Arbitrator Service
G. Thomas Harper
Employment Law Arbitrator
Tom
Harper is "av" rated
by Martindale Hubble and has 30 years of experience as
a labor relations and employment law attorney. He has
tried employment cases before juries in each of the Federal
District Courts of Florida. He has litigation experience
in a wide variety and large number of cases, including
numerous jury and non-jury trials before Federal and
State Courts and Administrative Agencies. Mr.
Harpers Trial Experience.
Mr. Harper has also
served as an expert witness on attorney's fees in federal
court in employment cases. He also brings experience as
having represented both employees and employers. His background
and experience makes Mr. Harper uniquely qualified to serve
as a neutral in workplace disputes.
Mr. Harper is an approved
Arbitrator for the Seventh (St. Johns, Flagler and Volusia
Counties), Thirteenth (Hillsborough County) and Seventeenth
(Broward County) Judicial Circuits of Florida. He has received
Arbitrator Training approved by the Florida Supreme Court
as well as Advanced Arbitrator Training.
Tom Harper truly understands
the laws that affect the workplace. For the past 20 years
he has served as Editor of the Florida Employment Law Letter.
(Recent Employment Law Developments). This monthly newsletter
has over 800 subscribers.
Mr. Harper has authored numerous articles and publications
on labor and employment law topics. Some of his publications
are available at the HR
Store.
Mr. Harper is an Adjunct
Instructor for the University of North Florida, Division
of Continuing Education, where he teaches programs to business
owners, managers and supervisors on labor and employment
law topics. He is the current Chair of the Labor and Employment
Law Committee for the Jacksonville Bar Association.
Mr. Harper is also trained
and experienced in other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution
(ADR). He is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit
Court Mediator. He is an Approved Mediator for all Florida
Circuit Courts and for the U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Florida. Mr. Harper also understands
the value of employment-related cases since he has maintained
for years a record of jury verdicts in employment cases
in Florida.
Mr. Harper's Profile
Mr. Harper's Practice
Areas
Mr. Harper handles cases involving
the full range of statutory and contract claims under
employment ADR systems, individual employment contracts
and collective bargaining agreements. As an employment
attorney he has handled claims of discrimination
(race, sex, religion, age, disability and national
origin), sexual harassment and claims under the Family
and Medical Leave Act. He is an experienced wage
hour litigator and handles cases on wage payment,
breaches of individual employment contracts, drug
testing, wrongful termination, retaliation claims,
OSHA and non-compete litigation. He handles cases
of contract interpretation, collective bargaining,
jurisdiction, seniority and “just cause” and “for
cause” discipline and terminations.
Mr. Harper has worked with and handled employment
matters in a wide variety of industries including:
automotive manufacturing, steel fabrication,
agriculture, citrus, mining, furniture manufacturing,
defense contractors, education, manufacturing,
food service, hotels, trucking and logistics,
warehousing, retail, insurance, construction,
home building, health care, mortgage and financial
services, paper and linerboard manufacturing,
wood products, cellular communications, non-profits,
poultry processing, staffing, employee leasing
and Professional Employer Organizations, public
sector, stevedoring, long shoring and commercial
shipping, marketing, publishing and numerous
businesses in the service industry.
An Arbitration Program for Your Company/ADR
Programs
Most courts today are enforcing arbitration agreements
between companies and their employees. Resolving
an employment dispute through arbitration saves
time and money. It is less formal and more efficient
than court litigation. An employee has the full
range of legal remedies and the dispute can often
be decided within 3-6 months.
As a trained Arbitrator and a Board Certified
Labor and Employment lawyer, Tom Harper
and the lawyers of Harper Gerlach are uniquely-suited
to assist your company in setting up arbitration
and ADR (Alternative Dispute Programs)
programs which can help protect your
company from being hailed into court in
the first place.
Resources:
Recent Employment Developments
American Arbitration Association, Employment Dispute
Resolution Rules
To Contact Mr. Harper:
G. Thomas Harper
Harper Gerlach, PL
4110 Southpoint Boulevard
Suite 228
Jacksonville, Florida 32216
Telephone: (904) 296-7000
Fax: (904) 296-7303
Mobile: (904) 607-1045
E-Mail: gth@harpergerlach.com
