When the Thrill is Gone: Separation Agreements and Severance Packages

Tammy Marzigliano is a partner at Outten & Golden LLP, where she represents employees in litigation and negotiation in all areas of employment law, including employment contracts, arbitration matters, whistleblower claims, sexual harrassment and individual discrimination cases. Ms. Marzigliano is the Co-Chair of both Outten & Golden’s Financial Services Practice Group and its Whistleblower and Retaliation Practice Group. She is also a member of Outten & Golden’s Executive and Professionals Practice Group and former Co-Chair of its Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination Practice Group. She has also been recognized in Super Lawyers New York Metro edition for 2013, 2014 and Super Lawyers Top New York Women List 2013, 2014, 2015.

Ms. Marzigliano is an experienced litigator and has represented clients in arbitration matters before FINRA and the American Arbitration Association (AAA), as well as in federal and state courts concerning employment and general commercial litigation disputes. She is active in several bar associations, including serving as the Chair on the Employment Rights Executive Board of the Employment and Labor Relations Law Committee of the American Association for Justice (AAJ). Ms. Marzigliano is a frequent panelist on employment law matters and regularly collaborates with non-profit women's advocacy organizations on educational programs about sexual harassment and other employment rights issues in the workplace.

The Firm’s founder, Christopher M. FitzPatrick has practiced law for nearly 20 years. As a seasoned litigator and experienced trial lawyer, Mr. FitzPatrick has tried many high-profile cases in the areas of personal injury and medical malpractice. He has tried over 30 cases throughout his legal career in medical malpractice and personal injury alone.

Mr. FitzPatrick has also extensively represented numerous individuals in defending their freedom and liberty who have been charged with high-level felony cases and other crimes throughout Maryland, The District of Columbia, Virginia and New York.

In addition to his personal injury and criminal defense practice, Mr. FitzPatrick also represents individuals in matrimonial and divorce cases. He has tried custody cases and represented clients in various Family Law matters. His background in commercial litigation is often helpful in divorce cases involving business assets and high net worth individuals.

With a background in commercial litigation, Mr. FitzPatrick presently concentrates a significant portion of his practice on business and employment law matters. He has litigated many contract and commercial law cases on both sides of the courtroom, and he has helped workers defend their rights in Title VII employment discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, and whistleblower/retaliation cases.

He also has experience representing landlords, tenants, and property owners in commercial real estate, residential real estate transactions and closings and experience drafting wills.

Mr. FitzPatrick is admitted to practice law in Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia and New York. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the United States District Court of Maryland, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the United States Court of Appeals for The Federal Circuit, the United States Military Court of Appeals and most recently the United States District Court of Virginia Eastern and Western Districts. Mr. FitzPatrick was elected and currently serves as President of the Anne Arundel County James C. Cawood Inn of Court from July 1, 2016-July 1, 2017.

Christopher D. Durham practices in the area of employment law, counseling and representing clients on a variety of employment issues and matters. Mr. Durham provides strategic employment advice and counseling on matters such as the preparation of human resources policies, wage and hour compliance, employee performance management and terminations, medical accommodation, FMLA compliance, labor-management relations and NLRA compliance, harassment and discrimination prevention, employee investigations, background checks and drug testing. Mr. Durham represents businesses before federal and state courts and administrative agencies in various types of employment litigation, including the defense of employment discrimination and retaliation claims, wrongful discharge cases, wage and hour litigation and employment contract matters. In addition, he counsels businesses on affirmative action compliance and the development and implementation of affirmative action programs, and defends businesses in Department of Labor affirmative action audits. Mr. Durham also advises businesses and individuals in the drafting and negotiation of non-compete agreements and other restrictive covenants, employment agreements and severance agreements.

Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Mr. Durham is a 2005 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was Articles Editor of the Journal of Labor and Employment Law, and a magna cum laude graduate of Miami University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Christina Joy F. Grese practices in the area of employment law, counseling and representing clients in matters arising under Title VII, the ADEA, the ADA, the FMLA, the FLSA, USERRA, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and similar state and local laws. Ms. Grese represents employers in single-plaintiff, multi-plaintiff, and complex collective and class action employment litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts. She also handles administrative complaints before local, state, and federal agencies and has defended employers in forums such as the American Arbitration Association and FINRA.

In addition to her litigation background, Ms. Grese provides strategic advice and counseling to employers of all sizes, in a wide range of industries, including financial services, healthcare, pharmaceutical services, consumer products, and retail, with respect to whistleblowers, wage and hour compliance, military leaves, medical leaves, accommodation of disabilities, employee performance management and discipline, recruitment and hiring, termination decisions, reductions-in-force, restrictive covenants, personnel policies and handbooks, and separation agreements. She also advises nonprofit organizations on a variety of employment matters.

Ms. Grese previously served as interim in-house human resources counsel to a Fortune 500 client, during which she worked with business leaders and human resources professionals on myriad employment matters.

Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, Ms. Grese is a 2005 graduate of Columbia University School of law, where she was managing editor of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

WAYNE N. OUTTEN is founding and managing partner of Outten & Golden LLP. His practice focuses exclusively on representing individuals in all areas of employment law. He co-chairs the firm’s Executives and Professionals and Whistleblower Retaliation Practice Groups.

Mr. Outten’s practice focuses on representing high-level employees and professionals in all aspects of their employment, including negotiation of employment, compensation, and severance agreements. He is the author of the “Representing the Executive” chapter in Executive Compensation (BNA Books). His practice includes representing employees in multinational employment contexts, including expatriate and seconded employees.

Mr. Outten’s notable cases include a recovery of $12 million in a gender discrimination/retaliation case against Morgan Stanley in federal court and (with partner Larry Moy) a $18.9 million arbitration award in a breach of contract case against Deutsche Bank and a $72.0 million arbitration award against another major international bank - one of the largest arbitration awards in an employment case.*

Mr. Outten was selected by his peers as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” every year since 1987 and as one of New York’s Super Lawyers, where he has been listed as one of the Top 100 New York Metro Super Lawyers every year since 2006. Best Lawyers designated him "Lawyer of the Year 2010" for Labor and Employment Law - New York City and "Lawyer of the Year 2012" for Litigation - Labor and Employment in New York City. He was selected for listing in Lawdragon every year since 2005 and was selected for the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America in 2006 and for the Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Lawyers in America in 2007; Lawdragon designated him a "legend" (one of 50 in the U.S.) in 2015. Mr. Outten has been an AV Preeminent Rated Lawyer in the LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Top Rated Lawyers since 1992.

Mr. Outten is a founding member and/or leader in numerous professional associations, including the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) and its New York affiliate, the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, the Section of Labor and Employment Law of the American Bar Association (Chair, 2015-2016), the New York State Bar Association's Labor & Employment Law Section, and is Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Lawyers International Network for Employees and Executives (LINEE). Mr. Outten has also lectured extensively on employment law, especially on negotiation, mediation, and arbitration of employment disputes, on employment and severance agreements, and on retaliation and whistleblower claims. He is a widely published author whose work is frequently found in legal and popular publications.