Nashville Employment Law and Public Interest Attorneys

The city of Nashville has seen a massive influx in corporations and startups in the past several years amid a decade of tremendous growth. Some of the largest employers in Nashville include Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt University, Nissan North America, HCA Healthcare, Inc., and Saint Thomas Health. As a result, the need for knowledgeable local employment law attorneys has never been higher.

Sanford Heisler Sharp is one of the country’s preeminent plaintiff-side employment firms, and our legal team regularly represents clients against some of the most prominent companies in Tennessee and the United States.  As local counsel, we have roots in the Nashville community. As a sophisticated employment law team, we have a network of law offices around the country to assist us in managing large, complex cases, including class action lawsuits.

Our clients range from factory workers to C-suite executives, and come from a wide variety of industries and employers across the country, including large Fortune 500 companies and quasi-governmental entities like the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority.

Practice Areas

Our Nashville office handles a wide variety of matters. Our employment litigation practice focuses on representing employees in these and other areas:

• Workplace discrimination, including race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, and national origin.
• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• Mismanagement of employee 401(k) and retirement plans
• Internal investigations
• Whistleblowing and retaliation wrongful termination
• Human rights abuses

Our Nashville office also handles a wide range of complex public interest litigations, most notably representing dozens of counties and cities across the nation in their claims against opioid manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies, and pharmacy benefit managers.

Meet Our Local Team

Our Nashville team comprises multiple accomplished lawyers.

Judge Kevin Sharp is Sanford Heisler Sharp‘s Co-Vice Chairman and Co-Chair of the firm’s Public Interest Litigation Group. Prior to joining our firm, Kevin was appointed to the federal bench by President Obama and served on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee from May 2011 to April 2017, including three years as Chief Judge. His career is devoted to serving the public, including fighting harsh mandatory minimum federal sentences. He has put in extensive effort to exonerate Leonard Peltier, the Native American civil rights activist who was wrongfully convicted of killing two FBI agents in 1975 on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation.

Nashville Managing Partner Leigh Anne St. Charles has been named to each Super Lawyers’ Mid-South Rising Stars list since 2020, was named one of the Top 40 Under 40 Lawyers in Tennessee by the National Trial Lawyers Association, was recognized in the 2021 and 2022 edition of The Best Lawyers in America “Ones to Watch” in the field of Employment Law – Individuals, and was named a 2022 Rising Star of the Courtroom by Business Insider.

With an extensive background in complex commercial litigation, Leigh Anne now focuses her practice on plaintiffs-side discrimination and harassment cases, as well as financial services matters. As part of her financial services practice, Leigh Anne represents classes of workers from around the country who have invested through their employer’s 401(k) plan in their claims of breach of fiduciary duty and 401(k) plan mismanagement.

Senior Litigation Counsel Jonathan Tepe was named to Super Lawyers’ 2022 Mid-South Rising Stars list. Jonathan focuses his practice on employment discrimination, public interest litigation, and complex civil litigation, particularly the firm’s representation of dozens of counties and cities across the nation in their claims against opioid manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies, and pharmacy benefit managers.

Associates Michael Lockman, David McNamee, and Kasi Wautlet work on a wide range of matters, including employment discrimination, financial services litigation, public interest litigation, and complex civil litigation.

Corporate Defense Counsel Experience

Most of our Tennessee team has experience working for large corporate defense law firms. This prior experience gives us invaluable insight into how corporate counsel approaches cases. Now we concentrate our efforts on protecting the rights of workers. We know how the defense operates, and we know how to beat them.

Office Location

Our Midtown office is located in the heart of the Nashville, just one block up from Broadway, Nashville’s main thoroughfare. Nearby are several prominent landmarks, including:

• The Ryman
• Bridgestone Arena
• National Museum of African American Music
• Music City Center
• Tennessee State Museum
• First Tennessee Park
• Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park
• Nissan Stadium

Our building is connected to Renaissance Nashville Hotel and Fifth + Broadway, Nashville’s new city attraction with dining and shopping options.

We are conveniently located near highways I-65, I-40, and I-24, as well as the James Robertson Parkway and Ellington Parkway.

We are also on several public bus routes. Parking options include on-street parking as well as a convenient paid parking lot attached to the Nashville Public Library.

Notable Cases

Our manpower and reach make us one of the go-to firms for particularly complex, large or high-profile claims. Some of our notable cases include:

• $8.3 million in arbitration for plaintiff Dr. David Chen against the corporation he co-founded, InnoGrit.
• $2.1 million settlement of FMLA and disability discrimination claim for plaintiff Rob Wigington, the former CEO of Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority.
• Representing dozens of local governments against several pharmaceutical companies, pharmacy benefit managers, distributors and retail pharmacies that contributed to the opioid epidemic.

Our consistent record of achieving favorable settlements and awards has led us to receive acclaim from clients, colleagues, court officials, and the media.

Covid-19 Protocols

We offer flexible scheduling and can set up telephonic or virtual meetings via Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or another video conferencing app. Our Nashville office has two large office spaces which allow for social distancing. We will take every precaution necessary for safety, including wearing face masks.

Schedule a Consultation with One of Our Nashville Team Members

For outstanding counsel that has a reputation for delivering positive results for workers, contact our team at Sanford Heisler Sharp to request an initial consultation.

Testimonials

“The natural choice in representation”

Words cannot adequately express my gratitude to Kevin Sharp and the Sanford Heisler Sharp team in Nashville. Their sound guidance, disciplined approach, expertise and overall dedication to my well-being resulted in a settlement that allowed me to leave a toxic workplace environment involving sexual harassment, discrimination, and an unwillingness to address bad behavior. – Former client

“The highest level of professionalism, integrity, and passionate care for justice”

As a client of Sanford Heisler Sharp, I had the opportunity of working with its attorneys at multiple locations: Ms. Ella Zheng and Mr. Yikai Wang (in San Francisco), Ms. Leigh Anne St. Charles and Messrs. Kevin Sharp and Jonathan Tepe (in Nashville), and Mr. Andrew Melzer (in New York). Collectively the SHS team represented the highest level of professionalism, integrity, and passionate care for justice that I have ever witnessed in my career. … The attorneys and assistants worked through maternity, coronavirus infection, overnight depositions and many other challenges for nearly three years to ultimately deliver a resounding success! – David Chen, former client