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Fair-workplace.com: Employment Attorney Backgrounds
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Karen Sutherland is the Chair of Ogden
Murphy Wallace’s Employment and Labor Law Practice Group and is a member of
its Litigation Department. Ms.
Sutherland’s employment law experience includes conducting workplace
investigations on issues such as discrimination and harassment based on age,
race, sex, national origin, disability, religion and other issues, hostile
work environment, violations of workplace violence policies, whistleblower
complaints, retaliation, wage and hour laws, employee theft and damage, and
conflict of interest. Ms. Sutherland also serves as an arbitrator for the
King County Superior Court and for the National Arbitration Forum.
Ms. Sutherland represents clients regarding employment and labor issues in
arbitrations, mediations, and other proceedings. She also drafts
Memorandums of Understanding (“MOUs”), employee handbooks, management
guides, and sexual and racial harassment policies; conducts workplace
training, including sexual and racial harassment training and training on
documentation of employee discipline and wage and hour issues, and advises
on Weingarten, Garrity, and Loudermill rights.
Ms. Sutherland was awarded the
2004 Helen M. Guisness Memorial Award for exemplary and distinguished
service on behalf of the King County Bar Association. She
has an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which is its highest rating. She
is a frequent lecturer, author and business advisor on discrimination,
wrongful termination, non-compete agreements, employment law, and workplace
issues, and she writes a monthly column for the King County Bar Bulletin.
Ms. Sutherland is also an accomplished glassblower whose work is in several
local galleries and shops. She has been recognized as a Superlawyer
by Washington Law & Politics and was featured in the March 2006 Washington
CEO Magazine’s cover story, “League of Justice: A Look at Washington’s Most
Amazing Attorneys.” She is also a former Bar Examiner for the Washington
State Bar Association and has been selected for inclusion in the Washington
State Bar Association’s annual “best of” CLE program several times due to
the high ratings she receives as a continuing legal education instructor.
Ms. Sutherland received her J.D. degree from the University of Washington School of Law in 1984 and her B.A. degree
in political science from the University of Washington in 1980. She was
elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1981. She was admitted to Washington
State Bar in 1984, and is also a member of the United States District Court,
Western District of Washington, United States District Court, Eastern
District of Washington and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals bars, and the
King County Bar Association.
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W. Scott Snyder is a member in Ogden Murphy Wallace’s
Employment and Labor Law Practice Group and its Municipal Department. He
has over 25 years of experience, including labor law, wage and hour law,
overtime issues, harassment and discrimination law. He advises employees
and employers on employment contract issues, including non-competition
agreements, nondisclosure agreements, and trade secrets. In addition to
working as an advocate, Mr. Snyder has served as a Special Hearing Examiner
and has conducted workplace investigations. He has appeared before state
and federal administrative agencies and at every level of the judicial
system, from municipal courts to the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Snyder is a frequent public speaker for entities such as the Local
Public Governmental Institute, the Washington State Association of Fire
Chiefs, the Washington State Civil Service Conference and the Washington
State Association of Municipal Attorneys. His pro bono (volunteer) service
includes both individuals and a variety of social service agencies, such as
the Washington Foundation for the Handicapped and Deaconess Children’s
Services. He was a founding participant in the Family Violence and Workplace
Initiatives of the Family Health Institute of the Washington Physicians for
Social Responsibility.
Mr. Snyder attended Dartmouth College on a National Merit-General Motors
Scholarship, receiving his A.B. in English and History. He earned his J.D.
from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1975.
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Greg Rubstello is a member of the firm’s Employment and Labor
Law Practice Group and its Municipal Department. He has extensive
experience in employment and labor law issues such as wrongful termination,
failure to hire, employer/employee relations, rules, regulations and
procedures governing the workplace, employee rights and privacy, and other
aspects of the employment relationship.
Mr. Rubstello has both managed and served as lead investigator in
investigations of alleged sexual harassment, Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) responsibilities and compliance, employee and public official
misconduct (whistleblowing complaints) for the Cities of Lynnwood, Bothell
and Pasco. He has also advised Executive and Department Directors on
personnel decisions including classification and compensation, job analysis,
ADA and Fair Labor Standards Act compliance, recruitment, and personnel
policies at the City of Lynnwood.
Mr. Rubstello is also the past president of the Washington State Association
of Municipal Attorneys (WSAMA). He has been a speaker at WSAMA meetings,
providing education to city attorneys, the Local Government Personnel
Institute (an Association of Washington Cities annual event) on public
employment and labor law issues, the Washington State Municipal Clerks
Association’s Annual Conference on various topics including Ethics, and at
the Annual Civil Service Conference for local Civil Service Commission
Members sponsored by a large Seattle law firm.
Mr. Rubstello received his J.D. in May 1975 from Loyola University and his
Bachelor of Arts, History Major/Speech Minor in January 1972 from the
University of Washington.
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Ms. Belbeck is an associate in Ogden Murphy Wallace’s
Employment and Labor Law Practice Group. Her experience includes addressing
employment law issues such as harassment and discrimination tort and
personnel actions and HIPAA. She provides investigative services, research,
advice and counsel to employees and employers. In addition to her legal
work, Ms. Belbeck is a Commissioner on the Seattle Parks Board of
Commissioners.
Ms. Belbeck received her J.D. degree from the University of Washington
School of Law in 1994 and her B.A. degree from the University of Washington
in 1990. She is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, and has
been named a Rising Star by Washington Law & Politics Magazine.
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E. Ross Farr is a member in the firm’s Employment and
Labor Law Practice Group. Mr. Farr’s practice focuses on employment law and
general litigation, including appellate work. His experience includes
discrimination, harassment, wage and hour issues and unemployment appeals.
Mr. Farr is a member of the Washington State and King County Bar
Associations. He is admitted to practice in Federal District Court for both
the Western and Eastern Districts of Washington.
A Washington native, Mr. Farr received his law degree, magna cum laude,
from Seattle University School of Law in 2001, where he was a note and
comment editor for the Seattle University Law Review. After law
school, Mr. Farr served as judicial clerk to Judge Elaine Houghton of the
Washington State Court of Appeals, Division Two and then to Justice Charles
W. Johnson of the Washington State Supreme Court.
Mr. Farr currently serves as a content editor for the Washington Lawyers
Practice Manual and volunteers at the King County Bar Association's
legal clinics. Mr. Farr was named a Rising Star by Washington Law and
Politics Magazine.
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Emily Harris Gant is an associate in the firm’s Litigation
department, where her practice emphasizes employment law, products
liability, and hospitality concerns.
An Oregon native, Ms. Gant graduated cum laude with honors in History
from Whitman College in 1999. After college, she taught second grade in
rural Mississippi with the Teach for America program. Ms. Gant received her
law degree from the University of Washington School of Law in 2004.
After graduating from law school, Ms. Gant served as a law clerk to the
Honorable Elaine M. Houghton of the Washington Court of Appeals, Division
II. Her professional memberships include the Washington State Bar
Association, the King County Bar Association, and the Washington State Trial
Lawyers Association. Ms. Gant currently serves on the Continuing Legal
Education Committee for the Washington Young Lawyers Division of the
Washington State Bar Association and is a member of the Mentor Committee for
the Future of the Law Institute. She also serves as a liaison to the FLI
Board of Directors.
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