Scott E. Gross

Scott Gross is a partner in the Litigation Department of Wildman Harrold. He joined Wildman Harrold in 2008 after 19 years at Sidley Austin LLP, where he practiced employment and labor law. For two decades, Scott has counseled companies, large and small, on a wide variety of issues related to employment liability and litigation. He has served as lead counsel in dozens of class and individual cases before both federal and state courts, as well as federal agencies such as the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He regularly defends and advises clients on matters involving company-wide employment practices, federal and state wage-hour requirements, discrimination disputes, ERISA claims, Sarbanes-Oxley and other whistleblower claims, union-management disputes, workplace harassment, corporate restructurings, the Family and Medical Leave Act, drug- and alcohol-testing programs, executive contracts, and non-competition agreements. Some examples of his work include:

Representative Experience:

Prevailed at trial in the Department of Labor and on appeal to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of a nuclear utility in whistleblower litigation filed by a former nuclear fuel engineer
Drafted and implemented a mandatory arbitration program for a nationwide company
Successfully opposed class certification in a class action alleging violations of ERISA. The case ultimately settled on favorable terms to the client.
Conducted a five-week trial in a class action employment discrimination matter which was resolved favorably for the client
Prevailed in numerous arbitrations on behalf of management in union grievances
Obtained a decision from the National Labor Relations Board that certain dispatcher employees of a client were supervisors, thereby preventing a union campaign and election. Scott was lead counsel in the trial before the Board that led to that decision.
Successfully resolved whistleblower litigation filed under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act against various publicly traded companies. One of the complainants was an in-house attorney who sought unsuccessfully to pierce the attorney-client privilege.
Negotiated collective bargaining agreements and assisted management in handling threatened or actual strikes during the negotiations
Participated in the successful resolution of a number of class actions that alleged that various companies’ cash balance plans, a type of defined benefits plan, violated ERISA
Obtained summary judgment in numerous cases alleging race, age, disability, gender, and other forms of unlawful discrimination
Mediated dozens of cases to successful resolution, thus avoiding for his clients the expense and disruptions of litigation
Successfully prosecuted or defended cases throughout the country involving executive contracts, non-competition agreements, and the protection of businesses’ trade secrets and other confidential information
Negotiated and drafted executive contracts and collective bargaining agreements

Publications And Presentations:

Author, "Break and Meal Periods Generate Unique Wage-Hour Challenges for Employers," Wildman Harrold Client Bulletin, November 2008.
Author, “Employers Must Bolster Their Policies Against Retaliation,” The Corporate Counselor, Part I: Vol. 23 No. 3, August 2008; Part II: Vol. 23 No. 4, September 2008.
Author, "While the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 Dramatically Expanded the Universe of Employees Covered by Federal Whistleblower Protections, Employers Received Some Relief in a Recent Court Decision," Wildman Harrold Client Bulletin, November 2008.
Speaker, "Update on ERISA Litigation and Fiduciary Duties," 2008 Employee Benefits Update, Arlington Park Racetrack, May 2008.
Author, "California Employers Cannot Prohibit Former Employees From Soliciting Customers," Wildman Harrold Client Bulletin, September 2008.
Speaker, “Employment and Labor Considerations in Corporate Deals,” Sidley Austin LLP Corporate College, September 2007 and September 2006.
Co-Author, "Congress Amends the Americans with Disabilities Act to Expand Substantially Those Whom It Protects," Wildman Harrold Client Bulletin, September 2008.
Speaker, “Internal Investigations – Avoiding SOX Retaliation Claims,” Joint Conference of Deloitte & Touche and Sidley Austin LLP, March 2006.
Speaker, “Employment and Labor Issues in the European Union,” Illinois Ciber Global Business Seminar, March 2003.
Speaker, “Keeping Employment Disputes Out of Court: Arbitration, Mediation and Other Options,” Sidley Austin LLP Conference, September 11, 2001.
Speaker, “Time Off: State and Federal Laws on Employee Leave, Vacations, and Holidays in Illinois,” Lorman Educational Services Conference, July 2000.
Speaker, “Happy Birthday ADA!”, Management Association of Illinois Conference, April 2000.

Professional Associations:

Illinois State Bar Association

American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law and Litigation Sections

Bar Admissions:

Illinois, 1987

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar member)

Personal Information:

Scott is an elected Board Trustee for the Village of Golf where he and his family reside. He also interviews high school students for admission to Harvard College. Scott enjoys racquetball, scuba diving, movies, reading history, and card games. Scott majored in engineering in college and tries to maintain some of that knowledge by toying with the latest technologies and assisting his children with their science homework.

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