Employment Discrimination

Alexander Castro is a seasoned labor and employment attorney with a wealth of experience gained from practicing at national and global law firms. He has now shifted his focus to serving South Florida’s businesses, residents, and government entities, delivering top-tier legal services with a personalized approach. Drawing from his own experience as a business owner, Alex ensures that legal strategies align seamlessly with his clients’ operational goals. Alex has successfully handled hundreds of cases involving discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, breach of contract, wage and hour disputes, misclassification, and more. His in-depth understanding of employment law makes him a strong advocate in courtrooms, arbitration settings, and before government agencies. Known for his ability to focus on the critical issues, Alex helps his clients avoid unnecessary stress and uncertainty in legal proceedings. His expertise spans multiple industries, including financial services, retail, healthcare, technology, construction, and education, among others. From recruitment and hiring to termination and post-employment disputes, Alex provides comprehensive legal support at every stage of the employment lifecycle. Alex is also skilled in drafting and negotiating various employment agreements, such as severance packages, independent contractor agreements, and non-compete clauses. In addition, he assists employers in developing and implementing lawful workplace policies and offers training to ensure compliance in areas like equal employment opportunity, workplace safety, and diversity and inclusion. Clients trust Alex for his proactive approach, helping them navigate complex workplace challenges and fostering environments of compliance and productivity.

Carmen Jo Rejda-Ponce (“CJ”) is a Principal in Germer’s Houston office, but her practice takes her all across Texas. She regularly counsels and defends both private and public sector clients on matters involving employment issues and civil (constitutional) rights. She handles matters from the pre-claim and pre-suit stage, through litigation, and through appeal. She is Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. CJ focuses on a broad range of labor and employment litigation, including, discrimination, harassment, hostile work environment, retaliation, disability accommodation, workers’ compensation retaliation, on-the-job injuries, and wage and hour issues. She has represented private and public sector clients in employment-related disputes before federal and state courts, federal and state administrative agencies, and arbitrators. CJ counsels private and public sector employers on labor and employment concerns, including, addressing medical leave, developing and revising workplace policies and procedures, investigating and addressing employee complaints, conducting employee disciplines and terminations, drafting employment, separation, and other agreements, and determining proactive solutions to workplace problems while avoiding litigation. CJ also defends public sector clients —including counties, cities, and law enforcement officers— in a variety of civil rights matters, including defense of first amendment retaliation, excessive force, wrongful arrest, inmate medical care, and jail death matters. Many of these civil rights matters involve qualified immunity issues for law enforcement officers. Through her civil rights defense work, CJ has gained appellate experience. She has handled multiple federal and state appeals. She has successfully argued for her clients twice before the Fifth Circuit, and is looking forward to more opportunities. CJ also has experience with personal injury litigation, including on-the job-injuries, motor vehicle accidents, and negligence claims against public entities. CJ’s private practice experience includes Baker Botts LLP and Reed Smith LLP. CJ also previously served as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Houston in Labor, Employment, and Civil Rights Division. She was also a registered lobbyist during the 2013 Regular Session of the Texas Legislature.

Tracy Neal-Lopez is the founding member of the firm; she has wealth of trial and litigation experience, having taken numerous cases to judgment, including jury trials, bench trials and arbitration. She has represented many clients facing a vast array of life changing situations and she prides herself on being willing to take cases all the way to trial. Tracy represents either plaintiffs or defendants in state and federal court. She fights injustice, focusing her litigation skills primarily in employment and labor disputes. Her areas of practice include, wrongful termination, wage and hour, misclassification, whistleblower retaliation, interference with prospective economic advantage, non-compete provisions, defamation, breach of employment contract, discrimination and harassment. She also handles business and corporate litigation matters. Such as matters involving partnership disputes, corporate dissolution, breach of contract, fraud and misrepresentation, and unfair business practices. One of her primary achievements in her legal work was before the California Court of Appeals where she successfully challenged the assumption of risk doctrine in a case entitled Lackner vs. North (2006) 135 Cal. App. 4th 1188. Tracy received her law degree from Loyola Law School. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Brian Goldstein has focused his practice on representing clients in civil litigation matters in both state and federal courts throughout Kansas and Missouri, as well as serving as coverage counsel for numerous insurance companies. He has been involved in representing clients in a wide spectrum of practice areas, from routine personal injury cases to complex damage cases in the fields of professional malpractice, business/contract disputes, products liability, employment discrimination, defective construction, and wrongful death. Mr. Goldstein was born and raised in the greater Kansas City area. Mr. Goldstein and his wife, Tamara, make their home in Overland Park, Kansas and have three daughters, Leah, Marisa, and Julia.

Victoria L. Plante is the founding attorney of Plante Law Firm, P.C. Since 1997, she has represented individuals and small to mid-sized businesses in business formations, transactions, contracts, day-to-day operations as well as in litigation and internal matters related to employment and labor law. She has trained and assisted corporate management in the implementation of policies and procedures related to harassment, discrimination, retaliation, overtime pay, minimum wage, medical leave, and employee and independent contractor designations. Ms. Plante earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Louisiana State University in Shreveport and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Arkansas William H. Bowen School of Law. She also holds a Master of Divinity in Missions from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Ms. Plante is licensed by the State Bar of Texas. She is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, United States Court of Federal Claims, and United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She has also represented clients in employment and labor lawsuits outside the state of Texas, including California, Louisiana, and New Jersey. For more than two decades, she has successfully tried many cases in federal and state courts as well as administrative bodies like the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Texas Workforce Commission. She has authored several state and federal appellate briefs and has orally argued multiple times before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Federal Circuits. She has also briefed for review legal issues presented to the U.S. Supreme Court. She has also drafted legal memorandum as a U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Jones law clerk for the Eastern District of Arkansas. She is a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Texas Employment Lawyers Association, and the Labor and Employment and Real Estate sections of the State Bar of Texas. She is legal counsel and a member of the Board of Directors of two 501(c)(3) non-profit Christian Evangelism and Missions organizations. She is an active member of the Missions and Evangelism ministries at her church. She has performed foreign missionary work in Africa and other countries and plans to devote more time to foreign missionary work in the future. Ms. Plante has been a panel speaker or presenter for various community and government based agencies and organizations, including the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Government Procurement Connections. She has also given several pro bono seminars for employees and union members on employee rights. Throughout her scholastic and professional careers, she has received multiple awards and certificates. In 2009 and 2013, she was named among the successful businesses in Who’s Who in Black Houston.

Carlos D. Perez-Mesa has been an active trial attorney in New Jersey and Hawaii since 1986. In Hawaii, he has tried over 20 jury and bench trials to verdict in state and federal court and participated in over 300 arbitrations and meditations. Mr. Perez-Mesa has wide ranging experience practicing in both federal and state court handling a broad range of litigation, including products liability, construction law, employment discrimination, personal injury, the Americans with Disabilities Act, environmental law, automobile and slip and fall accidents, Title VII civil rights law and workers compensation law. He also handles private arbitrations and mediations involving all types of civil actions, including auto cases, sexual harassment, age discrimination, wrongful discharge, racial discrimination, UM and UIM auto cases and AOAO disputes. Upon graduation of law school, Mr. Perez-Mesa served as a law clerk to Judge Nicholas in Mandak, Passaic County, New Jersey. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Perez-Mesa focused on litigation concerning personal injury, employment discrimination, products liability and condominium law. He defended AIG™ and Farmers™ Insurance insureds involved in automobile and slip and fall accidents. Mr. Perez-Mesa worked seven years as a trial attorney for AIG™’s Staff Counsel’s office in Honolulu. He also has three successful published Hawaii Supreme Court opinions.

With over 15 years of experience in employment litigation, Brian Sudano is a distinguished legal professional who is dedicated to protecting the rights of employees against some of the country’s largest corporations. Mr. Sudano has successfully handled a wide range of employment-related cases, including wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation and wage disputes. His extensive knowledge of employment laws and regulations allows him to provide strategic guidance and effective representation to clients. Brian Sudano understands the complexities and sensitivities surrounding employment litigation, and approaches each case committed to achieving the best possible outcome. If you are an employee seeking justice for workplace mistreatment, contact us today to schedule a free consultation to discuss your rights under the law.

Mr. Math, is originally from New York and after having served in the U.S. Navy relocated to Los Angeles where he attended California State University at Los Angeles, graduating in 1968. Mr. Math subsequently attended and graduated from Loyola University, School of Law. While attending he was, as a result of his having excelled in Moot Court Competition and Legal Writing, awarded a Teaching Fellowship. Mr. Math graduated from Loyola University in 1972 afterwhich he attended UCLA, Institute of Industrial Relations under a grant of the U.S. Department of Labor and was trained as an Arbitrator. Mr. Math has served as a Mediator, Arbitrator and Judge pro tem. Our firm is composed of experienced attorneys and associates with over 70 years of cumulative experience in many aspects of the law. Our firm focuses on representation of individuals and small businesses in areas of employment law, alternative dispute resolution, representation before all types of administrative agencies and in all courts, state and federal within the State of California. We also offer counseling and advice with respect to employment policies and procedures, contracts and all aspects of civil litigation. We have successfully represented thousands of clients within areas of practice engaged in by our firm.

L. ERIC EBBERT is the owner of the Ebbert Law Firm, which he created in 2020. He is licensed in both Tennessee and Florida. He practices in the areas of Labor & Employment law - Management, business litigation, and health care liability. His emphasis on Labor & Employment law includes counseling and defending employers in state and federal courts and before government agencies under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, National Labor Relations Act, and state employment laws; conducting high-level investigations; management training; and employment contracts. His litigation practice also includes real property, breach of contract, tort liability, products liability, and health care liability, as well as the full spectrum of business-to-business litigation. Eric has tried more than 30 cases, representing regional, national, and multi-national companies, through all stages of litigation and appeals. Eric received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Brigham Young University and his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. He is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Tennessee, and the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, and the U.S. Tax Court. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the field of Litigation/Labor & Employment. Since 2007 Eric has served as a member of the District Investigatory Committee of the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners. He is a member of the Tennessee and Knoxville Bar Associations, a member of SHRM, and a member of the Board of the Senior Citizens Home Assistance Service, Inc. He devotes his personal time to family and church.

Eric L. Siegel has over 30 years of experience dedicating his practice to the litigation and resolution of business, employment, civil rights, disability rights and whistleblower disputes. Eric has tried jury and bench cases in both state and federal courts in numerous jurisdictions, including but not limited to the District of Columbia, Maryland, New York, Tennessee, and Mississippi. He formerly served as a trial attorney in the Employment Litigation Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division where he enforced Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. In addition, he spent the last decade working part-time in the real estate industry as an owner and developer, working on acquisition, financing, zoning, affordable housing, property management and leasing issues. Consequently, he understands first-hand the challenges facing owners, landlords and developers and approaches legal problems of real estate clients from a broader, results-driven and cost-effective perspective. He works closely with his clients to identify and fully understand their goals. Thinking strategically and creatively on behalf of clients, he uses all available tools to pursue a successful outcome for his clients. Mr. Siegel has been a frequent lecturer and author on a wide array of topics, including employee work eligibility under immigration laws; compliance with wage and hour laws; emerging sexual harassment law issues; English-only rules; arbitrability of jurisdictional disputes in tri-lateral arbitration, ADA case analyses and articles on mental disability, health insurance, pre-employment inquiries under the ADA, which was published in Disability Discrimination in the Workplace (Clark Boardman Callaghan), and medical examinations and reasonable accommodation under the ADA, and litigation tactics to avoid summary judgment, publishing in several employment-related treatises.