• Trial lawyer
• Class & collective actions
• Labor & employment
  • Discrimination, harassment and retaliation cases
  • Sarbanes-Oxley and whistleblower cases
  • Executive employment agreements and compensation
  • Wage & hour cases
  • OSHA and WARN compliance
  • Union campaigns and arbitrations
  • Airline and railroad industry expertise
• Constitutional law
• Healthcare litigation
• Noncompete, trade secrets and intellectual property cases
• Consumer protection litigation
• ERISA litigation
• Qui Tam litigation
• Partnership and business disputes
• Representing municipalities

• Defended Emory University in contentious dispute with expelled medical student. After lengthy discovery, and repeated attempts by the student to publicly paint himself as a wronged whistleblower, the DeKalb Count Superior Court granted summary judgment on all claims and found that the student was properly expelled for misconduct. The opinion was recently affirmed by the Georgia Court of Appeals. See attached opinions issued in Kuritzky v. Emory University. 
• Currently defending the Board of Directors of United States Sugar Company and certain other defendants in four putative ERISA and shareholders’ class actions filed in the Southern District of Florida.  The plaintiffs allege that U.S. Sugar, its Board of Directors, and other defendants withheld material information regarding an offer to purchase all of the stock of U.S. Sugar in an effort to (1) avoid losing their positions with U.S. Sugar, (2) cash-out employees who participate in an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“ESOP”) at artificially low prices, and (3) increase the founding Mott-White family’s ownership and control of U.S. Sugar at the employees’ expense.  The cases have received national media attention as the plaintiffs are seeking more than $150 million in damages.
• Defending a publishing company in a collective action brought on behalf of all hourly employees alleging that the Company manipulated reported hours to reduce overtime pay.
• Defeated efforts by the International Union of Operating Engineers to organize a HydroChem Industrial Services facility in South Texas.  The Company was unaware of the organizing campaign until after a petition was filed with the NLRB.  We successfully argued that the one facility unit proposed by the Union was inappropriate and that a multi-facility unit, which was approximately five times larger, was the proper bargaining unit.  The Company ultimately won the campaign by a margin of 2-to-1.
• Resolved a race discrimination and racial harassment class action filed against Northwest Airlines which was taken over from another law firm after the case had been settled on a class-wide basis. The settlement agreement required all class members who did not opt-out of the settlement to arbitrate their individual claims within a six-month period of time.  Mr. Wozniak acted as lead coordination counsel for all arbitration cases that resulted from the settlement, and acted as lead trial counsel for more than a dozen of the cases.  All cases were timely arbitrated with complete defense awards being obtained in all but three cases.  Minimal recoveries were made by those three claimants.
• Defended Parisian Department Stores against a nationwide class action alleging race discrimination in the Company's pay, evaluation, and promotion practices.  We obtained a dismissal of all class claims without the plaintiff obtaining any class discovery.
• Defended a Fortune 100 company in an ERISA class action filed in the District of New Jersey alleging a multitude of benefits and breach of fiduciary duty claims in connection with the Company's administration of a medical plan and the plan's reimbursement of out-of-network medical expenses.  The plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed our client after motions to dismiss and/or to compel arbitration were filed.
• Obtained a two-year permanent injunction barring a former Vice President of Sales from competing against American Pad & Paper (AMPAD).  The injunction required the former employee to terminate his employment with a competitor.  We also brought claims of tortious interference with contract and misappropriation of trade secrets against the competitor and obtained a favorable, confidential settlement.
• Successfully defended a U.S. airline against a nationwide class action filed in the Western District of Tennessee alleging race discrimination in all of the airlines' employment practices and a racially hostile work environment.
• Arbitrated a breach of employment contract case brought against a senior executive of a corporate client.  The executive's former employer alleged that he owed it in excess of $200,000 at the time he resigned.  We defended the case and asserted counterclaims for breach of contract and constructive discharge.  After a multi-day arbitration, an award was entered in favor of the executive on all claims and he was awarded more than $400,000 on his counterclaims.
• Defended a healthcare entrepreneur and two of his companies against a number of tort, breach of contract, and breach of non-compete agreement claims brought by the purchase of the entrepreneur's medical device business. After we obtained a dismissal of several claims, and won some critical discovery motions, the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed all remaining claims.  The Court ordered the plaintiff to pay more than $150,000 in fees and expenses.
• Tried a case involving claims for breach of contract, unfair competition, employee pirating, misappropriation of trade secrets and quantum merit in the Eastern District of Virginia.  After a week long trial, a favorable judgment was entered in favor of our client.
• Defeated motions for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in a case which sought to prevent an employee from working for one of our medical device clients.  The case settled on favorable terms after the court denied the plaintiff's motions and we sought to dismiss several of the plaintiff's claims.
• Currently defending multiple companies in collective actions alleging minimum wage, overtime or missed meal period violations.
• Represented the City of Columbus in the appeal of multi-million dollar jury verdict against the City.  The plaintiffs had prevailed on a number of First Amendment, Due Process and Equal Protection claims.  The verdict was reversed and the plaintiffs later settled for a small percentage of the original verdict.

• Member, American Bar Association, Litigation and Labor & Employment Sections
• Member, State Bar of Georgia, Litigation and Labor & Employment Sections
• Member, Atlanta Bar Association
• Member, American Health Lawyers Association
• Member, Defense Research Institute
• Past Member, Board of Directors, Anti-Prejudice Consortium
• Volunteer, Atlanta Volunteers Lawyer Foundation
• Volunteer, Atlanta Legal Aid
• Volunteer, Georgia Special Olympics

• Listed, Chambers & Partners USA Guide, an annual listing of the leading business lawyers and law firms in the world, 2007 and 2008 editions
• AV® Peer Review Rated (CV, BV and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies.)
• Listed, "Georgia Rising Star," Atlanta Magazine and Law Politics
• Recognized by Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation for obtaining $200,000 judgment on behalf of indigent client evicted from his residence

Articles

• Quoted in numerous articles appearing in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Fulton County Daily Report, National Law Journal, Employment law 360 and other publications
• Quoted in article, "Fire Away: The Right Way To Get Rid Of The Wrong Employee," appearing in Modern Medicine, September 5, 2008
• Author, “Supreme Court Recognizes Implied Prohibitions on Retaliation in Employment,” SHRM-Atlanta The eHuman Resource, August 29, 2008
• Co-author, “Department of Labor and IRS to Target Employers Who Misclassify Their Workers as Independent Contractors,” SHRM-Atlanta The eHuman Resource, July 31, 2008
• Author, “Supreme Court Recognizes Implied Prohibitions on Retaliation In Employment,” Birchtree Quarterly, July 8, 2008
• Quoted in article “Explanation for Termination” appearing in image, vol. 21, no. 26 - June 30, 2008
• Author, "Unions retool message to organize nurses," Managed Healthcare Executive, April 1, 2008
• Author, "Violence In the Workplace," QSR Magazine, April 2008  
• Author, "Get Your Act Together," Retail Merchandiser, April 1, 2008
• Author, "ERISA Class Actions On The Rise," Atlanta Bar Labor & Employment News, Spring 2007 
• Author, "Class-Wide Punitive Damages Awards: Did the Cart Get Before The Horse?" 4 Bender's Labor & Employment Bulletin 349, 360-67, August 2004
• Author, "Department of Labor Takes Aim at FLSA White Collar Exemptions," Atlanta Bar Labor & Employment News, Spring 2004  
• Author and speaker, "Protecting Employees And Employers From Violence In The Workplace," The Seminar Group, October 2007
• Author and speaker, "Lawfully Managing Student Records Without Violating Privacy Rights," National Business Institute, October 2007

Speeches

• Speaker, "Overcoming Obstacles Presented By Difficult Adversaries and Temperamental Judges," ABA Section of Labor & Employment Law, Employment Rights and Responsibilities Committee, March 2007
• Author and speaker, "Protecting Employees And Employers From Violence In The Workplace," The Seminar Group, October 2007
• Author and speaker, "Lawfully Managing Student Records Without Violating Privacy Rights," National Business Institute, October 2007 
• Author and speaker, "Restrictive Employment Covenants: A State-by-State Approach To Enforcement," October 2005 and April 2006
• Author and speaker, "Georgia Wage & Hour Regulations And Recent Developments," National Business Institute, April 2005
• Author and speaker, "Recent Developments in Federal Wage & Hour Law," February 2004