Lynn F. Jacob

Lynn F. Jacob has been defending employers in employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, wage and hour, employee benefit, workplace tort and contractual employment matters for more than 20 years. She concentrates her practice on labor and employment matters. 

Lynn F. Jacob has been defending employers in employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, wage and hour, employee benefit, workplace tort and contractual employment matters for more than 20 years. She concentrates her practice on labor and employment matters. 

Ms. Jacob has extensive litigation experience in federal and local courts in Virginia and the District of Columbia and before federal and state administrative agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor (DOL), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). She serves as lead counsel in litigation involving claims of workplace discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, race, pregnancy and religion, as well as claims of hostile work environments, violations of the Equal Pay Act and the Family Medical Leave Act, defamation, and unlawful retaliation for whistleblowing. She has defended multi-million dollar breach of employment agreement claims and lawsuits alleging violations of ERISA prohibited transaction prohibitions. She was lead counsel in several landmark Virginia Supreme Court decisions limiting exceptions to  the employment at will doctrine including Doss v Jamco, Inc. and Graham v Central Fidelity Bank. Ms. Jacob has represented employers throughout the country in more than a 100 commercial and labor arbitrations.

Ms. Jacob also provides general employment advice to employers on complex legal issues in all areas of employment and traditional labor law. She represents companies throughout the country in all aspects of labor management issues including union avoidance, work stoppages, contract negotiations, grievances and arbitrations. She assists government contractors with all aspects of affirmative action compliance including developing and maintaining affirmative action plans and defending them in OFCCP establishment and headquarters audits. She has lately been spending an increasing amount of time advising employers regarding conducting lawful reductions in force and educating management teams regarding the implications of the Employee Free Choice Act. Ms. Jacob routinely provides proactive advice on employment practices and compliance issues including disability and performance management with the goal of avoiding litigation.

Ms. Jacob works extensively with clients in developing and drafting employment contracts, restrictive covenant agreements and severance agreements and releases as well as prosecuting and defending actions involving breach of non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, employee raiding, misappropriation of confidential information, tortious interference with contract and related business claims.

Ms. Jacob is a sought after member of the Arnett & Associates speakers bureau. She served as a subject matter expert for Playback Media, a provider of interactive e-Learning programs, and her training on preventing sexual harassment in the workplace and wrongful termination are available through MindLeaders.

Ms. Jacob co-founded her firm’s diversity initiative and assists other employers in establishing lawful diversity programs. She is a member of the Virginia Bar Association Labor Relations and Employment Law Section Council and serves as the diversity liaison to the Labor and Employment Section of the American Bar Association for the subcommittee on the Development of the Law under the National Labor Relations Act. She is a contributing editor to the Developing Labor Law, published by the American Bar Association.

Ms. Jacob is a College of Labor & Employment Lawyers Fellow. She is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Virginia Business magazine’s “Legal Elite,” has been named a “Super Lawyer” for Employment & Labor, 2009 by Virginia Super Lawyers magazine, and has been named a top-ranked Labor & Employment attorney by Chambers USA. Martindale Hubbell has rated Ms. Jacob an AV attorney, its highest rating available.

Ms. Jacob received her juris doctor degree from the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond and her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia.