Daniel J. Clark
Practice Areas
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Labor and Employment
- Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation
- Employer Internal Investigations
- Employment Litigation
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Employment Relations, Policies, and Regulatory Practice
- Covenants Not to Compete and Trade Secrets
- Drug and Alcohol Policies and Testing
- Employee Discipline and Termination
- Employment Counseling
- Employment Policies and Manuals
- Equal Employment Opportunity
- Family and Medical Leave Act
- Management Training
- Wage and Hour/Fair Labor Standards Act
- Whistleblower Protection
- Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act ("WARN")
- Workplace Harassment, Including Sexual Harassment
- Labor/Management Relations
- Litigation
Industries
Education
- The Ohio State University, Michael E. Moritz College of Law, J.D., 2002, with Honors
- Wittenberg University, B.A., 1999, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Bar & Court Admissions
Dan is a partner in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the labor and employment group. He has significant experience with ERISA litigation, employment discrimination cases, wage and hour class actions and collective actions, collective bargaining, and traditional labor disputes.
His notable experience includes:
- Successfully defending plan sponsors in ERISA breach of fiduciary duty litigation
- Defending clients in nationwide Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions
- Successfully representing plan sponsors in litigation challenging benefit determination
- Representing multiemployer plans and employers in delinquent contribution and withdrawal liability matters
- Obtaining a judgment in favor of a national employer in a case of race discrimination brought by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission
- Negotiating numerous collective bargaining agreements for manufacturers
Dan has lectured on topics relating to harassment training, employee relations, workplace investigations, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Dan is also a member of Vorys' drone and autonomous vehicle working group.
Dan received his J.D. with honors from The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law. He also participated in the Ohio State Summer Law Program at Oxford University in 2000. He received his B.A. summa cum laude from Wittenberg University where he received the Jeffery Mao Award in Political Science and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Professional and Community Activities
- The Children's Center for Development Enrichment, Board Member
- Lettuce Work, Board Member
- Ohio Supreme Court, Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentor
Honors & Awards
- Columbus CEO, Top Lawyers in Columbus, 2015
- Ohio Super Lawyers Rising Stars, Employment & Labor, 2010, 2013-2016
News
- 12/2/2015Vorys is pleased to announce that 63 attorneys from the firm have been named 2016 Ohio Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.
- 5/19/2015Dan Clark, a partner in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the labor and employment group, was quoted in a Law360 story titled “Lawyers Weigh In On High Court ERISA Ruling.”
- 12/3/2014Vorys is pleased to announce that 74 attorneys from the firm have been named 2015 Ohio Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.
- 12/4/2013Eighty-one attorneys from Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP have been named 2014 Ohio Super Lawyers and Rising Stars. 57 Vorys attorneys were named 2014 Ohio Super Lawyer and 24 Vorys attorneys were named 2014 Ohio Rising Stars.
- 1/2/2013Vorys announced that Matthew E. Albers, Tiffany Bingham Briscoe, Daniel J. Clark, Whitney C. Gibson, Robert J. Krummen, Christina M. Lyons, Joseph B. Mann, Timothy B. McGranor, Adam L. Miller, Ariel A. Mullin, William H. Oldach, III, Nicholas M.J. Ray, and Michael J. Settineri have been named partners of the firm.
- 12/17/2012Seventy-Seven attorneys from Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease have been named 2013 Ohio Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.
- 12/22/2009
Events
- 10/1/2020Vorys Partners Dan Clark and Jackie Ford joined Trisha Corbin, Senior Corporate Counsel for Safelite Group, Inc., for a webinar on October 1, 2020 hosted by Lexology that addressed HR-related challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 4/16/2020The fifth installment of Vorys' multi-disciplinary webinar series on the various business and legal implications of the coronavirus (COVID-19) took place on Thursday, April 16, 2020.
- 4/15/2020In this Vorys at Work webinar on April 15, 2020, Vorys attorneys Dan Clark, Michael Ball and Akilah Craig answered the questions they are frequently fielding from our unionized clients and provided tips to reduce risk during these unprecedented times.
- 3/18/2020Vorys hosted a complimentary webinar as a part of the Vorys at Work labor and employment law webinar series titled, “Coronavirus Considerations for Employers” on March 18, 2020.
- 10/16/2019The Vorys benefits team hosted the inaugural Vorys Benefits Conferences in Cincinnati on September 11, 2019 and in Columbus on October 16, 2019. These conferences were designed and developed specifically for in-house benefits professionals.
- 1/20/2016Vorys Partner Dan Clark presented "Recent litigation in Multi-Employer Pension Funds Since the 2014 Pension Reform Act" to the members of the Columbus Bar Association's Employee Benefits Committee on January 20, 2016.
- 11/20/2015Vorys attorneys Dan Clark, Lisa Forbes and Greg Russell were speakers at the Oil and Gas Update hosted by the Ohio State Bar Association Natural Resources Law Committee on November 20, 2015.
- 3/11/2013Several Vorys attorneys presented at the seminar, HIPAA, HITECH and Confidentially Training, on March 11, 2013. The training seminar was hosted by the Ohio Council of Behavioral Health & Family Services Providers.
- 11/8/2012Vorys attorneys Craig Auge and Dan Clark presented on employment law and technology at the TechColumbus HR Executive Forum on November 8, 2012 at the Polaris Brio.
- 12/13/2011
- 9/27/2011
Insights
- 11/12/2020On November 9, 2020, the Supreme Court announced that it would not reconsider the case of Retirement Plans Committee of IBM v. Jander, which the Court remanded to the Second Circuit in its last term.
- 8/25/2020This is the second part of our three-part series reviewing ERISA cases decided this term by the U.S. Supreme Court.
- 8/7/2020In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress enacted the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).
- 7/23/2020Beginning on Thursday, July 23, 2020, at 6:00 p.m., a statewide mask mandate will go into effect for those living in all 88 Ohio counties.
- 6/25/2020Earlier this month, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case of Thole v. U.S. Bank, holding that participants in defined benefit pension plans do not have standing to bring breaches of fiduciary duty claims under ERISA unless and until their own benefit has actually been impacted.
- 6/24/2020On June 16, 2020, Governor Mike DeWine signed Executive Order 2020-24D, which provides several circumstances that will now constitute “good cause” for refusing suitable work during the pandemic.
- 6/4/2020Now that employees are returning to work and businesses are reopening their doors to customers, many businesses are searching for ways to limit liability relating to potential COVID-19 infections. To that end, some employers are considering whether to require COVID-19 liability waivers for their employees, customers, contractors, and other visitors to their facilities.
- 4/15/2020In this Alert, we summarize the EEOC’s most recent guidance on employers’ ADA obligations concerning reasonable accommodation and telework. Importantly, the EEOC notes that the answers to these questions may change as the risks presented by COVID-19 decrease.
- 4/14/2020The EEOC made clear in a recent webinar that “in this extraordinary time, the laws enforced by the EEOC -- Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act -- continue to apply.”
- 3/19/2020On March 18, 2020, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act was approved by Congress and signed by President Trump. There are a number of provisions in the law that will directly impact many employers. Key portions of the bill are discussed in this alert.
- 3/16/2020The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued guidance on wage-hour concerns under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in light of COVID-19.
- 3/16/2020On March 15, 2020, Governor Mike DeWine issued an executive order expanding unemployment benefits for employees whose workplaces are shutdown or who are quarantined as a result of COVID-19.
- 3/12/2020The last pandemic was the H1N1 outbreak in 2009. At that time, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued “Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act.” The EEOC has directed that its 2009 guidance applies to COVID-19.
- 7/26/2019In August 2015, the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, enacted the Paid Sick Days Act (PSDA).
- 10/17/2018In California, a court is prohibited from entering an order in a civil action that restricts disclosing this information and such a provision entered into on or after January 1, 2017, void as a matter of law and against public policy. Senate Bill 820 expands this prohibition.
- 5/2/2018To the consternation of employers, New Jersey has had a patchwork of 13 local paid sick leave ordinances.
- 4/13/2018The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (with jurisdiction over Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee) recently held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects transgendered (or transitioning) status.
- 4/9/2018New Jersey recently enacted the “Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act” to significantly expand the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) with respect to pay equity.
- 9/13/2017In August 2017, an Ohio federal court certified a class of 7,000 American Family Insurance agents who claimed they were misclassified as independent contractors.
- 9/1/2017On August 31, 2017, the federal district court in Texas invalidated the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) overtime rule.
- 8/9/2017Delaware recently enacted a law prohibiting employers from inquiring into applicants’ salary histories. According to the legislation, “when employers ask prospective employees for their wage or salary history, it perpetuates disparities in pay based on gender from one job into another.”
- 7/26/2017In July 2017, San Francisco joined New York City, Philadelphia, Delaware, Massachusetts, and Oregon in banning employers from asking applicants about their salary history.
- 7/19/2017The Pennsylvania Files Act (PFA) requires an employer to permit an employee to inspect his or her personnel files used to determine the employee’s qualifications for employment, promotion, additional compensation, termination, or disciplinary action.
- 5/15/2017A federal court recently ordered an employer, WellStar Health System Inc., to pay $750,000.00 to a former employee’s widow for breaching its fiduciary duty in administering its group life insurance plan.
- 8/5/2016Most employers have a sexual harassment policy, usually contained in an employee handbook.
- 7/28/2016The Nevada Supreme Court recently refused to apply the “blue pencil” doctrine to modify an overbroad noncompete agreement.
- 3/21/2016Employers in Ohio dodged a bullet last week. In a 5-2 ruling, the Ohio Supreme Court decided that a 2006 constitutional amendment increasing the minimum wage did not eliminate previously applicable exclusions and exemptions to the minimum wage requirement.
- 8/24/2015Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania granted preliminary approval to a $6 million class and collective action settlement between Calfrac Well Services Corp. and a class of about 1,300 fracturing, cement, and coil operators. The plaintiffs worked as field operators in Pennsylvania, Colorado, North Dakota, and Arkansas and were paid according to a complicated formula that included a salary, bonuses, and overtime. The case centered on how the operators’ regular rate of pay (the rate which provides the basis for the time-and-a-half overtime premium) should be calculated.
- 7/20/2015A recent opinion from the federal district court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania determined that drivers who transported water to drilling rigs were not exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) or Pennsylvania law.
- 5/18/2015On May 18, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held in the case of Tibble v. Edison International that fiduciaries of an ERISA plan have a continuing duty to monitor investments and to remove imprudent ones. This decision continues a recent trend in which the Court has demonstrated its willingness to overturn courts of appeals in ERISA cases.
- 5/1/2015On April 29, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that courts may review the EEOC’s conciliation efforts that are a prerequisite to the EEOC’s filing suit against an employer under Title VII. The Court recognized that the EEOC has “expansive” and “abundant” discretion in how to conduct conciliation efforts and when to end them. Consequently, while courts may evaluate whether the EEOC has attempted conciliation, the scope of that judicial review is limited and “relatively barebones.”
- 4/8/2015The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced the results of a 2014 enforcement initiative that focused on the oil and gas industry in New Mexico and west Texas. According to the DOL, it recovered more than $1.3 million owed to some 1,300 employees as a result of this investigation. This is not the first DOL foray into wage-and-hour practices within the oil and gas industry. In December 2014, the DOL announced that employers engaged in natural gas extraction in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania and West Virginia agreed to pay $4,498,547 in back wages to 5,310 employees.
- 3/9/2015With Governor Scott Walker’s signature today, Wisconsin has become the latest state to enact a right-to-work law. Indiana and Michigan last did so in 2012. Wisconsin brings the total number of right-to-work states to 25.
- 2/20/2015Under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), an employer can be liable for hostile work environment harassment in two ways. First, an employee can assert a cause of action directly against the employer for negligently or recklessly causing the hostile environment. Second, the employer can be vicariously liable for the acts of its supervisors. The New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Aguas v. State, 2015 N.J. LEXIS 131 (2015), significantly impacts the state’s employers when it comes to defending against that second theory of sexual harassment and reinforces the importance of effective anti-harassment procedures.
- 12/4/2014The use of independent contractors in the oil and gas industry is typical and its advantages are obvious. However, decisions about when and how to use independent contractors might be made without full consideration of potential problems or the ever-looming and potentially significant risks of misclassification.
- 10/15/2014One of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) enforcement priorities is to target policies that discourage or prohibit individuals from exercising their rights under employment discrimination statutes or that impede the EEOC's investigative or enforcement efforts. Recently, the EEOC has targeted settlement provisions that appear to prohibit filing EEOC charges or that appear to restrict the ability of an employee to provide the EEOC with information to assist in investigating and prosecuting discrimination claims.
- 3/13/2009