbitration and independent contractor agreements, employment applications, employee policies and employee handbooks/manuals as well as conducting employment-related due diligence and preparing representations and warranties and employment-related forms and agreements in connection with mergers and acquisitions.

Emily has been Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2021.

Employment-Related Disputes

Lead Associate in:

• Representing national oilwell completions company in defending claims of sex discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation.Representing national resort and timeshare company in responding to administrative complaints to the EEOC and DOL and in providing general employment advice
• Representing international steel company in litigation relating to breach of employment contracts and in responding to administrative complaints of alleged violations of Title VII, the ADA, ADEA and USERRA
• Representing international cybersecurity company in obtaining injunctive relief against former employees and competitor company relating to misappropriation of trade secrets
• Representing gas supply company in obtaining injunctive relief against former employees and competitor company relating to misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of restrictive covenants
• Representing former CEO of health care IT company in arbitration for breach of employment agreement and wrongful termination
• Representing national oilwell completions company in defending allegations of racial discrimination
• Providing advice and guidance to national hospitality company relating to disability accommodation for public accommodations under the ADA
• Representing Grenadian exploration and production company and indemnified vendors in suit for misappropriation of trade secrets; granted special appearance on behalf of defendant

OSHA Matters

• Representing national refining company in four-week trial in Washington against citations for violation of the state's process safety management regulations; representation required knowledge of regulatory requirements and factual and legal defenses and management of expert and fact witnesses and trial team
• Assisting international chemical company with internal investigation following incident relating to release of hazardous materials, including conducting witness interview and interfacing with governmental agencies

Employment Agreements/Contract Disputes

• Negotiating and drafting several executive and other employment agreements and separation and release agreements for companies involved in various industries, including energy, oilfield services, manufacturing, real estate, and hospitality
• Drafting and/or revising numerous restrictive covenant agreements, including non-disclosure, non-competition, and non-solicitation agreements, in connection with equity and asset transactions and independently for employers as part of their on-boarding documentation

Transactional Matters

• Assisting employers to develop employment policies and procedures, including drafting or reviewing full-scale employment handbooks to piecemeal employment policies on a variety of issues ranging from leaves of absences and vacation/sick leave to employee privacy and social media to protection of confidential and trade secret information
• Assisting numerous clients to conduct employment-related due diligence matters and prepare and/or revise employment-related documentation, including representations and warranties, employment agreements, and restrictive covenants, both on the buy and sell side of equity and asset transactions

Emily is well versed in the numerous issues stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak, such as the recent Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) issued by OSHA, vaccination and mask mandates and reasonable accommodations, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), stay-at-home and related orders.

She is knowledgeable about 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.