Bio

WAYNE J. POSITAN is an experienced and recognized attorney in the areas of labor and employment law (management/defense litigation); commercial litigation, appellate practice and alternative dispute resolution matters; perennially listed in Best Lawyers in America, New Jersey Super Lawyers Top 100 (Top 10 2007-2010, 2017; #2 in 2007, 2009), Chambers USA's "America's Leading Business Lawyers" (Top Tier Employment Defense Attorneys since its inception), New York Magazine Best Lawyers in the Metropolitan New York Area, NJ Monthly Magazine "Top Lawyers", International Who's Who of Management Labour and Employment Lawyers, Who's Who in American Law; Who's Who in America; and Who's Who in Mediation and Arbitration. In 2016, he received the New Jersey State Bar Foundation's Medal of Honor. He is a recipient of the Essex County Bar Association Saiber Professional Achievement Award and its "Stars of Essex" Award. He received Professional Lawyer of the Year Awards from the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism, nominated by ECBA in 2002 and the NJSBA in 2009. He is AVVO 10/10 Rated and Martindale-Hubbell AV Pre-Eminent Rated. The firm’s Labor, Employment and Government Group, where he chaired for over thirty-five years, has achieved Metropolitan Tier One Ranking by Best Lawyers/Best Law Firms/US News and World Report (2014-2018) for Labor and Employment Litigation, Labor Law-Management, and Employment Law-Management. He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, Litigation Counsel of America, the New Jersey Academy of Management Lawyers, the American Bar Foundation, a member of the Executive Committee of the NJ Fellows of the American Bar, and a former Co-Chair of Fellows of the ABA Section of Litigation. He is a New Jersey Court Approved Mediator, Federal Court Mediator, and Essex County Chancery Mediator. He has been involved in a variety of widely reported cases such as Baliko v. Stecker, where he obtained a no-cause of action in a jury trial in a claim brought by female construction workers claiming sexual harassment under the NJ Law Against discrimination against union picketers; represented former Attorney General Peter Verneiro in a suit brought by the former State Police Superintendent Carl Williams regarding his termination; Pepsi Bottling Group in a large wage and hour case in the NJ Department of Labor; a departing vice president in a non-compete action by one Fortune 500 company against another; the Port Authority of NY and NJ in a dispute with insurance carriers over the excess coverage claims involved in the World Trade Center bombing; Passaic County regarding their non-liability as an alleged guarantor of bond obligations under the MUA law; former Mayor Corey Booker in a litigation with the Newark City Council; and US Mineral Products/Isolatek International in Chancery Division proceedings, AAA arbitration and the federal court confirmation of an award of damages and counsel fees amounting to approximately $800,000 on its counterclaim against a former CEO. He also achieved a successful result thru mediation for a CEO client involving agreements and stock options in an American subsidiary of a Chinese company. He has been involved in many appellate decisions which shaped the development of employment law in New Jersey, and has a broad range of experience in collective bargaining/labor arbitration/NLRB practice in the private sector, and collective negotiations/PERC practice in the public sector, along with the federal and state Departments of Labor. He handled a Teamsters negotiations for several gas distributorships in the Northeast, including the successful handling of a one-month strike. He has handled a variety of issues concerning construction contractors such as disputes with unions and union funds over pre-hire agreements and prevailing wage issues. He has represented clients in state court Chancery proceedings and federal court cases involving minority shareholder rights, employment and non-compete matters, and internal disputes among joint venture members, shareholders, partners, officers, and employees in food operations, distributorships, and professional partnerships. He represented the contract purchaser of a casino in a dispute involving purchase rights, insureds in coverage dispute matters concerning environmental and asbestos policies; and in matters in federal court representing a medical group in a qui tam action under the False Claims Act by former hospital employees involving Medicare claims and payments; a defendant in a dispute over sports memorabilia allegations involving an NFL team; and a professional liability suit against a law firm. He recently successfully represented a national auto parts distributor in several federal court matters alleging discrimination claims, and an engineering company regarding FMLA claims. He served as a court-appointed special master, then mediator, in a dispute among the family shareholders of a restaurant chain. He has also served as a Hearing Examiner for Essex County, Hudson County and the City of Elizabeth Police Department. As a mediator, he has mediated over a hundred matters in cases involving labor and employment law, internal entity disputes, business disputes, non-competition and confidentiality issues, and professional liability.