Ms. N. Marlene Fleming, Attorney

Marlene Fleming brings 20 years of experience in hospital administration and human resource management to private practice. Most recently, she served as Vice President of Human Resources and Compliance Officer and Legal Advisor for a 192-bed psychiatric hospital and its subsidiaries. She has also served as a human resource administrator for a major medical center and teaching hospital, and operations officer for a life care community and assisted living center. Her health care and employment law practice includes not only regulatory and health care matters affecting health care institutions, but also employment, discrimination and labor law litigation common to other types of businesses as well. She is experienced in Labor Relations and Employee Relations issues involving union and non-union work forces. She counsels employer clients with respect to day-to-day employment and management issues, including labor negotiations, compliance with state and federal regulations, and development of internal management policies and personnel policies, with an emphasis on preventing or avoiding potential future problems.

Ms. Fleming has represented employers and employees in the following issues and disputes:

• Defending a Pennsylvania-based medical practice in a suite filed by an employee seeking to void non-solicitation and non-competition agreements, which included an injunction hearing in Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas.
• Defending a company in a federal case involving allegations of race discrimination, sex discrimination and retaliation by a former employee.
• Defending a union operated health care plan in a contract dispute raising ERISA preemption issues.
• Representing physician and radiology practices in establishing partnership, corporation and limited liability company structures under Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware laws.
• Defending physicians and registered nurses in a Pennsylvania and New Jersey regarding licensure issues, including voluntary recovery program participation.
• Representing physicians in establishing provider status with insurance payors.
• Representing physician employee in age and sex discrimination action before internal board and in EEOC mediation.
• Representing a healthcare provider in a False Claims Act action resulting in a negotiated settlement.
• Representing physician employees in contract negotiations with health care providers.
• Designing, implementing and auditing a corporate compliance program for a psychiatric hospital designed to ensure compliance with employment laws and regulations and Medicare/Medicaid regulations and to minimize financial risk for inadvertent lapses in compliance.
• Successfully resolving a claim brought by the DOL, Occupational Safety Health Administration Review Commission, against a client in a manufacturing industry. The client was able to avoid a potential shutdown of operations and obtain a substantial reduction in civil penalties.

Ms. Fleming regularly advises clients in preventive strategies to ensure compliance with labor, employment and wage and hour laws. In this capacity, she counsels clients to ensure that they maintain an issue-free workplace. She also provides counsel on unlawful discrimination, collective bargaining, employment agreements, arbitration, restrictive covenants, maintenance of union-free workplaces, and day-to-day human resource matters, including the hiring and discharge of employees. She assists companies in developing proper policies and practices aimed at avoiding costly employment-related litigation. She also works with and supports human resources personnel in their decision-making processes. Ms. Fleming can also provide customized training to management on employee relations issues such as harassment based on gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual preference and employee discipline. She can also provide impartial investigations into employee discrimination and harassment complaints and other allegations of employee misconduct.

Ms. Fleming’s practice also involves advice and counsel to professional clients on a variety of issues arising out of health care employment and the employer-employee relationship, including employment contracts, employment policies, discrimination and wage and hour litigation. She counsels employers and employees on hiring, discipline and termination issues, provides advice on policies, procedures and decisions. She routinely counsels executives and front-line managers in all aspects of employment matters. Ms. Fleming has also been successful in helping employers remain union free or, if workers are organized, helping employers to establish successful union-management relationships.

Ms. Fleming’s employee benefits practice includes general representation of employers, including Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) issues for retirement and welfare plans, deferred compensation arrangements and Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) issues.

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