M. Tae Phillips

Tae focuses his practice on assisting clients with the many labor and employment challenges they face on a daily basis. He has been recognized by his peers through his inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America^®, receiving an “AV Preeminent” rating by Martindale-Hubbell, and being selected as a “Rising Star” by Alabama and Mid-South Super Lawyers and the Birmingham Business Journal.

Aside from producing positive results, Tae maintains a client-centric approach to his practice and strives to provide exceptional and responsive client service. His primary goal in representing clients is to provide them with collaborative, efficient, and business-focused solutions to workplace disputes and issues.

Tae is a national subject-matter expert on workplace marijuana and drug testing issues. He is the shareholder-author of the firm’s OD Comply: Marijuana subscription tool and materials, and regularly assists clients across the country in handling the rapidly-evolving landscape of medical and recreational marijuana legalization laws and their impact on employers. In addition to providing practical advice and counsel, Tae has also handled high-profile litigation involving these difficult issues.

Aside from his expertise in dealing with marijuana and the workplace, a significant portion of Tae’s practice consists of employment litigation, and he regularly defends clients before federal and state courts and administrative agencies involving all types of employment claims. He also assists employers in traditional labor matters such as union avoidance, election campaigns, collective bargaining, and labor arbitrations. He also advises clients on disputes involving non-compete, trade secret, and other restrictive covenant agreements.

Tae is an active member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), and is proud to serve as co-chair of Ogletree’s Diversity and Affinity Group for Asian and South Asian American attorneys and employees within the firm. He also serves as an Alternate Regional Governor for the Southeast Region of NAPABA and an officer within the Alabama Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Tae is also a frequent speaker to groups across the country on a variety of labor and employment topics.

Prior to joining Ogletree, Tae practiced general civil litigation in Mobile, Alabama. He graduated cum laude from the University of Montevallo in 2006, and from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2009 where he served on the Alabama Law Review. Outside of work, Tae is a husband and father to three young children. He enjoys the Chicago Cubs, University of Alabama athletics, running, and traveling.

More About M. Tae Phillips

Experience

Tae represents employers in federal and state courts across the country, before the arbitration administrators such as the American Arbitration Association, and before traditional labor arbitrators. His litigation experience includes representing clients in matters arising under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. He also has significant experience representing clients in Alabama state law retaliatory discharge cases.

In addition to formal litigation, Tae represents clients before administrative agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, National Labor Relations Board, and the Alabama Department of Labor.

Highlights from the past few years of Tae’s practice include:

Obtaining summary judgment for a multinational conglomerate company in a failure to hire and promote race discrimination claim.
Obtaining a favorable labor arbitration decision for a national manufacturing company involving a key contract interpretation issue for a Union facility.
Obtaining summary judgment for a national poultry processing client in a race discrimination matter involving failure to promote claims.
Successfully enforcing a non-compete and non-solicitation agreement involving a former employee in a contentious restrictive covenants matter.
Obtaining full summary judgment for a national childcare company in two separate matters, one a complex, reverse race, age, disability and medical leave matter, and the other involving allegations of constructive termination and hostile work environment.
Obtaining a full summary judgment for an international manufacturing company in a five-count gender, age, and disability discrimination matter.
Obtaining a full summary judgment for a national manufacturing client in a six-plaintiff racial harassment matter.
Obtaining a Court dismissal on jurisdictional grounds for a federally recognized sovereign entity in a lawsuit brought by a former employee under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which was later affirmed by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Representing a client in a first-impression employment discrimination lawsuit involving interpretation of the Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Act.
Obtaining full summary judgment for a large manufacturing company in a matter involving claims of religious and national origin discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment.
Defending a large privately-held employer in a five-day federal jury trial in an Americans with Disabilities Act matter.

Sample of Reported Cases

Jacob Gann v. 3M Company, No. 6:20-cv-01605, 2022 WL 9446786 (N.D. Ala. Oct. 14, 2022)
Candace Herren v. La Petite Academy, Inc., No. 2:16-cv-01308, 2022 WL 1203817 (N.D. Ala. Apr. 22, 2022)
Michael Lowe v. Day & Zimmerman, et al., No. 2:21-cv-01070, 2022 WL 1179409 (N.D. Ala. Apr. 20, 2022)
Ronnie Pettway v. SABIC Innovative Plastics US LLC , No. 2:20-cv-0897 (M.D. Ala. Mar. 16, 2022)
Billy Paige v. Equity Group Eufaula Division, LLC, No. 2:18-cv-737-WHT, 2021 WL 4227034 (M.D. Ala. Sept. 16,2021)
Gwendolyn Ward v. Huntsman Advanced Materials LLC, No. 1:21-cv-0090 (S.D. Ala. Sept. 16, 2021)
Amanda Mason v. Ruskin Company, No. 1:19cv-703-ECM, 2021 WL 3234605 (M.D. Ala. July 29, 2021)
Sandra Hutchinson Lackey v. La Petite Academy, No. 2:18-cv-00429-RDP, 2020 WL 1285828 (N.D. Ala. Mar. 17, 2020)
Candace Herren v. La Petite Academy, Inc., 820 F. App’x 900 (11th Cir. 2020); No. 2:16-cv-01308-LSC, 2019 WL 2161250 (N.D. Ala. May 17, 2019)
Rebecca Robinson v. Michelin North America, Inc., No. 1:16-cv-00656-SRW, 2018 WL 6331694 (M.D. Ala. Dec. 4, 2018)
Joseph Garrett, et al. v. Tyco Fire Products, LP, 301 F. Supp. 3d 1099 (N.D. Ala. 2018)
Cristina Barbuto v. Advantage Sales & Marketing, LLC, 78 N.E.3d 37 (Mass. 2017)
Christine Williams v. Poarch Band of Creek Indians, 839 F.3d 1312 (11th Cir. 2016); No. 14-594-CG-M, 2015 WL 4104611 (S.D. Ala. July 8, 2015)
Ali Jamous v. Saint-Gobain Corporation, No. 5:14-CV-01517-JEO, 2016 WL 4206320 (N.D. Ala. Aug. 10, 2016)
Todd Pollard v. Drummond Company, Inc., No. 2:12-CV-03948-MHH, 2015 WL 5306084 (N.D. Ala. Sept. 10, 2015)
Samuel Calvin v. Michelin North America, Inc., 7:13-cv-0824-SLB, 2013 WL 4521975 (N.D. Ala. Aug. 26, 2013)

Education & Admission

Professional Activities

Speeches

Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “California Coffee Talk: Welcome Aboard! Hiring, Onboarding, and Drug Testing” – June 20, 2024
Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “Drug Testing Employees in States With Off-Duty Conduct Protections for Marijuana Use” – May 17, 2024
Ogletree Deakins Workplace Strategies Seminar – “Medical Marijuana 201: A Disability Accommodation Workshop” – Washington, D.C. – May 2, 2024
Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “Ohio Legalizes Recreational Marijuana: How to Prepare for the December 7 Effective Date” – November 29, 2023
Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “Keeping Current in California with Leslie and Charles” – October 25, 2023
Ogletree Deakins Podcast – “Multistate Monday: Marijuana Compliance—Don’t Blow It” – April 17, 2023
Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “Marijuana in Missouri: Legalized Recreational Use and Express Employment Protections for Medical Use” – December 13, 2022
Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “Enforcing Substance Abuse Policies Under California’s New Marijuana Anti-Discrimination Law” – October 17, 2022
Corporate Labor and Employment Counsel Exclusive – “Rocky Mountain High: Reevaluating Drug Testing Policies and Managing Compliance Today” – Colorado Springs – September 22, 2022
Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “Multi-Jurisdictional Compliance: Marijuana” – May 11, 2022
Corporate Labor and Employment Counsel Exclusive – “Reefer Regs: Riding the Wave of Marijuana Law Changes” – Amelia Island – November 11-12, 2021
Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “OSHA Hour: Medical and Recreational Marijuana and the Tightening Labor Market—What Does It Mean for Employers?” – October 19, 2021
Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “Marijuana and the Workplace: FAQs and Open Forum, Part 1” – September 23, 2021
Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “Marijuana Legalization Laws: 2021 Midyear Update and Legislative Wrap-Up ” – June 29, 2021
Workplace Strategies Virtual Seminar – “So Many States (Not to Mention Counties and Cities), Yet So Little Time” – June 24, 2021
Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “Dazed and Confused? How Employers Can Stay Ahead of State Marijuana Laws” – May 5, 2021
Birmingham Society for Human Resources Management and Baldwin County, Alabama Society for Human Resources – “Employment Issues Under the Biden Administration” – April 14 and 21, 2021
Alabama Association of Corporate Counsel Webinar – “Vaccination FAQs and a Roadmap for Managing Government Investigations in 2021” – March 11, 2021
Alabama Association of Corporate Counsel, Birmingham Society for Human Resources Management, Mobile Society for Human Resources Management, Baldwin County, Alabama Society for Human Resources, Cullman, and Alabama Area Society for Human Resources Management – “Roll Tide! (and a joint): Alabama’s New Medical Marijuana Law” – 2021
Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “Mississippi’s Legalization of Medical Marijuana: What Employers Need to Know” – December 2, 2020
Shoals Area Society for Human Resources Management Webinar – “Returning to Work in the COVID-19 Era” – June 11, 2020
Alabama Association of Corporate Counsel Webinar – “Returning to Work: Alabama’s Safer at Home Order” – May 18, 2020
Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “In the Weeds: What Illinois Employers Need to Know About Legalized Marijuana” – November 20, 2019
Ogletree Deakins Seminar – “Generation Z Hits the Workforce” – Birmingham – August 23, 2019
Mobile Society for Human Resources Management – “Marijuana in the Workplace” – Mobile – August 9, 2019
North Shore Labor Counsel – “Legalized Recreational Cannabis is Here. What Now?” – Chicago – July 9, 2019
Ogletree Deakins Seminar – “Laws, Policies, and Practices That Can Add to Your Company’s Bottom Line” – Huntsville – June 21, 2019
Ogletree Deakins Seminar – “Let’s Be Blunt: Marijuana and the Workplace” – Birmingham – June 20, 2019
Alabama Society for Human Resources Management State Conference – “Achieving Compliance with Foundational Pieces – One Rung at a Time” – Birmingham – May 15, 2019
Alabama Society for Human Resources Management State Conference – “Achieving Compliance with Foundational Pieces – One Rung at a Time” – Birmingham – May 15, 2019
Association of Corporate Counsel Good Lawyers to Great Lawyers Retreat – “Effective Relationships Between General Counsel and Partners” – Orlando – April 16, 2019
Association of Corporate Counsel Good Lawyers to Great Lawyers Retreat – “Effective Relationships Between General Counsel and Partners” – Orlando – April 16, 2019
Alabama Society for Human Resources Management State Legislative Symposium – “Medical Marijuana” – Montgomery – April 4, 2019
Alabama Society for Human Resources Management State Legislative Symposium – “Medical Marijuana” – Montgomery – April 4, 2019
Association of Corporate Counsel – “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: Marijuana, Opioids, and Prescription Drugs – Whatever Happened to the Drug-Free Workplace?” – San Francisco and Palo Alto – March 5 and 7, 2019
Association of Corporate Counsel – “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: Marijuana, Opioids, and Prescription Drugs – Whatever Happened to the Drug-Free Workplace?” – San Francisco and Palo Alto – March 5 and 7, 2019
Mobile Society for Human Resources Management Gulf Coast HR Conference – “Top 10 Hiring Mistakes” – Mobile – November 2, 2018
Gulf Coast Human Resources Association Employment Symposium – “Top 10 Hiring Mistakes” – Biloxi – September 12, 2018
ABA YLD Labor and Employment Committee Teleconference – “Insights and Perspectives on Navigating the Relationship Between In-House and Outside Counsel” – Birmingham – August 1, 2018
Gulf Coast Human Resources Association – “Detecting the Truth in Workplace Investigations” – Gulfport – July 12, 2018
Ogletree Deakins Seminar – “The Invisible Workforce: Managing ADA and FMLA Leave” – Pensacola – June 15, 2018
Birmingham Society for Human Resources Management – “How to Deal with Difficult Employees” – Birmingham – April 11, 2018
Calhoun County, Alabama Society for Human Resources Management – “#MeToo, #OhNo, #WhatDoWeDoNow – Handling the New Wave of Sexual Harassment Claims” – Anniston – February 13, 2018
Cullman, Alabama Area Society for Human Resources Management – “Sexual Harassment in 2018” – Cullman – January 10, 2018
CLE Alabama – “Drug Testing” – Birmingham – December 1, 2017
Wiregrass Human Resource Management Association – “The Best Ways to Handle Difficult Employees” – Dothan – November 15, 2017
ABA Section of Labor & Employment Webinar – “It’s a Crying Shame (not to think about emotional distress damages in employment cases)” – October 18, 2017
Gulf Coast Human Resources Association Employment Symposium – “Dealing with Difficult Employees” – Biloxi – September 15, 2017
ABA Annual Meeting – “Marijuana: Legal Issues at Work” – New York City – August 11, 2017
ABA YLD Spring Conference – “Insights and Perspectives from In-House Counsel on Working with Outside Counsel and Developing Business” – Montreal – May 6, 2017
ABA YLD Labor and Employment Committee Teleconference – “Marijuana in the Workplace: When the Rules Go Up in Smoke” – March 2, 2017
Ogletree Deakins Workplace Investigations Seminar – “To Background Check, or Not to Background Check: That is the Question” – Auburn – January 26, 2017
Alabama Chapter of the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources – “The New Overtime Regulations” – Birmingham – November 7, 2016
ABA YLD Labor and Employment Committee Teleconference – “Workplace Investigations: The Good, The Bad, The Why Would Ya” – November 1, 2016
Cullman, Alabama Area Society for Human Resources Management – “He’s not Here: Deciding Whether to Reinstate, Replace, Accommodate, or Terminate Absent Employees” – Hanceville – October 12, 2016
Ogletree Deakins Seminar – “The Expansion of Reasonable Accommodations Under the ADA” – Huntsville – August 11, 2016
Cullman, Alabama Area Society for Human Resources Management – “Transgender Employees” – Cullman – January 13, 2016
Gulf Coast Human Resources Association – “The Skinny on Background Checks” – Biloxi – December 9, 2015
ARC of Alabama – “EEOC Charges” – Montgomery – July 14, 2015
Ogletree Deakins Seminar – “Pre-Employment Testing – Conditional Offers, Background Checks, and Prescription Drugs in the Workplace” – Tupelo – April 17, 2015
Cullman, Alabama Area Society for Human Resources Management – “Conducting Effective Workplace Investigations” – Cullman – March 11, 2015
Ogletree Deakins Workplace Investigations Seminar – “To Background Check, or Not to Background Check: That is the Question” – Mobile and Huntsville – 2015
Ogletree Deakins Seminar – “Who Done It? Conducting Effective Workplace Investigations” – Birmingham – November 7, 2014
Ogletree Deakins Briefing – “Americans with Disabilities Act and Prescription Medications” – Huntsville – August 21, 2014
Ogletree Deakins Seminar – “Americans with Disabilities Act and Pre-Employment Testing” – Orange Beach – June 27, 2014