EMPLOYMENT AND INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR AGREEMENTS
Cynthia has extensive experience drafting, negotiating, and litigating employment, independent contractor, and severance agreements on behalf of both individuals and employers. Her years of experience as a business litigator, in which she handled numerous disputes involving employment terminations, severance agreements, violation of covenants not to compete, solicit or disparage, and violation of proprietary rights, has provided her with a keen eye for draft agreements for her individual or employer clients in a way to best protect their interests. For technology and healthcare clients, her deep knowledge of compliance and privacy issues is valuable in ensuring that the agreements meet compliance requirements. She also has extensive experience handling issues pertaining to equity plans, buy-outs, and the establishment of termination as having been for, or not for, cause.
Representative Employment Matters
- Represented on numerous occasions, employers or employees in lawsuits arising out of employment contracts, including claims for severance or enforcement of covenants not to compete, obtaining favorable outcomes for clients.
- In a dispute concerning an executive’s compliance with provisions of employment contract, obtained a preliminary injunction against the honoring of a letter of credit securing the executive’s “golden parachute” severance payment.
- Represented a corporation in the arbitration of a $1.2 million severance claim brought by its former president, and uncovered evidence of the president’s fraud in procuring his employment. The arbitrator ruled in favor of the client corporation on the former president’s claim and required the former president to pay damages to the corporation.
- Represented several employers or employees in Maryland Wage Act claims arising from employer’s non-payment of severance payment upon termination of employment, obtaining favorable outcomes for clients.
- Obtained trial verdict against former employee’s claim for damages under the Maryland Wage Act.
- Represented on numerous occasions, employers or employees in disputes or litigation regarding whether the employee had been terminated without cause and thus were entitled to severance payments, obtaining favorable outcomes for clients.
- Represented on numerous occasions, individuals or employers in negotiation of employment agreements or severance packages, including with respect to non-competes, other covenants, equity awards, or buyouts of restricted stock, obtaining favorable outcome for client.
- Represented on numerous occasions, individuals or employers in negotiations of contractual provisions to protect intellectual property and developments, obtaining favorable outcome for client.
