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William J. Anthony is a Partner in the Albany, New York and Hartford, Connecticut offices of Jackson Lewis LLP. Mr. Anthony earned a B.A. from Hamilton College in 1985 and graduated from Boston University School of Law in 1989. Upon graduation, he joined the San Francisco office of Jackson Lewis, transferred to the firm's Morristown office in 1991 and was named Managing Partner of the firm’s Hartford office in 2000. Mr. Anthony served as Managing Partner of the Hartford office until 2008 and on the firm’s Management Committee for a number of years. Mr. Anthony is the Chair of the firm’s National Class Action Practice Group. He is a Past President of the Connecticut Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity and currently serves on its Board of Directors. He co-authored "What to do When Workers Can't Work", (New Jersey Law Journal, April 11, 1994), “Defending claims of Retaliatory Discipline” (Connecticut Law Tribune, April 19, 2004), “Potential Disaster: The Employee Blogger” (Connecticut Law Tribune, January, 2007), “The Danger of Bringing Stereotypes to Work” (Connecticut Bar Association Labor & Employment Law Quarterly, Spring 2007), and “Be Careful When Reining in Social Media Use” (Connecticut Law Tribune, October 25, 2010). He is a member of the State Bar of California (inactive), the State Bar of New Jersey and the State Bar of Connecticut. In both 2006 and 2007, Mr. Anthony was designated a “Connecticut Super Lawyer”, and in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 a “New England Super Lawyer”. Most recently, Mr. Anthony was listed in the 2010 and 2011 Chambers USA Legal Guide as a “Leader in his Field”. He was also given the Hartford Business Journal’s Leadership in Diversity Award in 2010.
Class and Collective Action Experience
Mr. Anthony has handled numerous class and collective actions including wage and hour claims alleging claims for improper payment of bonuses, misclassification of customer service employees, dispatchers, assistant retail managers, time share resort salespeople, pharmaceutical sales representatives and installation technicians and failure to pay minimum wage to tipped employees. Mr. Anthony has handled class and/or collective actions in CT, MA, NJ, PA, IL, FL, TN, CA and WA. Results in those cases include:
- Defeated conditional certification of a nationwide class of pharmaceutical sales representatives in U.S.D.C. for the District of Miami.
- Defeated conditional certification of a nationwide class of pharmaceutical sales representatives and obtained summary judgment against the plaintiff for breach of contract which included a class action waiver in U.S.D.C. for the Northern District of Illinois.
- In another national pharmaceutical sales representative case, compelled transfer of a collective action based on a forum selection clause to a Circuit which previously ruled on two occasions that such representatives are administratively exempt.
- Obtained court ordered dismissal of a nationwide class claim alleging wrongful withholding of wages pursuant to the company’s bonus plan based on the differences in various state laws as to when or if a bonus constitutes a “wage” within the meaning of the law;
- Secured voluntary withdrawal of a class claim for violation of the OWBPA’s provisions regarding group releases after deposition of the plaintiff demonstrated incompatibility between the interests of the named plaintiff and the class members’ interests;
- Defeated class certification in two cases related to tipped employees on the basis that the Rule 23 standards were not met and individual interests predominated;
- Obtained extremely favorable resolution of nationwide misclassification claim related to assistant retail managers after conditional certification was granted;
- Obtained dismissal of various state law claims from a nationwide FLSA collective action;
- Obtained voluntary withdrawal of nationwide collective action to include individuals residing only in the state where the case was venued after early and aggressive communications with plaintiffs’ counsel.
Litigation Experience
Mr. Anthony has been defending employment claims for more than twenty years in a number of federal and state courts around the country. He has helped clients obtain many dismissals and favorable results during that time. Mr. Anthony has trial experience in several states, including Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Montana. He has tried cases involving claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, failure to pay wages and a variety of other statutory and common law issues.
Employment Law Counseling and Training
Mr. Anthony advises clients on the full range of employment law issues and provides training on management skills, discrimination, harassment, wage/hour and disabilities management issues.
Related News
"Game-changing Wal-Mart ruling may mean fewer, smaller, more narrowly focused class actions" [Labor Law Reports "Insights"] (quotes William Anthony)
Published Works
Articles |
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| "Potential Disaster: The Employee Blogger" Connecticut Law Tribune (January, 2007) [Co-Author] |
| "Defending Claims of Retaliatory Discipline" Connecticut Law Tribune (April, 2004) [Co-Author] |
| "What To Do When Workers Can't Work" New Jersey Law Journal (April, 1994) [Co-Author] |
Honors, Awards and Pro Bono Activity
- Selected for inclusion in 2010 Connecticut Super Lawyers
