W. Eric Baisden maintains a national labor and employment practice which includes representing employers in all areas of employment and labor relations, as well as related employment litigation, in federal and state trial and appellate courts in 39 states.

Eric has significant first chair experience in protecting employers from unfair competition, litigating the enforceability of restrictive covenants and confidentiality agreements, including obtaining and opposing TROs and preliminary injunctions. Eric also litigates claims of wrongful discharge and discrimination, including ADA, age, race, pregnancy, gender and sexual harassment and intentional torts. He litigates cases under ERISA, including preemption, benefit denials, retaliation, and multi-employer pension fund issues, and claims to enforce or construe executive compensation and change of control agreements in connection with corporate mergers and acquisitions. His experience also includes legal proceedings regulating picketing and other organizational conduct of non employee union organizers and pickets and strike contingency planning, including TRO and preliminary injunction hearings regulating strike activities and striker misconduct.

Eric defends employers in administrative proceedings before the Department of Labor, including numerous wage and hour audits, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, including several fatal accident and egregious penalty cases. He represents employers before the National Labor Relations Board and its Division of Advice, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and state administrative agencies in connection with charges of discrimination. He also regularly represents experts in arbitration hearings dealing with contract interpretation issues, discipline, wrongful discharge and discrimination.

Eric regularly counsels both union and non union employers on wage and hour compliance, representation elections, contract negotiations, third party avoidance, discipline, leaves and terminations. He advises clients on the implementation of personnel practices, including drafting and revising employee guides, applications, training materials, harassment policies, ADA compliance, drug testing policies and in house investigations of drug use, and large scale reductions in force. Additionally, Eric is experienced in training client personnel in the implementation and application of personnel policies, third party avoidance and internal investigations.

He advises employers on employment eligibility and I-9 compliance, counseling the company and providing training to the human resource professionals on best practices to ensure that the company complies with employment eligibility verification requirements while avoiding immigration discrimination violations. He also is experienced conducting I-9 self-audits and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on-site audits.

Eric maintains offices in both Cleveland and Columbus.