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Stephanie Quincy is known to her clients for her deep experience handling high-profile employment litigation, including class action and multi-plaintiff lawsuits. Stephanie counsels employers on a variety of employment law matters, including trade secrets, covenants not to compete, wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, and defamation. She represents employers in litigation and administrative matters, including discrimination and harassment charges, Family and Medical Leave Act, and wage and hour complaints before state and federal courts and agencies such as the Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Stephanie advises and guides companies of all sizes on employment issues ranging from discipline and hiring to investigation of complaints and termination. She also educates employers on the Fair Labor Standards Act, Family Medical Leave Act, and Title VII. Stephanie is also Co-Chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Wage & Hour Class and Collective Action Litigation practice and leads the Phoenix office Labor and Employment Group.

Concentrations

  • Discrimination, retaliation and harassment claims including sexual harassment
  • Non-competition agreements and Trade Secrets
  • Wage and hour issues
  • ADA accommodations
  • Family and Medical Leave Act issues

Kompetencje

Doświadczenie

  • Stephanie tried a high-profile discrimination and retaliation case in which the jury returned a complete defense verdict for her client, a hospital company. During the jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona (the Hon. Susan Bolton presiding), the plaintiff claimed that he had reported a sexual assault of a fellow physician by the medical director of the medical center. He ultimately claimed that he was retaliated against for reporting this conduct.°
  • In 2018, Stephanie tried a case on behalf of a large research institution to the Honorable David Campbell, United States District Court for the District of Arizona. The plaintiff was a researcher at the research institution, the world's largest dedicated neurosurgical center and a leader in neurosurgical training, research, and patient care. Plaintiff alleged that she, and every other researcher in a certain category, essentially had "tenure" and could not be fired, except under extremely limited circumstances. She asked for the Court to enter a temporary restraining order to prevent the research institution from firing her, which the Court initially denied. The research institution then asked for an immediate preliminary injunction hearing to challenge this initial order. At the full evidentiary hearing held just weeks later, the research institution was able to convince the Court that the original order had been entered in error and it was legally permitted to end the researcher's employment.°
  • Stephanie represented a clinic in Greeley, Colorado against a plaintiff that worked there. She brought claims for race and national origin discrimination and hostile work environment. Plaintiff claimed that the work environment was so awful because her co-workers openly supported Donald Trump and made comments about Hispanics similar to ones made by him. She failed to comply with court orders, lied about where she was living and working, and attempted to hide the identities of her medical providers. Defendant moved for summary judgment on all of Plaintiff’s claims, and also moved for sanctions based on her conduct during the litigation. The Court granted summary judgment on all claims except for hostile work environment – but expressly held that Plaintiff has no claim for constructive discharge – and granted the motion for sanctions in part. Plaintiff’s emotional distress damages were cut off after January 1, 2019, and she was ordered to pay Defendants’ attorneys’ fees and additional deposition costs. Case settled right before trial.
  • Stephanie led a trial team in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) v. Rent-A-Center, which was tried to a jury in the Central District of Illinois. The EEOC alleged that Rent-A-Center fired Megan Kerr, a transgender woman, based on her transgender status. The case was the first transgender discrimination case taken to trial by the EEOC. After a week-long trial, the jury returned quickly with a complete defense verdict.°
  • Represented Mario Tricoci Hair Salons & Day Spas file suit against its former President of Hair and Beauty Products and its Vice President of Marketing alleging they took and misused trade secrets and breached various contractual and common law duties in simultaneously working for the client and Frederik Fekkai. Given the former positions of the individuals involved, this was high stakes litigation. The United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, the Honorable Matthew Kennelly presiding, ordered extensive expedited discovery, briefing and multiple oral arguments. A ruling on Tricoci’s application for a preliminary injunction resulted in a confidential settlement shortly thereafter.
  • Represented Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salons against plaintiff and 18 other former employees of the flagship location of the Red Door Salon on 5th Avenue in New York. They filed suit in 2011, alleging discrimination based on national origin, age, disability, race, gender, sexual orientation, and retaliation. The allegations stemmed from the hiring of several employees from Frédéric Fekkai Salons, including Zahir Ziani, an internationally recognized stylist. After 8 years of extensive discovery, including over 30 depositions, full expert discovery, and summary judgment briefing, the matter settled.
  • Represented Solterra when a former employee claimed that she had been sexually assaulted by her co-worker in a restroom at work, and that he attempted to sexually assault her again a few days later. After the second incident, she reported everything to human resources, who placed her and the co-worker on leave and began an investigation. Plaintiff also filed a police report and provided a copy to HR. During the investigation, Plaintiff admitted to engaging in some voluntary, consensual sexual acts at the workplace – and she confirmed the same to the police when they interviewed her. Solterra terminated Plaintiff’s employment based on her admitted inappropriate conduct, as well as the employment of her co-worker. Plaintiff brought a charge before the Arizona Civil Rights Division (“ACRD”) claiming sexual harassment, sexual discrimination, and retaliation. The ACRD investigated, found reasonable cause to believe the employer violated the Arizona Civil Rights Act, and filed suit. The agency initially demanded a six-figure settlement and an onerous five-year consent decree. After Defendant pressed discovery including obtaining documents from third parties that put Wheaton’s credibility into question, the parties ultimately resolved the matter with a four-month consent decree with minimal requirements and a nuisance-value monetary amount.
  • Plaintiffs were former high-level employees of Stephanie’s client, a global provider of specialized, aerial services. Not long into their tenure, they hosted a company holiday party at their home. One Plaintiff became belligerently drunk at the party and encouraged employees to drink heavily, disrobe, and do “body shots.” Plaintiff later physically assaulted one of his subordinate employees, leaving him severely bloodied and bruised. When IAR discovered this outrageous behaviour months later, it terminated Plaintiff’s employment. His wife resigned shortly thereafter, claiming constructive discharge. The Plaintiffs sued the company and the owner individually, claiming they were terminated in retaliation for reporting violations of Federal Aviation Administration regulations. Stephanie navigated the case to an early settlement.
  • Stephanie settled a large wage and hour class action matter in California for Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salons. This settlement involved over 1,500 employees and resolved all wage and hour claims going back several years.
  • Represented Envoy Air in several labor and employment litigation matters.
    • Plaintiff worked as a Fleet Service Clerk for Envoy at LAX. She asserted a variety of disability discrimination, reasonable accommodation, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and related claims arising out of her requests for pregnancy-related accommodations and for an extended leave of absence following the expiration of her Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), Pregnancy Disability Leave (“PDL”), and California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) leaves. Plaintiff alleged that the denial of additional leave created problems in her personal life, causing her to attempt suicide. After targeted discovery, Stephanie was able to secure a settlement.
    • Plaintiff is a former employee who alleges that she was sexually harassed including by being sexually assaulted at work by a lead and was fired in retaliation for reporting the harassment. As the case progressed, Plaintiff alleged that her supervisors plotted to fire her after she filed her complaint.
    • Plaintiff sued Envoy alleging race and age discrimination. She was fired for her posts on social media, after being on a final written warning for other violations. She claims that others posted similar comments and had no action taken against them. Given that she is a member of a union, and the claim involves social media posts, it is higher profile and higher stakes than most individual discrimination claims. The case was dismissed on Motion to Dismiss, plaintiff recovered nothing.
    • Plaintiff worked for Envoy as a station agent at Des Moines International Airport. She claimed to suffer from asthma and contact dermatitis, said she could not be exposed to exhaust, chemicals, or passenger luggage, and asked for reasonable accommodations. Envoy worked with Plaintiff to attempt to accommodate her disabilities. With input from Plaintiff’s doctor, Envoy placed Plaintiff in a new position with additional reasonable accommodations. Plaintiff later claimed that her supervisors harassed her by asking that she use the accommodations provided. Plaintiff filed suit against Envoy, two individual lead agents, and her supervisor, alleging race, gender, and disability disparate treatment discrimination, hostile work environment based on race, gender, and disability, failure to accommodate, and retaliation. Right before trial the case settled.
  • Plaintiff was a flight attendant. Despite plaintiff’s representations that she could freely travel and leave and re-enter the United States, she could not due to her immigration status. She is a DACA recipient. The plaintiff worked on a flight from Houston to Mexico and was detained upon her attempted re-entry into the United States. She spent six weeks in a detention center before being released. Her plight was covered extensively in the news and many politicians (including Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders) spoke publicly about her situation. She sued for negligence. After taking the plaintiffs depositions, and engaging in expert discovery, the case settled.
  • Represented airline client when the Department of Labor sued for alleged systemic violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act in how it is calculating, tracking, and handling FMLA by flight crew members. After two years of a compliance audit and two years of discovery the case resolved with no admission of wrongdoing and payment to three (3) employees of a total of less than $12,000.

°Some of the matters above were handled by Stephanie prior to Greenberg Traurig in 2020 and are provided in this nomination as examples of her career experience.

Sukcesy i wyróżnienia

  • Listed, Best Lawyers in America, “Litigation - Labor and Employment , Employment Law - Management, Labor Law - Management,” 2011-2024
  • Listed, Chambers USA, “Labor & Employment – Arizona,” 2008-Present
  • Listed, Lawdragon 500, Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers, 2024
  • Listed, Benchmark Litigation,
    • "Labor & Employment Star," 2022-2024
    • "Litigation Star," 2024
  • AZ Business Magazine
    • Selected, “Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona,” 2016-2024
    • Selected, "AzBusiness Leaders," 2020
    • Selected, “Most Influential Women in Arizona Business,” 2014
  • Listed, Southwest Super Lawyers, “Southwest Super Lawyers - Labor and Employment Law,” 2007-2024
    • Selected, “Top 50 Attorneys in Arizona,” 2009, 2013, 2021-2024
    • Selected, “Top 25 Women in Arizona,” 2013-2024
  • Selected, Arizona Capitol Times, "Women Achievers in Arizona," 2020
  • Member, American Bar Association, 1991-Present
  • Member, Arizona State Bar, 1991-Present
  • Member, Colorado Bar Association, 2000-Present
  • Member, Maricopa County Bar Association, 1991-Present
  • Member, Missouri Bar Association, 1994-Present
  • Board Member, Herberger Theater Center, 2022-Present
  • Volunteer, Capitol School Homeroom Parent, 2015-2017
  • Volunteer, All Saints Episcopal Day School, 2010-2017
  • Volunteer, Madison Simis Elementary School, 2007-2011
  • Organizing Committee Member, Candlelight Capers, 2005-2010
  • Volunteer, Encanto Palmcroft Neighborhood Association, 2004-Present
  • Volunteer, The Trevor Project
  • Volunteer, Arizona Legal Center

Kwalifikacje

Wykształcenie
  • J.D., University of Kansas School of Law
  • B.A., University of Kansas
Posiadane uprawnienia
  • Arizona
  • Colorado
  • Missouri
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • Supreme Court of the United States