Bronwyn L. Roberts
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
100 High Street, Suite 2400
Boston, MA 02110-1724
USA
Phone: +1 857 488 4218
Fax: +1 857 401 3019
Email: BLRoberts@duanemorris.com

Bronwyn L. Roberts represents businesses and health and educational institutions in employment litigation matters, including the defense of employment discrimination cases, wrongful discharge cases, wage and hour claims, employment contract matters and restrictive covenant litigation. She counsels businesses on employment matters, including the preparation of human resource policies, sexual harassment and other employee investigations, hiring decisions, and reductions in force. She also litigates complex commercial claims for her clients.

Ms. Roberts is a member of the Board of Directors of the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts. She also is a member of the Labor and Employment Law and Commercial Litigation sections of the Boston Bar Association and the Woman Advocate Committee of the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association. Ms. Roberts is a 1997 cum laude graduate of Suffolk University Law School and a graduate of Tufts University.

Representative Matters

• Counseled a physician practice group with respect to Equal Employment Opportunity and affirmative action laws, internal investigations of employee complaints, reporting requirements to the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, and employment hiring and terminations.
• Provided employment counseling to a health center: drafted employee handbooks; advised on discipline, discharge, wage-and-hour and privacy issues; and investigated discrimination and harassment complaints.
• As counsel to an international staffing-solutions company, enforced a nonsolicitation agreement with one of its managers by obtaining a preliminary injunction from the Massachusetts Superior Court.
• Obtained a dismissal for a transportation company sued by former employees for alleged violation of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
• Successfully represented a restaurant in a wage and hour investigation by the Department of Labor.
• Counsel to a national business machine company in successfully enforcing a noncompetition agreement with one of its former salespersons by obtaining a preliminary injunction in Massachusetts Superior Court.
• Successfully represented an employer medical practices group in settling a claim of gender discrimination brought by an employee without the client employer having to come out-of-pocket for any payments.
• Counsel to a food services equipment company in a federal disability discrimination lawsuit. Successfully obtained summary judgment in favor of company dismissing complaint.
• Successfully dismissed a pregnancy discrimination claim against an optical retailer.

Professional Activities

• Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts
  - Board of Directors, 2012-present
  - Business Development Committee, 2006-2010
• American Bar Association
  - Litigation Section
  -- Woman Advocate Committee
  --- Former Chair, Young Lawyer Outreach Subcommittee

Admissions

• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Education

• Suffolk University Law School, J.D., 1997
• Tufts University, B.S., 1993

Experience

• Lane Altman & Owens LLP, Boston, Massachusetts
  - Associate, 1997-2000
• Duane Morris LLP
  - Partner, 2007-present
  - Associate, 2000-2006

Civic and Charitable Activities

• Member, Board of Ambassadors for The Home for Little Wanderers, 2013- Present
• Member, Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers Hearing Committees, current
• Board Member, Beacon Hill Nursery School, 2009-2010
• Tufts University Alumni Association Regional Programs Committee, 2005-2006

Honors and Awards

• Named a Massachusetts Rising Star in the field of employment litigation, 2005-2011

Selected Publications

• Co-author, "The Applicability of the Massachusetts Wage Act Swells in June 2013," Duane Morris Alert, June 24, 2013
• Author, "Massachusetts Passes Legislation Curbing Use of Mandatory Overtime for Hospital Nurses," Duane Morris Alert, August 7, 2012
• Author, "The Devil Is in the Details: General Releases from Employees That Fail to Specifically Refer to Mass. Wage Act Are Insufficient to Release Wage Act Claims ," Duane Morris, January 11, 2013
• Co-author, "Massachusetts Passes Legislation Banning Employment Discrimination Based on Gender Identity Bias," Duane Morris Alert, December 7, 2011
• Co-author, "The Changing Landscape of Competition Law: MA Noncompete Bill Re-Filed," AGC of Massachusetts Newsletter, February 11, 2011
• Co-author, "Reminder: Review Employment Application Forms by November 4, 2010, for Compliance with "Ban the Box" Legislation in Massachusetts," Duane Morris Alert, October 1, 2010
• Co-author, "New Massachusetts Law Requires Employee Notification for Negative Materials Placed in Personnel Records," Duane Morris Alert, September 20, 2010
• Co-author, "You Can't Always Get What You Want (In Physician Medical Records Custody Disputes)," The Journal of Medical Practice Management, March/April 2010
• Chapter Co-author, "Drafting Employment Documents in Massachusetts," Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc., 2010
• Co-author, "Developing Emotional Intelligence to Avoid Traps in a Litigation Practice," The Woman Advocate, Summer 2008
• Author, "Men Are Now Eligible for Maternity Leave Benefits in Massachusetts," Duane Morris Alert, June 17, 2008
• Co-author, "The Morning After: Employment Law and Sarbanes-Oxley," Boston Bar Journal, November/December 2003
• Chapter Author, "How to Hire and Fire in 96 Jurisdictions," Multilaw

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Faculty, "Employment Law Landmines in Social Media," Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Inc., June 2013
• Speaker, "The Use of Social Media Websites in Employment," Duane Morris, June 2012
• Lecturer, Advising Clients on Layoffs, Massachusetts Bar Association, January 2009
• Lecturer, "Recent Developments in Employment Law," Duane Morris Seminar, Spring 2001-2007
• Speaker, "Women's Leadership Academy," Suffolk University, Boston, November 2, 2012
• Faculty, Taking Depositions Workshop, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc., 2007-2009
• Panelist, "Preparing to File a Lawsuit," Massachusetts Bar Association, July 2005